In this podcast episode, Rob Ocel chats with Kathleen McMahon, a senior design systems engineer at Northwestern Mutual and a key contributor to the W3C Design Tokens Community Group.
Kathleen McMahon kicks off the conversation by defining design systems as versatile collections of patterns and efficiencies that streamline workflows in design and engineering. She emphasizes that design systems can encompass diverse elements, such as design patterns, component libraries, CSS frameworks, and more, tailored to the unique needs of a company or product. The focus isn't on rigidity but rather on promoting consistency and efficiency while allowing flexibility for innovation.
The dialogue then shifts to Kathleen's role as a design systems engineer and the dynamic nature of her work, influenced by factors like team size and company maturity. Kathleen shares her experiences in both small, multifaceted teams and larger, specialized teams at Northwestern Mutual. She provides insights into the varied responsibilities, from creating design tokens and components to ensuring accessibility and collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
Rob and Kathleen delve into the invaluable role of design systems in simplifying workflows for designers and developers. Kathleen highlights how design systems liberate creative energy by offering reusable patterns, enabling teams to focus on solving more complex problems. They also explore the strategic decision of whether to build a design system within a specific framework or keep it framework-agnostic, shedding light on the considerations and potential challenges associated with third-party component libraries.
The episode culminates with a discussion of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) and its pivotal role in enhancing accessibility within design systems. Kathleen discusses the opportunities and challenges of leveraging libraries like Adobe's React ARIA hooks for accessibility.
This episode is sponsored by This Dot Labs.
Modern Web Podcast S10E24- Unbelievable Transformation: How CodePen Revolutionized Web Development with Co-Founder Chris Coyier
Modern Web Podcast S10E23- The Secrets of Software Reliability: A Proactive Approach for Seamless User Experiences with Maggie Johnson-Pint
Modern Web Podcast S10E22- The Ultimate TypeScript ESLint Hacks with Josh Goldberg
Modern Web Podcast S10E21- Unleashing Hot Takes with Tailwind CSS and Exploring the Web Components Revolution
Modern Web Podcast S10E20- From Rocks to Code: An Extraordinary Journey to Developer Advocacy with Michelle Mannering
S10E19 Modern Web Podcast- Unlocking Success with Scott Tolinski: From Side Project to Full-Time YouTube Career
S10E18 Modern Web Podcast- Software Testing Strategies and Real User Engagement with Andrew Knight
S10E17 Modern Web Podcast- Exploring Svelte 4 with Kevin Åberg Kultalahti: Performance, Compatibility, & Web Component Support
S10E16 Modern Web Podcast- What’s All the Hype Around Signals? ft. Ben Lesh & Ryan Carniato
S10E15 Modern Web Podcast- Automated Testing with Playwright ft. Debbie O’Brien
S10E14 Modern Web Podcast- What is an Engineering Manager Anyway? with Rick Conrades
S10E13 Modern Web Podcast- The Day-to-Day of Developer Advocacy with Sam Julien
S10E12 Modern Web Podcast- State Machines for your Mind with Jenny Truong
S10E11 Modern Web Podcast- Maintaining a Successful Open-source Project with Dominik Dorfmeister
S10E10 Modern Web Podcast- Building the TanStack with Tanner Linsley
S10E09 Modern Web Podcast- Being Yourself, For Fun And Profit ft. Trecia Kat
S10E08 Modern Web Podcast- Understanding Svelte and Ramping Up from React ft. Scott Spence
S10E07 Modern Web Podcast- Native Apps with Embedded Web Technologies ft. Alyssa Nicoll
S10E06 Modern Web Podcast- Deep Learning about React Native and AI with Gant Laborde
S10E05 Modern Web Podcast- Making Your Websites ”Qwik” with Shai Reznik
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Insight Story: Tech Trends Unpacked
Zero-Shot
Fast Forward by Tomorrow Unlocked: Tech past, tech future
The Unbelivable Truth - Series 1 - 26 including specials and pilot
Lex Fridman Podcast