Do our design systems give new joiners anxiety?

Design Systems WTF

Design Systems WTF
Do our design systems give new joiners anxiety?
Feb 02, 2026 Season 2 Episode 48
zeroheight

Live recording of the fortnightly podcast Design Systems WTF (back for season two!), where Luke Murphy and Michelle Chin attempt to combat all the amazing wtf in design systems. In each episode, they answer a single question around design system troubles with a Q&A from the live audience.

Set the scene - you've joined a new company as a product designer or engineer, and you're confronted with a massive system, with custom naming and opaque decisions. Queue anxiety. So how do we make our design systems easy to understand, and make them a strength for onboarding new joiners?

Show notes

Episode Artwork Do our design systems give new joiners anxiety? 32:55 Episode Artwork What will happen in design systems in 2026? 39:41 Episode Artwork What's with the emotional baggage with design systems? 37:35 Episode Artwork Are we reducing complexity with design systems?? 32:01 Episode Artwork Episode 44 - Should we care about consistency? 46:53 Episode Artwork Are we finally at the point of contextual documentation? 39:44 Episode Artwork Can you actually measure the ROI of a component? 24:19 Episode Artwork Should designers know how to code? 29:45 Episode Artwork Are accessibility guidelines enough to be inclusive? 25:28 Episode Artwork Are design systems a dead end? 31:22 Episode Artwork How big is too big for a design system? 27:26 Episode Artwork When is OK to snowflake? 25:44 Episode Artwork How much is too much documentation? 27:01 Episode Artwork Where should design systems sit in your org? 29:41 Episode Artwork Should we get rid of infinite scroll? 27:41 Episode Artwork Do design systems make teams go faster? 29:11 Episode Artwork Why isn’t contribution the answer? 28:59 Episode Artwork Live from Converge 2025: When should we be using AI? 26:48 Episode Artwork Why aren’t people contributing to the design system? 30:12 Episode Artwork Where can AI actually help with design systems? 27:18 Episode Artwork Live from Hatch: Do we need to stop making components? 41:08 Episode Artwork Why do we need to care more about patterns? 26:48 Episode Artwork How should we version design systems? 26:09 Episode Artwork Has AI made everyone a designer? A spicy conversation with Pablo Stanley 29:49 Episode Artwork WTF happened at Config? 29:07