Guy Segal is a design leader with over 25 years of experience in the tech industry. He specializes in UX, product design, and DesignOps. He is the Director of Design + Design Systems at Thomson Reuters. Leveraging his passion for design leadership and people management, Guy has a proven track record of fostering innovation and collaboration within design teams, establishing and nurturing design practices, and leading teams to success. Guy’s expertise extends to various domains, including product, UX, and service design, as well as a strong web and UI development background. In recent years, Guy has focused extensively on designing systems, establishing and growing teams around the practice, and launching systems that optimize efficiency and enhance user experiences.

About Thomson Reuters

• Company size: 25K+

• Design system team: 20+

Thomson Reuters is a global information and news services company formed in 2008 through the merger of Thomson Corporation and Reuters Group. It is headquartered in Toronto and provides professional information services across legal (Westlaw), tax and accounting, news (Reuters), and corporate compliance sectors. The company operates in over 100 countries on a subscription-based model. It has been transforming from traditional publishing to a technology-driven information provider with increasing investments in AI and digital solutions.

🤩 Key Takeaways:

• Thomson Reuters is a global company with diverse applications

• Saffron (their design system) was developed to unify various design systems

• Design system ambassadors

• Design is 90% communication

• Prioritizing user needs

• Adoption strategies

• Training and documentation

• The future of design systems

• Managing expectations with design systems

• Commitment to Accessibility

• Measuring success and adoption

Thank you, Guy, for such an honest and insightful conversation. 😍 The world needs more design leaders like you—calm, thoughtful, and experienced—not only leading with intention but also taking time to mentor and teach. 🤩

Enjoy the episode. ✌️

▶️ Watch on Youtube

Apple Podcasts

Robin Di Capua is currently UX Lead (Design Systems) at Swisscom. He has worked as a designer for almost 16 years after getting a bachelor's in computer science and a master's in digital design. After working in a startup for the first 6.5 years, he joined Swisscom, the biggest telecommunication company in Switzerland. After being a consumer and then a contributor to the design system, he took the role of UX Lead for the design system team for the last 3.5 years.

About Swissom

• Company size: 19’000+

• Design teams: around 60 designers spread across multiple teams/departments (B2C, B2B, Brand, Entertainment, Infrastructure)

• Design System team size: 6 full-time + 2 interns at the moment

• People using design system (or team using design system): 700+ people between devs and designers, plus external agencies

🤩 Key Takeaways:

• Why design systems aren't what most people think they are

• How to sell the idea of the design system in a large organization

• The controversial truth about "design by committee"

• How design systems expose uncomfortable organizational realities

• The hidden skill gap between product designers and system designers

• Why federated models often fail despite good intentions

• The untapped potential of AI in design system workflows

• Maintaining system vision amid competing team demands

• What Robin would change if he could go back in time

Thank you, Robin, for taking us on an inside tour. 🤩 You shared so many valuable insights from your design system journey at Swisscom! Your candid perspective on the challenges of implementing a design system in a large organization is invaluable for our community. From the grassroots beginnings to scaling adoption across departments, wow! Enjoy the episode ▶️

▶️ Watch on Youtube →

Apple Podcasts

Valentin Grudnik is a Design System Lead at Better. Building components and collaborating with designers and developers from product teams to push the Better Design System into use in the most complex applications in the healthcare domain.

Takeaways

• Better is a healthcare IT company

• The design system evolved from a conceptual video

• Accessibility standards are crucial

• Design tokens were developed through workshops and collaboration with stakeholders.

• Automation, AI

• Product teams and user testing

• Problems with Angular

• Measuring design system success is essential.

• Encouraging component use

Valentin shared so many useful tools and suggestions, I’m sure the episode is helpful for anyone in design systems. 🔥

🎥 Watch on Youtube →

Apple Podcasts

Taylor Cashdan is a North Carolina-based multidisciplinary creative and community builder that’s passionate about people, design, and all the intersections in between. He has a burning desire to collaborate with others to create exceptional work for people who give a shit.

With nearly a decade’s worth of experience, Taylor currently spends his workdays leading the next evolution of the Mayo Clinic’s design system program. Previous roles include a variety of in-house positions within the management consulting realm, ad-tech, and HBO all focusing on brand and marketing maturation, as well as leading fintech UX projects, contributing to and consulting for established design systems, and leading design standardization and operations efforts.

