Build Trust, Not Just Components: What Most Design Systems Get Wrong With Justin Crews

Building a design system is the easy part—getting your team to adopt it is the real challenge. We dive into the hidden elements that make design systems truly successful.

What if the real blocker to your design system isn’t tooling or design, but trust?

This week, I talk with Justin Crews, a senior product designer with a background in film, systems thinking, and complex enterprise UX. We dig into what it actually takes to build design systems that people want to use, not just systems that look good in a pitch deck.

Justin shares hard-won lessons from his consulting and in-house roles, where he has helped scale multi-product systems. We discuss the mindset shift from dictating to documenting, and why building alignment across teams is more important than enforcing rules. One of my favorite insights: your design system isn’t a product—it’s a process.

If your components are collecting dust or you’ve hit a wall with adoption, this episode gives you the strategy and language to rethink what design systems are really for. Hit play and learn how to build systems people actually want to use.

Topics:
• 02:35 – The Challenge of Design System Adoption
• 04:39 – Understanding the Role of Design Systems
• 08:17 – When to Start Building a Design System
• 18:41 – Documenting vs. Dictating in Design Systems
• 24:58 – Managing Stakeholder Expectations
• 28:24 – Building a Design System from the Ground Up
• 40:13 – Building Team Adoption for New Tools
• 40:57 – Creating Designer-Friendly Components
• 41:47 – Championing and Showcasing the System
• 44:22 – Stakeholder Management and Engagement
• 46:42 – Measuring Success of Design Systems

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
• justinnn.com

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