Asana Design System
at Eventbrite & Asana
Overview
Asana
I was brought in to kick off the newly created design systems team at Asana. During my time in this role, I:
audited the product and created a list of components and interactions currently used
created a prioritized list of high-impact components and inconsistencies
reviewed the accessibility of the product and created an action plan for addressing issues that could easily be addressed while also creating processes and frameworks to prevent future inaccessibility
created a Figma library for components
designed a documentation site for designers, developers, and product folks to use as a source of truth
worked with cross-functional team members and designers throughout the org to refine existing patterns and create new ones
updated our color system to improve accessibility
helped develop processes for communication and ownership between feature teams and the design system team that balanced slowdown/friction with consistency and visibility
Where to begin
Audit:
figuring out what we have across frameworks, what they’re called, accessibility, flexibility
interview and survey designers for their understanding of systems and tools
from audit, documentation and roadmap
interview and survey designers for their understanding of systems and tools
document document document
interactive documentation site - shared language and understanding of variables
Prioritization
roadmap
prioritization based on audit & team urgency, accessibility, ease of win
Needed more documentation yesterday, led entire design org in writing
Tooling
etc etc
Process
etc etc
new muscle, not used to system, friction to remove friction
After
After switching to a feature team, I remained a stakeholder in the design system and took part in strategy meetings, continued to advocate for and help with accessible design, and built new patterns for the system as I designed a new product area (reporting).