After my previous contract ended, I thought I’d take some time out with my little one. I’m very aware of how fleeting this time is now my eldest is an adult!

On the days when it’s just been me and her at home, it’s served as a great mental break from everything workwise, to get a little perspective. When you’re in the thick of it, either from a role or industry perspective, these small things can seem like mountains, and the conversations about what is right or wrong can feel disproportionally significant.

What I’ve been reminded of, not just through my own experiences but through Ben Callahan’s work — the ‘people bit’ is the work. This slice that’s often ignored or downplayed is the foundation upon which everything else is built, not least a design system.

While I’m working out how to write a book about design systems, this was already a substantial thread through the structure I’ve planned out: You can’t really talk about design tokens without talking about scoping, governance and all manner of other things. Talking about implementing aspects of a design system using a specific tool might date the text but the principles about the whys and hows should persist. Talking about governance or naming requires thought about who and how these concepts might play out.

As ever, it’s making sense of chaos that I enjoy. The structures and culture that bind people together within a workplace are some of the most important parts of what we do. Attempting to make a design system without understanding how they are, and what works and what doesn’t makes it precarious and likely be slower and more painful than it needs to be.

I love the design details, the tools, the processes…all of that, but it’s satisfying when it all maps to something real and tangible within your context. When off the back of the work, more lasting positive interpersonal change is made, it gives the design system quite a foundational legacy.