Design Systems WTF

Episode 52 - Does your design system need a PM?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. Time for the hot takes - do design systems need product management? Or is it something that just gets in the way and stops work happening?Show notesDesign System Report 2026Amy Hupe

Episode 51 - What do you actually test?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.Once you've done a first pass on anything in your design system, how do you validate it? Do you create complicated automated tests to ensure absolute consistency? Or do you even put it in front of real people to make sure it works?Show notesRocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve KrugAXE MCP serverTetralogical - a great accessibility agency

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.Now we're in the business of creating context for AI (ew), what is actually important when we're creating documentation that will be used by machines AND humans? Are detailed component guidelines important? Are the foundations essential to get right? Or can we rely on top-level patterns and vague guidance?Show notesHow LLMs use MCPs to read your design system and how to write prompts that work with thatProduct Deep Dive Webinar: MCP, vibe coding, and your design systemPDF of A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander et al.Google Prompting Essentials course on CourseraMarketing Against the Grain podcastAI and Design Systems course with Brad Frost, Ian Frost and TJ PitreTJ Pitre on LinkedInDom Nguyen on LinkedInSil Bormüller on LinkedIn

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.Design systems kill creativity, right? We've heard that said so many times. But are we actually taking the time to inject joy into the system itself? Not only considering it as a part of the process for what we include in the system, but also in how we do documentation, release notes, and general communication around the design system? Or controversially... is it even important?Show notesLuke’s article on delighting in design systemsSociete Generale release notes articleAaron Walter’s Heirarchy of User NeedsThe socks component in Gitlab’s Pyjamas design system

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 notesAmy’s talk about jargonzh’s AI features

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.It's time to peer into the crystal ball and predict what's coming up for design systems this year and further out. Will AI take all our jobs? Are design systems becoming a thing of the past? Will we finally kill all creativity? Or are we still plodding along to general adoption?Show notesNo show notes this episode!

Design systems professionals often face emotional baggage and burnout stemming from underappreciation and constant criticism from internal users. The discussion tackles the thankless nature of their work and the pressure to prove its value amidst indirect benefits. They suggest resetting expectations, celebrating small wins, and leveraging community support to foster resilience. Insights on maintaining balance and knowing when to walk away from toxic roles add to the conversation, offering a holistic approach to well-being in a demanding field.

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.Time to get spicy... One of the big promises of the hype of design systems was that it would reduce organizational and product complexity by providing efficient, replicable ways of doing things. Now that we've bedded in, its time to ask - how much do design systems actually reduce complexity? Do they just reorganize and make complexity more palatable?Show notesProduct Deep Dive on Systematizing your DocumentationMichelle’s article on structuring your design systems

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.A bit of a deep topic this week – how important is consistency as a concept to be aiming for with design systems? Obviously, it's one of our design systems' selling points, but in a world where we're moving more and more towards browserless, how important is component consistency, or can we see a place where foundational consistency is all we need?Show notesA List Apart - Design Dialects: Breaking the rules, not the systemVinted - Greenhouse

Season 2 Episode 1Design Systems WTF is the fortnightly podcast 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 Q&A from the live audience.We took a few months off and y'all went and changed everything... We dive into the wonderful world of contextual design systems. Do MCPs finally offer what we need to make our design systems serve information up contextually? Are there major things we need to refactor? Or is it all smoke and mirrors?Show notes: Knowledge graphs article from ChaseLuke’s talk on Contextual DocumentationConverge videosDS Live with TJ PitreTJ Pitre on LinkedIn