LET'S WORK TOGETHER!@brad_frost
OUR WORK IS DONE
WITH OTHER PEOPLE
FOR OTHER PEOPLE
SLACK GIF
HOW DO WE WORK WITH 

EACH OTHER?
HOW DO WE TALK TO 

EACH OTHER?
HOW DO WE COORDINATE WITH 

EACH OTHER?
HOW DO WE COLLABORATE WITH 

EACH OTHER?
SPACES VS TABS SKETCH VS PHOTOSHOP GIF VS GIF
GRUNT VS GULP NPM VS YARN
FILE STRUCTURE
BEM VS SMACSS
FLAT VS SKEUOMORPHIC
ZEPLIN VS INVISION REACT VS VUE
PROGRESSIVE ENHANCEMENT VS SINGLE PAGE APPS
ANGULAR VS EMBER
NATIVE VS WEB
SVG VS ICON FONTS
WORDPRESS VS DRUPAL
PHP VS RUBY VS NODE VS PYTHON
SASS VS LESS
complete chaos stifling rigidity
PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES


discipline
team
teams
department
company


discipline
team
teams
department
company
marketing
sales
engineering
digital
hr
customer

support
r&d
accounting
management
administration
marketing
sales
engineering
digital
hr
customer

support
r&d
accounting
management
administration
marketing
sales
engineering
digital
hr
customer

support
r&d
accounting
management
administration


principles & guidelines
marketing
sales
engineering
digital
hr
customer

support
r&d
accounting
management
administration
MISSION
https://www.charitywater.org/about/mission.php
COMPANY VALUES
ZAPPOS 10 CORE VALUES
๏ Deliver WOW Through Service
๏ Embrace and Drive Change
๏ Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
๏ Be Adventurous, Creative, and
Open-Minded
๏ Pursue Growth and Learning
๏ Build Open and Honest
Relationships With Communication
๏ Build a Positive Team and 

Family Spirit
๏ Do More With Less
๏ Be Passionate and Determined
๏ Be Humble
https://www.zapposinsights.com/about/core-values
CULTURE
–Chris Edmonds
An organizational constitution specifies your team’s
purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals. 

It creates “liberating rules” that help leaders and
team members understand exactly how they are
expected to treat each other and their customers.
http://thecultureengine.com/


discipline
team
teams
department
company
management
public relations
research
digital
social
creative
services
analysis
cmo
vp
assistants
management
public relations
research
digital
social
creative
services
analysis
cmo
vp
assistants
management
public relations
research
digital
social
creative
services
analysis
cmo
vp
assistants


principles & guidelines
management
public relations
research
digital
social
creative
services
analysis
cmo
vp
assistants
BRAND GUIDELINES
https://design.ubuntu.com/brand/
VOICE AND TONE
GUIDELINES
voiceandtone.com


discipline
team
teams
department
company
team 1
team 2
team 3
team 4
team 5
team 7
team 6
team 9
team 10
team 8
team 1
team 2
team 3
team 4
team 5
team 7
team 6
team 9
team 10
team 8
SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE SYNDROME
team 1
team 2
team 3
team 4
team 5
team 7
team 6
team 9
team 10
team 8


principles & guidelines
team 1
team 2
team 3
team 4
team 5
team 7
team 6
team 9
team 10
team 8
DESIGN SYSTEMS!
A DESIGN SYSTEM IS THE STORY 

OF HOW YOUR ORGANIZATION
DESIGNS AND BUILDS PRODUCTS
https://material.io/guidelines/
https://lightningdesignsystem.com/
http://carbondesignsystem.com/


discipline
team
teams
department
company
backend
content
frontend
ux
visual
manager
frontend
backend
ux
qa
backend
content
frontend
ux
visual
manager
frontend
backend
ux
qa
backend
content
frontend
ux
visual
manager
frontend
backend
ux
qa


principles & guidelines
backend
content
frontend
ux
visual
manager
frontend
backend
ux
qa


discipline
team
teams
department
company
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend


principles & guidelines
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
frontend
CODE STYLE GUIDES
code block
.thisishowwedoit {
}
CSS SYNTAX GUIDELINES
code block
.this-is-how-we-do-it {
}
CSS SYNTAX GUIDELINES
code block
.thisIsHowWeDoIt {
}
CSS SYNTAX GUIDELINES
code block
.this__is__how__we__do—-it {
}
CSS SYNTAX GUIDELINES
code block
.- -...- - ..- - —— .. . ..—— — {
}
CSS SYNTAX GUIDELINES
https://github.com/styleguide


