Episode 026 Raw Data

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1	Thanks for your interest in The Question! Sign up to participate in future questions here. This file is the raw data from Episode 26, deep dive hosted on July 25, 2024 with Ben Callahan. There are 42 answers. The question this week was: ----- Hello curious people! I’ve had a lot of conversations with individuals over the last few weeks about the approach they’re taking to convince leadership to invest in (or continue to invest in) a design system. None of us signed up to be internal salespeople, but pitching your design system is part of the gig. The other half of this equation is who you pitch to. Some systems are owned and funded by UX, some by design, some by engineering…they can live anywhere. Combining data around what pitches work for what part of the organization might reveal some patterns we can use to be more successful in this internal sales role. With this as context, here is The Question: What part of your organization funds the design system effort? Describe the sales pitch that has garnered the most success in your design system pitches?
2	Question 1: What part of your organization funds the design system effort?	Question 2: Describe the sales pitch that has garnered the most success in your design system pitches? What would you change about this to make it even better?
3	Product	Our most successful sales pitch for our design system focuses on highlighting the benefits and value it brings to organizations. We emphasize how it improves efficiency, consistency, and collaboration in the design and development process. It also helps to maintain a cohesive brand experience across products and platforms. To make this pitch better, we customize it to address the specific needs and challenges of potential clients. It helps us understand their pain points, so that we can show how our design system provides solutions. Sharing real-world examples and success stories from other clients adds credibility and builds trust.
4	Design	Almost always includes 'build once, use many times' and addresses specific goals of the organization with examples (usually one slide per example) when goals can be ascertained ahead of time. They usually include: • Quality • Consistency • Modularity / Scalability • Accessibility (beyond WCAG) • Velocity • Operationalization
5	Brand	We pitched the design system calculating how many man hours were saved by allowing developers to reuse each component they used instead of re-building it themselves. It was a rough estimation but gave an idea of the saving potential of using a unified library.
6	Engineering	In general, we have the most success with projects when we can include our priorities into a project that is already happening. Our initial design system happened because the executive leadership team wanted a site rebrand. The design and tech leads pitched the design system as a way to accomplish leadership’s goal while also improving the system. This method has gotten momentum for a number of projects, but it can sometimes lead to limited support. For our design system, once the initial goal of the rebrand was done, support wavered.
7	Product	While internal efficiency and quality is our primary focus, it's nothing if we don't relate it further downstream to end users. The story has to end with an improved user experience that contributes to their success, which in turn benefits the business.
8	Product	1) “What is a design system anyway?” - explain the purpose and intent in layman’s terms so stakeholders know what we’re talking about - for some orgs, this is still a novel concept. 2) Present data/research - show the positive impacts that design systems have had across other orgs: (metrics on saving valuable hours of design & engineering time, increasing speed at which products may be delivered, etc…) 3) Project what the company stands to gain (ex: consistency across product(s), improving employee speed & efficiency, providing scalability as company grows, etc…) I think I could improve the storytelling by pitching a more compelling story that resonates at a personal level with different stakeholders, helping this solution feel very relatable…maybe targeting how a design system may solve specific known pain points across teams, and help the company position itself well to scale over time. The immediate things companies want to know is budget and timeline, and I’m sometimes unsure if including this “achievable-ness” in the initial pitch might dissuade folks (“too much time/money”), so my typical approach is to follow up with that info later, after people get excited about the value design systems can bring to the table. Curious to know how other folks approach this!
9	Engineering	1.Tangible Demonstrations: Showing tangible examples and live demonstrations helped bridge the gap between theoretical benefits and practical applications. This hands-on approach allowed the developers to see the DS in action. Why: Developers could directly see how the DS would simplify their workflow and improve consistency without disrupting their current processes. 2. Iterative Pitching: Presenting the DS in iterations allowed to adjust the pitch based on feedback and gradually build trust. This approach ensured that each new feature or benefit introduced was relevant and valuable. Why: It demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to their needs, making the DS seem more adaptable and less of a rigid system imposed on them. 3. Non-Conformity Approach: Creating a process that didn’t force other departments to conform to the DS but rather integrated it seamlessly into their existing workflows. Why: This approach minimized resistance by reducing the perceived disruption and making the DS a natural part of their workflow rather than an additional burden. Enhancing Existing Strategies 1.Deep Dive Case Studies: What to Add: Develop in-depth case studies that highlight specific projects or teams that have successfully integrated the DS. Show metrics and qualitative feedback on how the DS improved their workflow, productivity, and code quality. 2.Interactive Workshops: What to Add: Host interactive workshops where developers can work through real projects using the DS in a collaborative setting. 3.Showcasing Success Metrics: What to Add: Collect and showcase success metrics from teams already using the DS. Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as time saved, reduction in bugs, improved code consistency, and faster onboarding. 4.Consistent User Experience: Highlight: Emphasize how the DS ensures a consistent user experience across different projects and platforms.
