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Design That Scales Cover

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Design That Scales

Creating a Sustainable Design System Practice

By Dan Mall

Published: November 2023
Paperback: 240 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-959029-21-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-959029-02-1

After years of building the same interface elements, some designers and developers get wise and try to create reusable, common solutions to help everyone stop reinventing the wheel every time. Most fail. In Design That Scales, design systems expert Dan Mall draws on his extensive experience helping some of the world’s most recognizable brands create design practices that are truly sustainable and successful.

Who Should Read This Book?

People who are building and maintaining design systems, large or small. Designers, engineers, and product managers who are in search of a more efficient way to work. Leaders and executives who want to effect change but aren’t sure how to do it. People who have designed web forms and tables, but don’t know what’s next.

Takeaways

  • A design system is crucial for any organization managing two or more digital products. Learn how to create, manage, and sustain a successful design system.
  • See how the ecosystem of a design system works in order to understand the context for success.
  • Figure out where the people involved in a design system fit and how they can best collaborate.
  • Learn the metrics for success within a design system and how to measure them.
  • Determine the best techniques for marketing your design system to stakeholders.
  • Learn what guidance and relationships are crucial for a design system to succeed.
  • See the end-of-chapter questions that highlight how to guide your design system to a profitable outcome.

After years of building the same interface elements, some designers and developers get wise and try to create reusable, common solutions to help everyone stop reinventing the wheel every time. Most fail. In Design That Scales, design systems expert Dan Mall draws on his extensive experience helping some of the world’s most recognizable brands create design practices that are truly sustainable and successful.

Who Should Read This Book?

People who are building and maintaining design systems, large or small. Designers, engineers, and product managers who are in search of a more efficient way to work. Leaders and executives who want to effect change but aren’t sure how to do it. People who have designed web forms and tables, but don’t know what’s next.

Takeaways

  • A design system is crucial for any organization managing two or more digital products. Learn how to create, manage, and sustain a successful design system.
  • See how the ecosystem of a design system works in order to understand the context for success.
  • Figure out where the people involved in a design system fit and how they can best collaborate.
  • Learn the metrics for success within a design system and how to measure them.
  • Determine the best techniques for marketing your design system to stakeholders.
  • Learn what guidance and relationships are crucial for a design system to succeed.
  • See the end-of-chapter questions that highlight how to guide your design system to a profitable outcome.

Testimonials

Table of Contents

Foreword by Meredith Black
Chapter 1: Why Design Systems?
Chapter 2: Design Systems Fundamentals
Chapter 3: The Parts of a Design System Product
Chapter 4: The Broken Business of “Buy-In”
Chapter 5: Pilots-The Best Way to Start and Sustain a Design System
Chapter 6: Governance and Contribution
Chapter 7: Roles and Responsibilities
Chapter 8: Process and Workflow for Design Systems
Chapter 9: Success Metrics for a Design System
Chapter 10: Evangelism Never Stops

Frequently Asked Questions

These common questions about online learning and design and their short answers are taken from Dan Mall’s book Design That Scales: Creating a Sustainable Design System Practice. You can find longer answers to each in your copy of the book, either printed or digital version.

What is a design system?
A design system can be many things: a visual language, a library of code snippets, a collection of artboards in a design tool, a way of doing design, and much more. In this book, I talk primarily about design systems as an organizational practice. Chapter 2, “Design System Fundamentals,” explores each of these kinds of design systems in more detail.

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Sample Chapter

This is a sample chapter from Dan Mall’s book Design That Scales: Creating a Sustainable Design System Practice. 2023, Rosenfeld Media.

Chapter 1: Why Design Systems?

Think about all the Google products you used today. Maybe you checked your email using Gmail during some early part of your day. Perhaps you drove to your office or to an appointment using Google Maps to help with directions. You probably needed more info about something, and you looked it up on Google Search, perhaps using Google Chrome. Maybe you collaborated with a colleague on a Google Doc or Google Sheet. Maybe you watched a video on YouTube. Maybe you did all of that on an Android mobile device.

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Illustrations