Dan Mall – Make Design Systems People Want to Use

A 12-episode video course to help managers, directors, and practitioners understand design systems as a software product. UI Kits, Component Library, and Design Systems. Designer + Developer Workflow

You spent days, weeks, or even months putting together a library of common components that other teams could use. You sent it around to a few other teams to try out. And then…

Crickets. No reply. No one used it. Wait, you did get one reply, but they said they needed a few other things that weren’t in your library.

“If you build it, they will come” doesn’t work here. It takes a specific process and mindset to make a design system that actually gets used. SuperFriendly founder and CEO Dan Mall will walk you through the difference between component libraries and true design systems, new workflows for tighter collaboration between designers and engineers, how to measure success, and a lot more.

What You’ll Learn In Make Design Systems People Want to Use

Lesson 1

Section 1: Design System Fundamentals

1. Welcome + About the Instructor
2. True Design Systems
3. Component Libraries vs. Design Systems

Lesson 2

Section 2: Process & Workflow with Design Systems

1. Avoiding Design System Graveyards
2. Pilots — The Best Way to Start and Grow a Design System
3. Embracing Front-End Development
4. Designer + Developer Workflow
5. Staffing a Design System Team

Lesson 3

Section 3: Measuring Success with Design Systems

1. Standard Design System Success Metrics
2. Custom Success Metrics for Your Design Systems
3. Evangelism Never Stops
4. Wrapping Up

About Author

Hi friend! I’m Dan Mall, a husband, dad, teacher, creative director, designer, founder, and entrepreneur from Philly. I share as much as I can to create better opportunities for those who wouldn’t have them otherwise. Most recently, I ran design system consultancy SuperFriendly for over a decade. Now I’m trying to share as much of what I’ve learned to help designers get the respect they deserve. Currently creating Design System University.

My Pakistani dad and Filipina mom both emigrated to the U.S., where they met and I was born. I grew up in north Philadelphia. It wasn’t a bad neighborhood, but it wasn’t a good one either. And we weren’t poor, but we weren’t rich either. I watched my parents work hard as an accountant and a nurse to continually raise the standard of living for my brother and me to give us all a better life.

I grew up playing music, drawing, reading comic books, and watching Disney movies. When I was 8, my dad bought us a computer. When I was 12, a relative dropped off some pirated copies of Photoshop and Flash. When I got to college, I discovered design.

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