In this engaging discussion, Amy Ogg, a design system practitioner at Therapy Brands, shares her journey into new roles. She highlights the emotional rollercoaster of starting a design system position and offers strategies for the first 30-60-90 days. Trust-building is key, as Amy elaborates on the Benjamin Franklin effect and how helping others fosters connections. She also emphasizes the importance of cross-training and understanding team dynamics. With anecdotes from her barista days, she demonstrates how diverse experiences can shape UX design.
59:15
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
volunteer_activism ADVICE
UX the Process
Prioritize listening and observing in the first week of a new design system role.
Understand the existing landscape before proposing changes, mimicking a UX research process.
insights INSIGHT
Trust as Foundation
Building trust is crucial in a new design system role, but ironically, trying too hard can be counterproductive.
Focus on being human, approachable, honest, and willing to learn to genuinely connect with the team.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Onboarding Deep Dive
Amy describes her onboarding process, which included meeting with her manager, designers, engineers, and POs.
She focused on understanding their perspectives, pain points, and the current state of the design system.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track
Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track
None
Will Larson
The First 90 Days
Michael Watkins
In 'The First 90 Days,' Michael D. Watkins provides a comprehensive guide for leaders transitioning into new roles. The book emphasizes the importance of self-preparation, accelerating the learning process, achieving early victories, and achieving alignment within the organization. Watkins outlines ten fundamental principles, including preparing oneself for the new role, understanding the organizational architecture, building a high-performance team, and influencing key stakeholders. The book is designed to help leaders avoid common pitfalls and achieve early successes, thereby enhancing their credibility and effectiveness within the organization.
This one’s a little bit different than some of the projects and topics that we've had on the podcast so far — we’re talking about starting a new role. I think it's one of the hardest things that we do sometimes as design system practitioners, because the design system is really about changing your organization, changing the way we build UI, and so there's a lot of weight on your shoulders when you come into a new role.
Starting a new job as a design system practitioner can feel exciting and terrifying all at once—but Amy Ogg has some insights to help us navigate the emotional rollercoaster. Amy and Elyse chat about how to spend your first 30-60-90 days, building genuine trust, and why making big changes as a new hire can actually backfire. They commiserate over balancing the overwhelming backlog as a small team, and Amy shares why she thinks cross-training outside your expertise is a must. Plus, Amy shares how her experience as a barista shaped her approach to UX design ☕️
💖 On Theme is a brand new podcast, so if you like what you're hearing, please hit subscribe and sign up at designsystemsontheme.com!
Into Design Systems is back with their annual virtual conference, May 28-30, 2025. Get your ticket now for three days of practical, hands on sessions showing the what, why, and how of design systems. This year, the conference is focused on developer handoff, accessibility, multi brand theming, and governance. You'll get hands on knowledge you can put to use at work immediately, files and resources to take away, and hear from very well known industry speakers.
On Theme: Design Systems in Depth 