Knapsack Blog | Design system blog: news, tips, insights, and more

Design Systems

Design system resources for advanced practitioners

If you want to learn about design systems, there’s an endless list of resources at your disposal. This garden of resources, however, has a downside: uncertain quality. As a senior practitioner, you can’t risk trusting the wrong sources. That’s why we’ve put together a collection of resources vetted by design system experts.

March 20, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

What do design system product managers do?

Maya Hampton, Product Manager of REI's design system Cedar, wrote a follow-up to her episode of the Design Systems Podcast. Read on to discover what the product manager of a leading design system does and how she makes an impact.

Mar 20, 2021

Maya Hampton

Design Systems

Using one design system to manage dozens of products with Intuit's Leonardo De La Rocha

Leonardo De La Rocha and Chris discuss the “federated” design system model, how to connect design systems to business needs, designing friction-free cross-platform experiences, and C-suite awareness of design needs.

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

Supporting inclusive form design with design systems

Form design isn’t a nice-to-have; they come up often and are carefully curated to get the right information at the right time. But when forms involve players from multiple teams, priorities can get mixed up and inclusion can fall to the wayside.

Mar 20, 2021

Max Masure

Design Systems

Audrey Tan from Xero: Creating a long-lasting design system vision

Audrey and Chris discuss the vision guiding Xero’s design system team, how co-ownership helps design system teams thrive, the processes she uses for managing a global team, and how the Xero design system team approaches modernization.

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

The link between accessibility and design systems

Accessible design and design systems are both more than just good design practice—they're good business. How can we build design systems that support accessible design practices?

May 7, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Accessibility

Jess Clark from LinkedIn: Old tech, new tech

Jess Clark and Chris discuss the meaning of design systems and the potential of design systems as a service. What can design systems offer us beyond infrastructure? How can approaching design systems as products, rather than repositories, increase their capabilities?

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

Deep dive on tokens with Adam Argyle from Google: How do you codify composition?

This episode is a little bit longer—okay, a lot longer—than our usual. Chrome developer advocate Adam Argyle and Chris Strahl talk about tokens in all their glory without worrying about time limits. If you’ve ever wondered about the limits of tokens and what’s left to explore in the token stratosphere, check out this transcript.

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

Thoughts on accessibility considerations in design systems

Design systems and pattern-based design are accessibility's best friends. By setting accessibility standards early, you can ensure products that meet high accessibility standards all the time.

May 7, 2021

Michael J. Fordham

Accessibility

Maya Hampton from REI: Pattern-based thinking on all levels

Maya Hampton, product manager of REI's design system, joined Knapsack CEO Chris Strahl to discuss why design systems need to be flexible, the role of a product manager in a design system, and viewing design systems as products.

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

Why accessible documentation is a must for design systems

Writing accessible documentation makes design systems easier to use, manage, and scale. Committing to writing accessible documentation isn’t just good practice; it’s good business. Read on to understand why accessible documentation is important for your design system and how it will benefit your workflow.

Mar 20, 2021

Soren Hamby

Design Systems

Meet Knapsack's new Figma integration

Knapsack's new Figma integration turns your color styles to design tokens—in code. Learn how our plugin will make designer-dev collaboration easy.

Mar 30, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Announcements

Version control best practices for design systems

Version control is a well-known best practice for developers; now we're welcoming it to design systems. Here's how to keep your design system impactful and up-to-date using version control.

Mar 20, 2021

Michael J. Fordham

Design Systems

Insights from Gartner’s design system effectiveness report

Tl;dr: “By 2025, over half of all new digital products globally will be traceable to a platform-based or open-source design system.” Get on board.

Apr 2, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Insights

Building design system communities with Jehad Affoneh and Scott Mathis

In episode 30 of the Design Systems Podcast, Jehad Affoneh, Scott Mathis, and Chris discuss the advantages of open-source, the role of content in design systems, the pattern-based approach to building apps, and similarities between music and tokens.

Apr 28, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Podcast

Six insights into design tokens

We spoke to experts from some of the world's most advanced design systems about design tokens: best practices, potential advances, and their importance to the design systems community. Our findings are packaged in a downloadable report.

Mar 20, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Design Tokens

What's pattern-based thinking, and what does it have to do with design systems?

