119. Rethinking Design Consistency: Debating Tokens vs. Components with ADPs Alice Preisler
Oct 1, 2024
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Alice Preisler, Product Owner of Design System at ADP, dives into the debate on whether design systems should start with components. She proposes focusing on documentation and design tokens instead. Alice shares her vision for using a linting tool to maintain design consistency and foster creativity within constraints. The conversation explores the complexities of localization, the necessity of solid documentation, and balancing speed with consistent design quality. It's an engaging discussion that challenges traditional notions and emphasizes structured workflows.
Focusing on strong foundational design principles and documentation can enhance the maturity and effectiveness of design systems.
Utilizing design tokens and better tooling bridges the gap between design and engineering, fostering collaboration for efficient product development.
Deep dives
Understanding ADP's Ecosystem and Design System
ADP has evolved from a payroll company to a comprehensive human capital management (HCM) provider, managing not just payments but also employee hire and management processes. This shift necessitates a robust design system that integrates with various software services, allowing both employees and managers to access their financial data seamlessly across multiple platforms. The ecosystem is multifaceted, catering to a diverse customer base that includes both small businesses and large enterprises across numerous countries. Localization is vital, requiring adaptations for different languages and cultural contexts as ADP continues to expand globally.
Beyond Components: Rethinking Design Systems
The podcast emphasizes that a design system should not merely consist of a library of components but rather focus on creating a cohesive user experience across different products. The approach is to prioritize the principles and guidelines that foster consistency and speed in product development rather than getting bogged down by the minutiae of component variations. Drawing from experiences in previous positions, the speaker advocates for a paradigm where the focus is on establishing strong foundational design philosophies instead of just the components themselves. This shift aims to enhance the maturity of design systems and their overall effectiveness.
Documentation as the Foundation of Design Systems
A strong documentation platform is positioned as essential for the success of a design system, serving as the backbone that supports scalability and usability. Effective documentation must provide clear guidelines, patterns, and examples to aid designers and engineers in developing cohesive products. The lack of robust documentation can hinder the adoption of design systems and lead to inconsistencies, which further complicate the design and development process. The speaker stresses that having accessible and comprehensive documentation can significantly ease the integration of design practices among teams.
Aligning Design and Development Through Improved Tooling
The conversation addresses the need for better tooling and processes that bridge the gap between design and engineering, emphasizing the importance of collaboration during product development. Implementing tools that allow designers to create prototypes that can be easily translated into code fosters better communication and understanding between these two disciplines. The use of design tokens is highlighted as a way to maintain a consistent look and feel across products, making it easier to implement design changes efficiently. Overall, the incorporation of systematic checks and balances in design processes can enhance the speed of product delivery while ensuring adherence to design principles.
Are components a necessary part of a design system? In this episode of The Design Systems Podcast, Alice Preisler, the Product Owner of Design System at ADP challenges the idea that all design systems start with a component library. Alice and host, Chris Strahl discuss what starting with documentation and design tokens instead of components might do for a design system and product teams. Alice shares her vision of using a linting tool to enforce design consistency to create a cohesive user experience. Tune in for fun thought experiments and pragmatic insights on fostering creativity within constraints, and the role of documentation and tooling for faster, consistent product development.
Guest Alice Preisler leads the development of ADP's enterprise design system to cover all technical platforms (web, iOS, Android, ATM) across unique customer-facing brands. Alice leads highly visible, complex and customer driven products, projects, programs, and portfolios. She excels managing stakeholders, bringing the right resources into complex global projects to ensure successful execution.
Host Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn. Sponsor Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
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