A “single source of truth”—and other Design System lies

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

May 06, 2024

“In April, Supernova held a ‘State of Design Tokens 2024’ webinar panel with design system experts Donnie D’Amato, Jacob Miller, and Kathleen McMahon. Before long, the topic of ‘A Single Source of Truth’ for design tokens came up, and some people disagreed on what that meant. Opinions fell into one of three main assertions.”

A “single source of truth”—and other Design System lies →

Building a new app or website? You don't have to reinvent the wheel →
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Editor picks

Rewriting the narrative of success →
Unlearning hard work and finding self-love.
How I interview product designers →
Not every candidate is a good match.
Inspiring women in UX →
Leading with purpose.

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.

What does a head of typography do? →

Make me think

The polish paradox →
“Polish is a word that gets thrown out in conversations about craft, quality, and beauty. We talk about it at the end of the design process, before the work goes out the door: let’s polish this up. Let’s do a polish sprint. Could this use more polish?”
Design is not art, but do not forget the artist within you →
“That's what, from my standpoint, we are losing in the world of design. That personality, that soul, that imprint of whoever creates it. The inflexibility in following the rules and breaking them, following defined standards, affects creativity and uniqueness.”
This web of ours, revisited →
“To view your masterpiece the way most users experienced it, and at the syrup-slow speed with which they experienced it, was to have an awakening or a nightmare—depending on your empathy quotient.”

Little gems this week

The rise of genAI-driven design patterns →

Mitigating hate speech online using AI →

The Airchat hype: what happened to Clubhouse? →

Tools and resources

Behavior change theory →
How to design for change.
Designing accessible forms in 10 steps →
Practical tips you can apply right away.
How to archive your design system →
Why preserving design decisions, not visual components, matters most.