Summary
The talk centers on the Salesforce Lightning Design System and highlights how its success was driven by an organizational approach rather than just technological solutions. The speaker, who has a background in sociology, shares insights from interviews with various stakeholders within Salesforce to reveal three core themes: addressing user needs, cultivating trust, and proactive sharing. The implementation started as a grassroots, scrappy initiative driven by designers addressing real problems faced by customers and internal teams alike. Instead of a top-down approach, it evolved through collaboration, trust-building, and a culture of sharing and feedback. This involved recognizing internal conflicts between design and development, improving communication, and introducing effective design principles. The speaker concludes by addressing the challenges of managing rapid adoption and the future of design systems at Salesforce.
Key Insights
-
•
The Lightning Design System's success hinged on addressing real user problems rather than just system-wide issues.
-
•
Trust is crucial in collaborative environments, allowing teams to communicate effectively and resolve conflicts.
-
•
Sharing knowledge and progress with the entire organization fosters engagement and helps iterate on design systems faster.
-
•
Proactive feedback loops helped refine the design system by actively listening to criticism from developers and users.
-
•
A grassroots approach in initiating the design system outlined the importance of solving immediate, practical concerns first.
-
•
Evaluating design system functionality through traditional user research ensures practical usability before public release.
-
•
Bridging the gap between design intent and development execution was a key challenge addressed by the design system.
-
•
Salesforce's culture of transparency and sharing enhanced the internal understanding and adoption of the design system.
-
•
The use of design tokens streamlines processes and builds trust in design consistency and implementation.
-
•
Innovation often arises from solving specific internal and external organizational problems rather than broad, abstract challenges.
Notable Quotes
"I'm exceptionally qualified to talk about design systems because I've never used one."
"The birth of the design system at Salesforce was not a top-down event."
"We didn't foresee the adoption, both internally and externally."
"Trust in people and cultivate trust is what people needed to do."
"Building components quickly created living conversations."
"The challenge of managing the incredibly fast rate of adoption is ongoing."
"Making it open source established us as a community member."
"We need to address people's needs to initiate change."
"We are seen as the standard bearer of what the experience should be like for our customers."
"Design systems are only getting traction now and taking various forms."
More Videos
"We're humans having human experiences; community building has been happening for millions of years."
Jacqui FreyFlow and Superfluidity for Design Orgs
November 7, 2018
"Communication can either be sustenance or nourishment for you and your teams."
Laura Gatewood Laine ProkayBeyond Buzzwords: Adding Heart to Effective Slack Communication
September 23, 2024
"Metrics are crucial; they tell us what people pay attention to."
Johanna KollmannInsights-Driven Product Strategy: Get your Research to Count
December 6, 2022
"We want to make sure you are feeling loved, supported, and excited about the outstanding content we have today."
Bria AlexanderDay 3 Welcome
September 25, 2024
"It's really important to create educational content for an audience like yours."
Billy CarlsonIdeation tips for Product Managers
December 6, 2022
"It’s crucial to bridge connections between different teams to avoid siloed insights and foster collaboration."
Catherine DubutBridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design
March 18, 2021
"Creating intentional moments for connection is essential for a geographically distributed team."
Kim Holt Emma Wylds Pearl Koppenhaver Maisee XiongA Salesforce Panel Discussion on Values-Driven DesignOps
September 8, 2022
"When you experience problems with different disciplines, keep Sturgeon's biases in mind."
Adrian HowardSturgeon’s Biases
September 25, 2024
"Good time zone everyone."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023
