130. Jon Warden on How GSK Uses Design Systems to Balance Scale, Flexibility, and Innovation

Apr 2, 2025

Jon Warden, a seasoned user experience and design strategist with over 25 years of experience and currently GSK's Global Director of UX, shares insights on leveraging design systems in a complex pharmaceutical landscape. He discusses how GSK achieves design consistency across multiple brands and products while prioritizing customer experience. The conversation covers the role of AI and automation in enhancing workflows, balancing creativity and regulatory constraints, and the importance of collaboration across diverse teams to drive innovation.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Managing Design Systems in Pharma

01:40 • 17min

Balancing Structure and Creativity in Design Systems

18:59 • 4min

The Power of Design Systems

23:13 • 7min

AI Tools in Regulated Workflows

30:14 • 9min

Navigating Change in Design Systems through Human Elements and Technology

39:21 • 2min

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In this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, guest host Andrew Rohman sits down with Jon Warden to explore how GSK leverages design systems to drive consistency, innovation, and efficiency across a highly complex global organization. With multiple brands, multi-product ecosystems, and diverse regional needs, GSK must balance scale and flexibility while embracing automation, AI, and modern workflows—all while keeping the customer experience at the center of their digital strategy.

Key Topics Covered:

How GSK creates design consistency across multiple brands, products, and global regions
The role of design systems in managing complexity at scale
AI and automation in streamlining workflows and driving efficiency
How GSK balances innovation with regulatory and operational constraints
The impact of scalable workflows on accelerating digital transformation
Building digital experiences that meet customer needs while maintaining global consistency

Tune in for a deep dive into how one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies is leveraging design systems to power its digital strategy, drive innovation, and create seamless customer experiences at scale.

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Guest

Jon Warden is a user experience, design, and product strategist with over 25 years of experience. In the past decade, he has created, led, and managed UX, design, and product teams across various sectors, including news (The Times, London), B2B, B2C, media agencies, telecoms, and charity. Jon focuses on providing clear UX direction throughout the development lifecycle. He and his teams emphasize outcome-based user research, data, and user testing programs. Through UX design practices, they support the creation of user-centric products that engage customers across all channels. Currently, Jon is the Global Director of UX, Design & Research in the Commercial Digital & AI division at GSK.

Sponsor
Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.