Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Organizing Chaos: How IBM is Defining Design Systems with Sketch for an Ever-Changing AI Landscape

Gold
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Share the love for this talk
Organizing Chaos: How IBM is Defining Design Systems with Sketch for an Ever-Changing AI Landscape
Speakers: Mitchell Bernstein
Link:

Summary

Defining a design system that’s adaptable, modular and more importantly, future proof, is a monumental task. With several years of contributing to their design system and software suite, Mitchell Bernstein, AI Design Lead, will go through IBM’s experience on this topic, sharing key takeaways about their evolving Carbon Design System. Mitchell will also dive into details on how to adapt any design system to complex, AI-powered software with the help of Sketch.

Key Insights

  • Design systems at IBM function as an evolving language connecting decisions across teams and products, enabling consistent yet adaptable experiences.

  • Governance of IBM's Carbon design system includes core maintainers, design systems asset guilds, and an oversight implementation team ensuring quality and priorities.

  • Five principles guide pattern creation: focus on user needs, reproducibility, consistency, flexibility, and extendability to maintain effectiveness over time.

  • Sketch was pivotal in IBM's ability to build scalable, reusable component libraries accessible to thousands of products and millions of users.

  • Product teams must know when to break away from the design system to address unique use cases, injecting controlled innovation back into the system.

  • IBM uses the loop cycle—observe, reflect, make—as a fundamental process for tackling unknown technology and user needs iteratively.

  • The complementary Watson Moments design system helps integrate experimental AI features into existing digital products alongside the core Carbon system.

  • AI ethics are prioritized through dedicated educational modules to prepare designers and developers for the responsibility of AI decision-making on users.

  • Automated AI tools like AutoAI include bias detection and correction mechanisms, designed through detailed Sketch visualizations by IBM's design team.

  • Effective communication across multidisciplinary teams using shared tools like Sketch is critical as product quality reflects the quality of team collaboration.

Notable Quotes

"Design systems are the language of implementation; they allow us to communicate ideas in a common format and process."

"Every decision in a design system is like a puzzle piece; together they form a bigger picture that evolves over time."

"Previously, IBM designers were inventing their own buttons for every product, which exasperated chaos and inconsistency."

"Carbon is just the starting point for what can be imagined. We're hired for our expertise to adapt, not just follow directions."

"Discomfort and growth cannot coexist. You have to embrace discomfort to push innovation forward."

"When you get stuck, fall back to the loop: observe, reflect, and make. Get out and talk to users."

"Sketch made it possible to build a scalable library that millions of customers rely on with just a couple clicks."

"AI decision-making on behalf of billions of people isn’t just scary; it’s terrifying and dangerous, so ethics must be embedded."

"We’re literally using AI to help AI build AI, including bias detection and correction in the process."

"The product is the reflection of how well teams communicate. Without clear communication, success is impossible."

Ask the Rosenbot
Josh Clark
Sentient Scenes and Radically Adaptive Experiences
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Kate Towsey
Shaping the future of research ops: Expanding roles and strategies for a more integrated research ecosystem
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Noreen Whysel
Short Take #4: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
John Devanney
The Design Management Office
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Anna Poznyakov
Get The Most Out Of Stakeholder Collaboration—and Maximize Your Research Impact
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
David Cronin
The GE Design System and Thoughts about Craft at Scale
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Joy KendiMwiti
Deciding when to automate: Integrating AI in high-stakes systems
2026 • Designing with AI 2026
Conference
Victor Udoewa
Research in the Pluriverse
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Megan Blocker
Day 2 Theme Panel
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Matt Stone
Scaling Empathy, A Case Study in Change Management
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Dan Willis
Enterprise Storytelling Sessions
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Dan Willis
Filling the Void
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Cara Maritz
The Art of Extrapolation
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
Leading through the long tail of trauma
2022 • Enterprise Community
Surya Vanka
Unleashing Swarm Creativity to Solve Enterprise Challenges
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Bria Alexander
Reflect and Chart Forward
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold

More Videos

Bob Baxley

"Design-led does not need design-led—meaning leadership should push design mindset beyond just the design function."

Bob Baxley

Theme 4: Intro

January 8, 2024

Kurt McCulloch

"The core question UX researchers ask is did we solve the right problem for the user, while PMs ask did the metric move."

Kurt McCulloch

Faster alone, further together: Rebuilding collaboration in the age of AI research

March 10, 2026

Irina Tikhonova

"If you fix the problems for marginalized communities, you really fix them for everyone."

Irina Tikhonova Kari Dietrich

Small Wins, Big Impact: Leveraging and Elevating User Engagement

December 9, 2021

Renee Bouwens

"It’s either too late in the product cycle and we’re wasting money because we find usability issues after development."

Renee Bouwens

Landing Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products

December 15, 2023

Nalini P. Kotamraju

"The design system started as a scrappy corner initiative of designers doing the right thing."

Nalini P. Kotamraju

An Organizational Story: Salesforce Lightning Design System

June 9, 2016

Changying (Z) Zheng

"AI helped me produce nearly 80 posts in a year; without AI, that pace would be impossible."

Changying (Z) Zheng

Practical DesignOps: From Ideas to Tools That Teams Actually Use

September 25, 2025

Rachael Dietkus, LCSW

"Design by means letting the people we serve lead the process and ourselves to drop our egos and let go."

Rachael Dietkus, LCSW Victor Udoewa Jennifer Strickland

Everything You Need to Know about the Civic Design 2022 Call for Presentations

May 17, 2022

Roberta Dombrowski

"A story has a beginning that sets the scene, a middle with rising action, and an end with resolution—this structure applies well to sharing insights."

Roberta Dombrowski Sam Duong Woloszynski

Making Research a Team Sport

March 11, 2022

Megan Blocker

"Fall in love with the problem, not the solution."

Megan Blocker Mujtaba Hameed Victor Udoewa

Panel: Excellence in Impact

March 25, 2024