To get the most out of a design system, we need to make sure it's built to last. Utilizing pattern-based thinking is key to creating a reusable, impactful design system.

Apr 28, 2021

Will Harris

Patterns

Why your voice and tone guide belongs in your design system

Design systems should be your organization's central source of truth for all brand elements—including voice and tone.

Mar 20, 2021

Joel Edelman

Design Systems

Welcome to the Knapsack blog: letter from the editor

Knapsack’s mission is to change the way people think about digital products while being excellent humans along the way. As part of that mission, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Knapsack’s design system publication.

Mar 30, 2021

Shayna Hodkin

Announcements

Is pattern-based thinking the new design thinking?

Design thinking was revolutionary—but it's not perfect. Pattern-based thinking is the solution.

Apr 28, 2021

Will Harris

Patterns

Knapsack presents

Design System Insights

Design system resources for advanced practitioners

What do design system product managers do?

Maya Hampton, Product Manager of REI's design system Cedar, wrote a follow-up to her episode of the Design Systems Podcast. Read on to discover what the product manager of a leading design system does and how she makes an impact.

Using one design system to manage dozens of products with Intuit's Leonardo De La Rocha

Leonardo De La Rocha and Chris discuss the “federated” design system model, how to connect design systems to business needs, designing friction-free cross-platform experiences, and C-suite awareness of design needs.

Supporting inclusive form design with design systems

Form design isn’t a nice-to-have; they come up often and are carefully curated to get the right information at the right time. But when forms involve players from multiple teams, priorities can get mixed up and inclusion can fall to the wayside.

Audrey Tan from Xero: Creating a long-lasting design system vision

Audrey and Chris discuss the vision guiding Xero’s design system team, how co-ownership helps design system teams thrive, the processes she uses for managing a global team, and how the Xero design system team approaches modernization.

The link between accessibility and design systems

Accessible design and design systems are both more than just good design practice—they're good business. How can we build design systems that support accessible design practices?

Jess Clark from LinkedIn: Old tech, new tech

Jess Clark and Chris discuss the meaning of design systems and the potential of design systems as a service. What can design systems offer us beyond infrastructure? How can approaching design systems as products, rather than repositories, increase their capabilities?

Deep dive on tokens with Adam Argyle from Google: How do you codify composition?

Thoughts on accessibility considerations in design systems

Design systems and pattern-based design are accessibility's best friends. By setting accessibility standards early, you can ensure products that meet high accessibility standards all the time.

Maya Hampton from REI: Pattern-based thinking on all levels

Maya Hampton, product manager of REI's design system, joined Knapsack CEO Chris Strahl to discuss why design systems need to be flexible, the role of a product manager in a design system, and viewing design systems as products.

Why accessible documentation is a must for design systems

Meet Knapsack's new Figma integration

Knapsack's new Figma integration turns your color styles to design tokens—in code. Learn how our plugin will make designer-dev collaboration easy.

Version control best practices for design systems

Version control is a well-known best practice for developers; now we're welcoming it to design systems. Here's how to keep your design system impactful and up-to-date using version control.

Insights from Gartner’s design system effectiveness report

Tl;dr: “By 2025, over half of all new digital products globally will be traceable to a platform-based or open-source design system.” Get on board.

Building design system communities with Jehad Affoneh and Scott Mathis

In episode 30 of the Design Systems Podcast, Jehad Affoneh, Scott Mathis, and Chris discuss the advantages of open-source, the role of content in design systems, the pattern-based approach to building apps, and similarities between music and tokens.

Six insights into design tokens

We spoke to experts from some of the world's most advanced design systems about design tokens: best practices, potential advances, and their importance to the design systems community. Our findings are packaged in a downloadable report.

What's pattern-based thinking, and what does it have to do with design systems?

To get the most out of a design system, we need to make sure it's built to last. Utilizing pattern-based thinking is key to creating a reusable, impactful design system.

Why your voice and tone guide belongs in your design system

Design systems should be your organization's central source of truth for all brand elements—including voice and tone.

Welcome to the Knapsack blog: letter from the editor

Knapsack’s mission is to change the way people think about digital products while being excellent humans along the way. As part of that mission, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Knapsack’s design system publication.

Is pattern-based thinking the new design thinking?

Design thinking was revolutionary—but it's not perfect. Pattern-based thinking is the solution.