discipline
team
teams
department
company
design systems
BENEFITS OF DESIGN SYSTEMS
๏ Promotes UI consistency & cohesion = more conversions & $$$$$
๏ Faster production = roll out more features & iterations faster than ever
๏ Higher-quality production = teams can focus on higher-level tasks
๏ Shared vocabulary = more time collaborating & less time in meetings
๏ Easier to test = more responsive, performant, and accessible experiences
๏ Useful reference = an essential resource and hub for best practices
๏ Future-friendly foundation = modify, extend, & improve upon over time
MAKING DESIGN SYSTEMS HAPPEN
WHO'S MAKING THE DESIGN SYSTEM?
https://flic.kr/p/cHPcBJ
https://flic.kr/p/KdvF6Z
https://flic.kr/p/cHPcBJ
DESIGN SYSTEM MAKERS
๏Have a birds-eye perspective of entire ecosystem
๏The ones responsible for maintaining the design system
๏Manage requests and approve changes
๏Work with users and business to make sure it’s addressing product needs
๏Need to establish a pattern-driven, cross-disciplinary workflow
https://flic.kr/p/KdvF6Z
DESIGN SYSTEM USERS
๏Provide an on-the-ground perspective focused on specific applications
๏May also be makers, separate development teams, junior-level developers,
partner agencies, external development shops, and/or other third-parties
๏Should coordinate with makers to make sure the system is addressing
their needs
๏May be widely distributed and process may be extremely waterfall
DESIGN SYSTEM TEAM MAKEUP
๏Essentially a product team
๏UX designer(s)
๏Visual designer(s)
๏Frontend developer(s)
๏Product manager(s)
๏QA(s)
https://medium.com/eightshapes-llc/team-models-for-scaling-a-design-system-2cf9d03be6a0
CENTRALIZED
https://medium.com/eightshapes-llc/team-models-for-scaling-a-design-system-2cf9d03be6a0
FEDERATED
https://medium.com/salesforce-ux/the-salesforce-team-model-for-scaling-a-design-system-d89c2a2d404b
CYCLICAL
The Design System informs our Product Design.
Our Product Design informs the Design System.
-Jina Anne
https://medium.com/salesforce-ux/the-salesforce-team-model-for-scaling-a-design-system-d89c2a2d404b
design systemproduct product
product
product
product
product
product
product
RESEARCH & USER INTERVIEWS
"You can probably carbon date our UIs 

based on the design."
"The main challenges are the existing thousands of
lines of code, acquisitions, and existing suite of
technologies that makes up a billion dollars a year.
We'd like to not lose that billion dollars."
"There's a lot of institutional knowledge here locked up
in people's heads. Slack channels are great, but it
becomes a scavenger hunt to find information about
how something's supposed to work."
"For a basic expand/collapse pattern, the devs spent 2
days going to different teams to find the code, then still
had to rebuild it themselves."
USER INTERVIEWS
๏ Round up a diverse group of stakeholders,users,and other
people who would impact/be impacted by a design system
๏ Talk about current workflow,pain points,hopes,fears,
dreams,frustrations,and other things that can influence
the success of the design project
๏ Latch onto poignant quotes and emerging themes
๏ Start shaping the story and key themes in preparation 

for kickoff
KICKOFF WORKSHOP
PRIORITIES EXERCISE
]
PRIORITIES WORKSHOP
๏ Discuss emerging themes from interviews and introduce
potential principles and tactics
๏ Give each person 3 votes for principles they care most about
๏ Discuss principles.What won?What lost?Why?
๏ Give each person 3 votes for tactics/features they care most
about.
๏ Goal is to align around a set of shared principles and priorities
for the design system
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
PROCESS PRODUCT
DESIGN SYSTEM PROCESS PRINCIPLES
๏ Make the best thing the 

easiest thing
๏ Design for “grab it quick”
efficiency
๏ Design for contribution 

and community
๏ Crowd-proof the markup
๏ Fit the workflow
๏ Just enough documentation
๏ Technology agnostic
๏ Embed the brand in the code
๏ Consistent, not homogenous
๏ Opinionated defaults
๏ Make people smarter just 

by using it
DESIGN SYSTEM PRODUCT PRINCIPLES
๏ Just enough interface
๏ Strong and direct
๏ Speed is a feature
๏ Adaptable density
๏ Safety always
๏ No tricks or stunts
๏ Recycle, reduce, reuse
PREPARING TO CREATE
INTRADISCIPLINARY INTERDISCIPLINARY
https://blog.sketchapp.com/introducing-libraries-and-smooth-corners-in-sketch-47-2abc5dfc1fb3
https://www.figma.com/
https://www.invisionapp.com/studio
https://github.com/bradfrost/frontend-guidelines-questionnaire
INTRADISCIPLINARY INTERDISCIPLINARY
comp production
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HUMAN
COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION
MINIMUM VIABLE ARTIFACTS
http://trentwalton.com/2011/07/14/content-choreography/
whiteboard
sketch working product
that tool you've
spent 7 years
mastering
>
https://airbnb.design/sketching-interfaces/
http://danmall.me/articles/designer-developer-workflow/
COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION
OVER DELIVERABLES
CREATING
ATOMIC DESIGN
ENTER KEYWORD
SEARCH THE SITE
SEARCH
ENTER KEYWORD
SEARCH THE SITE
SEARCH
ABSTRACT CONCRETE
The painter, when at a distance from the easel, can assess and analyze
the whole of the work from this vantage. He scrutinizes and listens,
chooses the next stroke to make, then approaches the canvas to do it.
Then, he steps back again to see what he’s done in relation to the
whole. It is a dance of switching contexts, a pitter-patter pacing across
the studio floor that produces a tight feedback loop between mark-
making and mark-assessing.
-Frank Chimero
http://read.shapeofdesignbook.com/chapter01.html
SYSTEM PRODUCT
complete chaos stifling rigidity


discipline
team
teams
department
company
humanity


discipline
team
teams
department
company
THANK YOU!@brad_frost bradfrost.com

Let's Work Together