10	Product	"this will allow us to create enterprise ui changes at scale" I could make this a better sell by highlighting that we do that with technology AND simplifying communication including our design artifacts. I could make this better via accuracy by saying "scale requires that a majority of teams are using the design system to its fullest capabilities" or "we reduce product maintenance by maintaining the system, which isn't always as obvious but is critical."
11	User Experience	direct connection with engineering creating 1-1 libraries between UX and Dev the design system is an accelerator to market, that improves communication and dependencies.
12	The team sits mostly within Design, but Technology funds the DS engineering team.	"Acceleration" is what we currently use the most, and we have enough case studies to tell a good story. "Accessibility" is another that is becoming popular amidst accessibility remediation efforts.
13	Product	N/A, -yet-
14	User Experience	Just that consistency brings user comfort and ease.
15	Product	Im both fortunate and unfortunate (iykyk😂) to be working in a place where there is no real design system in place. As such, the pitch is pretty easy, because of how bad things are right now. We have inconsistencies that the Ds will solve for, but our tech debt is horrific to the point where it takes us an estimate of 3-6 months to change a single icon in some cases. We went through a typography change which took like 9 months and still isnt fully done in all areas. Selling a design system to an org that is in this hole i find isnt that difficult since I can speak to products' inability to ship fast, with quality, and to make updates within any reasonable amount of time. We simply cannot hope to outpace competition in this environment - a fact that is so clear, it doesnt need selling though i often bring it up as a reminder :) I do worry about what happens once we unblock these biggest offenders though. When the before/after metrics are smaller and more difficult to make movement on, how can i maintain the funding for my team? I often see the best DS teams getting laid off regardless of where the funding is coming from and this is my fear as we grow. With my product group, they speak business value so I know that i need to get better at quantifying our efforts and team spend but as a designer this is really hard for me. Im not trained in thinking this way nor do i feel i have the best skills to bring those business numbers to light in a way thats accurate.
16	shared service	efficiency, easy of use, saving time/money
17	Marketing	It's about consistency, efficiency/scalability, and accessibility. It could be stronger if we found a way to align with corporate guidelines more to sell it more broadly.
18	Engineering	We spent a great deal of time building partnerships with Engineering and Senior Leaders explaining the value of reuse of components. It was easy to point to where multiple teams were rebuilding what should have been global components. Monitoring app size, development efforts to make a global change and the costs associated became a strong indicator of inefficiency to point back to. Also delivering very quickly on what we had sold once fully funded and tying our efforts to high-impact work has gone a long way.
19	I guess all of the items come into play from time to time. Marketing wants looking good product, Product wants to be branded, UX wants consistency and patterns, Design benefits from "out of the box" boring components, Engineering loves everything which is consistent and reusable	If there was a need for some resources for the DS, then we had to mention something about accessibility and not getting fines since in most cases DS would cover them. Always worked for pitches inside the organisation.
20	Product	I wouldn't say I've had a 'pitch' in the past — at most, it was maybe an overview and conversations with leadership members around the initial need for a design system — instead, what has worked for me in the past to get solid buy-in upfront was a systems alignment workshop. The workshop includes leadership and brand, engineering, product, and design stakeholders. We cover what a design system is and conduct activities to get everyone to think about how the business would benefit from one and what the future could look like without one. This is also a really great starting point for your design system, as you get strong key insights from the business on what type of system you should build. This exercise has built strong engagement and alignment across the business upfront for me. The takeaway document can be seen as a 'business case', but at this point, key leadership members should have what they need to escalate the project or give it the green light.
21	User Experience	Initially, standardization and consistency was effective, then we had to show the ROI - currently, mentioning accessibility gets us there. It's always figuring out what the org wants and showing them how a Good DS gets them closer to their goals.
22	IT/Infrastructure	A Design System creates consistent user experiences across products, offering themability, efficiency, reusability, and reliable accessibility.
23	Product	We created a design system for B2B tech websites, so we're in a bit of a different sales pitch scenario than a backend/product design system pitch. We focus on ease-of-use, saving marketers time and money, leveraging the open source community and increase performance (site speed, ADA compliance, security, and leads). Since we're just starting out, we haven't had a consistent way to track performance of past websites. I wish we had stronger stats to show the efficacy of our system and show the true value/ROI of the investment in our systems.
24	Product	A design system would make new feature rollouts and maintenance a lot more efficient and smooth. It could be even better if cross-functional partners were on board by approaching new features holistically as opposed to piecemeal.
25	Design	I haven't been directly involved in pitching as an IC, however I have been witness to one of the pitfalls of pitching: once successful, everyone in the org starts talking about and setting expectations for the systems team. One one hand, this is a boon: design systems coming out of the mouth of C-level folks regularly ensures that the systems team's value is felt, and can even survive layoffs when other teams don't make the cut. The downside is that product folks talking about design systems need help with expectations. This can lead to unrealistic expectations, exponentially exacerbated by the system team's responsibilities, which of course leads to burnout and associated fallout.
