Common problems with design systems and how to solve them
I’ve done a lot of reading about design systems over the past 2 weeks. Here are few selects that deal with recurring problems/topics you might encounter.
Problem: We don’t have a system. How can I sell idea to leadership?
Selling a Design System at Your Company by Nick Stamas
Problem: We need to organize the colours
Hipmunk design system colors by Ryan Lum
Problem: We’re thinking about introducing a new typeface
Choosing a custom typeface for our brand and design system by Lauren LoPrete
Problem: We need to rebuild our component library in Figma. What’s the best way to set that up?
Building a Design System Library by Jeremy Dizon
Problem: How should we define ‘space’ within our design system?
Space, Grids, and Layouts by Elliot Dahl
Problem: We need to make sure our design system stays up to date
Measuring the health of a design system by Chase McCoy
Diffs
Sometimes it’s easy to see why a product is moving in a certain direction. Maybe it’s a brand redesign or a strategic response to a competitor - or these days COVID. Or it could be a simple fix for something that is frustrating users, a little bit of confusion, a little too many support requests.
I’d like to see ‘diffs’, the before and after of new features.
As an example, a sort of proof of concept, I’ve put together a side by side from a new, rather major update from Evernote - thank god they shipped something!
I’m not sure what the best format would be. Maybe a gif, or the NYT slidey thing?
Within the new release, which included several changes, I focused on the update to the new note button. It caught my attention because we had a similar interaction for myfitnesspal, a big plus button that opened up a secondary menu. I thought this was an interesting solution. Text lablel and more physical space for the note button, but also allow users to jump straight to other note types with one tap.
Past / Present
Did you know about the fabulous OpenSFHistory, a repository of scanned images donated by a private collector who was active “from the 60’s through the early 2000’s”? It’s a time sink.
I’d usually rather wipe my eyes with mud than trawl through old photos. You’re unlikely to come across any creativity, interesting composition or subjects in a city photo archive. But two things struck me as I browsed.
We’ve come a long way.
First off, Cole Valley in 1894. Over 120 years ago, a large swath of San Francisco was for cows. No cars, no airplanes etc. What astounds me is how much the world has changed, and honestly in such a short space of time. 120 years, my great grandfather was still alive.
But some things never change.
But a few photos later I spot a familiar corner shop, 85+ years old. 85+ years of selling groceries. Same corner. Same corner shop. For whatever reason, zoning, family businesses, convenience, a deli in 1907 was still a deli in 2020.