Takeaways

• The pilot focuses on testing a small set of components.

• Learning from other departments can streamline processes.

• User testing is integrated into the design process at Mayo Clinic.

• Privacy and security are paramount in healthcare design.

• The design system is built on a foundation of research and data.

• All about three-week sprints

• The approach emphasizes code as the source of truth.

• Engaging with the community enhances design system relevance.

• Healthcare is evolving with AI, improving patient outcomes.

• Sentiment analysis helps align design with user needs.

• Work-life balance is crucial in remote work environments.

• Tools

I’m sure you will love this episode, because Taylor shared soooooo many insights per minute. 🔥 Enjoy ✌️

🎥 Watch on Youtube →

Apple Podcasts

Davy Fung is designing for internal tools at scale. His operational mastery has streamlined the design process, from documentation to release, enhancing product quality and user experience. Davy has significantly improved design component adoption and efficiency through qualitative research and quantitative metrics. He's the accessibility champion, setting standards for inclusivity and usability in design.

With a knack for navigating business transitions and a dedication to design excellence, Davy's leadership over the past two years has not only fostered team growth but has also set a new benchmark in design system management. His blend of technical skill, strategic thinking, and a positive team approach makes him an invaluable asset to Meta.

Takeaways:

🌟 Internal design system vs consumer facing design system

🛠️ Custom security-first tools

⭐️ Design tokens

🤖 AI handles the boring stuff

🧩 File performance and how to make it better

🔍 Kill unused components

👥 Fixatons + Hackathons are surprisingly effective

🎯 One core system, many more others

🎥 Watch on Youtube →

Apple Podcasts

🎥 Watch on Youtube →

Tiago Almeida is a design systems expert currently working at Volvo. With a background in industrial design, Tiago brings a unique perspective to bridging the gap between design and engineering. He is passionate about collaboration, accessibility, and using tools like Figma to craft scalable and efficient design systems.

Tiago has a wealth of experience from managing component inventories to implementing design tokens, tackling challenges in naming conventions, and ensuring seamless onboarding for new designers. He’s also deeply invested in the future of design systems, exploring AI, automation, and community engagement to push the boundaries of the field.

Takeaways:

🚗 How design systems drive efficiency at Volvo.

🤝 Collaboration between design and engineering is critical.

🎨 Mastering component naming and management in Figma.

🔑 Stakeholder buy-in can make or break a design system.

📐 Design tokens are essential for consistency across platforms.

🌍 The role of AI and automation in the future of design systems.

📚 Onboarding strategies for new designers.

🌟 The importance of community and mentorship in design.

🎥 Watch on Youtube →

Apple Podcasts

📹 Full episode

Takeaways:

🔹 Nokia is providing network solutions.

🔹 Maintaining consistency.

🔹 Collaboration between designers and developers

🔹 Documentation and communication are key challenges

🔹 Prioritizing components, organizing design files

🔹 Using design tokens vs variables

🔹 Figma Analytics

🔹 A design system is not just a local library

🔹 Understanding user needs

🔹 Complexity is easy; simplicity is the challenge.

🔹 You don't have to depend on tools.

Useful tools mentioned:

🔗 Main Website: nokia.com

🔗 Friends of Figma Portugal: https://friends.figma.com/portugal/

🔗 Supernova https://www.supernova.io/

🔗 Storybook: storybook.js.org

🔗 Tokens Studio https://tokens.studio/

🔗 Figma Analytics

🌎 Official website

📹 Youtube (@designsystemguide)

📹 Tik Tok (@designsystemguide)

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I spoke with Alexander Fandén, Agoda's Design System Lead.

He leads a 17-member team supporting over 7,000 employees. We explored managing a mature design system and keeping it effective.

Our discussion covered:

🔹 The need for internal education to promote the design system.

🔹 How seven years of work shaped Agoda's design system.

🔹 The importance of A/B testing for design changes. 🔹 Balancing standard components with the need for customization.

🔹 A special boot camp to onboard new designers.

🔹 The value of clear naming in design.

🔹 The role of intuition in design decisions.

🔹 What is active adoption? And so much more…

🌎 Official website

📹 Youtube

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