26	Marketing	We describe our system as 'a global foundational design tool which can be used to help teams go to market faster.' It's boring and corporate-y, but that's because the system is for a slower-moving, large, legacy organization. This description and understanding of the system are needed since cutting-edge ideas and emerging technology concepts are sometimes shunned to make way for more 'safe' options. Our system is still extremely small, however, and only has a moderate Figma following currently, so by marketing the section that is usable over the in-development dev resources, we can point to something tangible. Gathering feedback from the teams that have been using it, and saving those quotes in a Kudos doc has been great for supporting its adoption. If i were to change something, I think i would wish to be further along with the dev resource portion. A design system is nothing without code and although it hasn't "hurt" us yet, per se, we are getting to the point where that will be what's demanded next and we need to be ready for that ask.
27	We have a front-end platform team at Docker and it's a mix of staff product designers, front-end and back-end engineers, and an EM to lead.	We have yet to form a strong sales pitch. Adoption is on the very near horizon for us so we'll want to think about this.
28	No department really. In a large Fortune 200 company, we work on this on top of other projects.	Consistency across all UX.
29	Design	Working at the State of Michigan we focus on how the design system will bring unity and trust across the wide range of applications we support. We want to ensure all users can trust they are on an official State of Michigan site and are familiar with the common patterns that are represented across applications. An area we could discuss more in our pitch would be the accessibility benefits of using the design system. We find most teams use third-party plugins to achieve specific UI's and most are not accessible. Using our components they will get the accessibility along with the the branded experience.
30	Product	Pitches that have garnered the most success involve tying the value of the design system to accessibility, as well as the best way to attain visual continuity in brand among all products our company offers (which is important as a result of so many new acquisitions that contain their own unique branding).
31	Product and Engineering mixed	I'm not sure, from my perspective as an IC that was brought in while the team was forming we have always had support from leadership. Some of the projects that are commonly associated with our teams success include white labeling of our main app, shipping dark mode, reducing design time and decision making by creating simpler and more common practices for naming.
32	None	None of them all
33	User Experience	More a11y coverage m, less cognitive load, and workflows enabling products to ship faster
34	User Experience	Typically the pitch revolves around how design systems increase developer productivity which results in faster go-to market while saving cost around redundant engineering costs. Accessibility is also critical for some of our products, so baking that into the system is a good sales pitch.
35	IT/Infrastructure	We’ll save the delivery team time and the organization money with reusable components. We’ll ensure we’re delivering on our principles of equity and inclusion with an accessible design system. In addition, we’ll be able to scale our efforts and reach even more folks with the efficiency gains of the system over time.
36	IT/Infrastructure	Just answered :) Save time and money with reusable components - Deliver on principles of inclusiveness with an accessible design system and scale out impact with efficiency gains brought by standards
37	Product	All the typical things that support our business goals beginning with “future-proofing” through scalability + expanding our digital ecosystem with scalable infrastructure, enabling teams, design and dev efficiency, reduction of debt, brand consistency, collaborative people support. We are young, still selling the blue sky, pieces of which are coming to fruition now. In the midst of that we actually just moved from product to a rung up to digital design which is the umbrella for product, marketing, and creative - with the goal that we serve cross-functionally rather than just to product specifically, even though product will be are primary users for some time.
38	Engineering	I’m very new to this role (started Monday), so I’m not too familiar with their pitch but I think that it had to do with increased accessibility and supporting brand refreshes and onboarding new themes.
39	User Experience	I'm not sure, I haven't been a part of this process. I would assume a pitch focused on saving the company time and money would be the most successful
40	User Experience	Pairing the design system with a rebrand, migration, or other already large effort with evident benefits. Also, when a trusted leader(s) from those designing and building products have a heavy hand in creating and implementing the design system. Once it's been established for a while, the best ongoing sales pitch is creating relationships and feedback loops from consumers–best when they can directly be involved without bearing too much load.
41	Product	Having a structured design system helps you move: Faster Cleaner More consistently It helps other folks in the product organization contribute to design and product screens so it's democratizing. A design system is a core piece of infrastructure that helps you move much faster.
42	User Experience	I usually say something along the lines of a design system creates a universal user experience across all products and platforms giving that Apple consistency and ease of use. Makes for easy design and code sharing across platform/domain teams. Which will speed up process, people and technology making it a faster iteration cycle to a modern technology company.
43	Engineering	Reusable components and reduced time to market.
44	User Experience	From the content perspective, I explain that our brand agnostic guidelines increase efficiency and provide product teams and writers a set of standards and a source of truth for digital content. This works!
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