Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Building a New Home for the Atlassian Design System
Thursday, October 22, 2020 • Enterprise Community
Share the love for this talk
Building a New Home for the Atlassian Design System
Speakers: Charles Lee and Jennie Yip
Link:

Summary

Having a design system is a de facto necessity when building cohesive enterprise software. The challenge is how does it all come together with a single location, a source of truth, a website? How does a cross-functional team marshal the resources with political and technical willpower to achieve this goal? It’s no easy feat as Jennie Yip, Atlassian design systems lead, explains in this Medium essay. This fireside chat will dig deeper into the problems addressed and lessons learned, with Jennie and also Charles Lee, the engineering lead. Hearing their stories will inspire and inform all of us in our design system journeys. We hope you will join us!

Key Insights

  • Multiple sources of truth in design systems cause inconsistencies and confusion, as seen with the button component font weight differences across specs, design files, and code.

  • Design systems should treat code as the source of truth while making design tools like Figma an integrated extension of that truth.

  • The Constellation project aims to create a single, consistent destination for design and development documentation, consolidating 50+ guidelines and 27 out of 60 components.

  • Collaboration between designers and engineers early in the process is critical to align priorities, avoid scope creep, and build trust.

  • Governance in design systems works best as shared execution through community trust and enabling teams, rather than policing or harsh compliance enforcement.

  • Workshops and detailed documentation are essential for onboarding new team members quickly and preserving knowledge amid team changes.

  • Live code examples embedded in documentation reduce maintenance burdens and ensure consumers always see current component behavior.

  • Versioning pace needs balancing—too frequent releases burden product teams trying to keep up and can hinder adoption.

  • Research methods like card sorting and usability testing directly influence information architecture and navigation improvements in the new documentation.

  • Buy-in from leadership and stakeholders grew through repeated demos and a unified team vision, highlighting the value and reducing skepticism over time.

Notable Quotes

"We kept feeling the same consistent pain around some truths for our design system."

"Kate said she considers live code to be the source of truth because she can't trust the design site due to inconsistencies."

"Code is definitely considered the source of truth; we're working hard to make Figma an extension of that."

"Governance is not policing; we're here to help you create the best experience and save time."

"Workshops often reveal gaps in documentation, which is a spicy take but true."

"It's really about finding a way to link all the different aspects to bring everything together to tell the story."

"Continuous adaptation is key; you're adapting to the system as much as adopting it."

"If you can't get buy-in for collaboration between engineers and designers, start from the bottom and talk more early and often."

"Updating and adopting design system components is company time, so a slower release schedule helps teams keep up."

"We absolutely need feedback loops so engineers and designers can influence the design system and keep it relevant."

Ask the Rosenbot
Brian T. O’Neill
Does Designing and Researching Data Products Powered by ML/AI and Analytics Call for New UX Methods?
2022 • QuantQual Interest Group
Marisa Bernstein
It Takes GRIT: Lessons from the Small, but Mighty World of Civic Usability Testing
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
B. Pagels-Minor
Breaking the Tension: The Power of Enabling Your Employees to Show Up Authentically
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Daniel J. Rosenberg
Digital Medicine Design
2019 • Enterprise Community
Bria Alexander
Day 2 Welcome
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Verónica Urzúa
The B-side of the Research Impact
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Husani Oakley
Theme Three Intro
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Max Gadney
Assessing UX jobs for impact in climate
2024 • Climate UX Interest Group
Sam Proulx
Understanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Ted Neward
Theme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Kyria Stephens
Power to Heal: Civic Design in the Aftermath of Tragedy
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Convergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Andrea Gallagher
The Problem Space
2019 • Advancing Research Community
Iram Shah
Closing Keynote: The View from the Top
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Sarah Fathallah
Lessening the Research Burden on Vulnerable Communities
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Jon Fukuda
Theme One Intro
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold

More Videos

Ned Dwyer

"It’s not always a charismatic repository that people flock to, but tools that seek you out where you work are more effective."

Ned Dwyer Emily Stewart James Wallis

The Intersection of Design and ResearchOps

September 24, 2024

Michael Land

"The biggest bottleneck is the bureaucracy, like the Paperwork Reduction Act, we have to creatively navigate that."

Michael Land

Establishing Design Operations in Government

February 18, 2021

Sam Proulx

"With cloud apps, users don’t get to choose when to upgrade, which challenges maintaining accessibility continuity."

Sam Proulx

To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility

November 18, 2022

Vasileios Xanthopoulos

"Before, UX was usually brought in very late and expected to just put lipstick on a pig."

Vasileios Xanthopoulos

A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach to User-Centric Maturity at Scale

January 8, 2024

Andrew Custage

"A poor experience on a web visit isn’t out of sight, out of mind; it impacts their entire history with the brand."

Andrew Custage Michael Mallett

The Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty

March 29, 2023

Marjorie Stainback

"By limiting our classes to six or seven students, we could give better quality feedback."

Marjorie Stainback Kelsey Kingman

Transforming Strategic Research Capacity through Democratization

October 24, 2019

Alla Weinberg

"Disconnection is the breeding ground for conflict."

Alla Weinberg

Cross-Functional Relationship Design

December 6, 2022

Jerome “Axle” Brown

"Before sharing insights, I try to prime the room by acknowledging feelings and starting fresh."

Jerome “Axle” Brown

How to Use Self-Directed Learning to Ensure Your Research Insights are Heard and Acted Upon

March 11, 2021

Jen Crim

"If you want to have tattoos, you can have tattoos and show them."

Jen Crim Jess Quittner Saritha Kattekola Alex Karr Gurbani Pahwa

Culture, DIBS & Recruiting

June 11, 2021