On Theme: Design Systems in Depth

Brand imagery & color swatches: lessons from building for e-comm, with Maya Hampton

Maya draws on her experience as a design systems PM at both REI and lululemon to explore what makes ecommerce design systems distinct. From the component library decision

What to do with AI on your design system right now (and make a better way of working)

There’s so much happening in the world of design systems: so much noise, so many new tools, and so much pressure. Where to start? Building on what I wrote on the Zeroheig

What comes after the infinite canvas? with Robin Cannon

Y’all know I am fully bought in on design-with-code tools, so I loved this episode with Robin Cannon, VP of Product at Knapsack and former IBM Carbon and J.P. Morgan Salt

Five 2026 Predictions for Design Systems with Noelle Lansford

Noelle joins me again for some 2026 predictions trend encapsulations, and we try to unpack the absolute madness of the first two months of 2026. 1️⃣ Designing with code i

2025 Predictions Recap with Noelle Lansford

My very first minisode of the entire podcast was some 2025 predictions, and a lot has changed. (Honestly, what was I thinking trying to make predictions in the era of AI?

On Theme S1 Minisode 4: Converge conference 2025 Recap

I'm back from Zeroheight's Converge conference in Bristol, UK, with my recap and thoughts. In this minisode, find out my three major themes from the event: reducing compl

On Theme S1 Minisode 3: This summer's AI vibe shift and conference news!

Surprise minisode! In this quick episode, hear a few ways AI tools are useful for design systems now, my new favorite design-eng handoff tool, and three can't-miss indust

Creativity and design system leadership in the age of AI, with Natalya Shelburne — #17

Chat, this is the last episode of season one! Thank you for listening and supporting the show! There's no better way to wrap up, IMO, than an optimistic and curious explo

But "design systems as infrastructure" is boring, with Sam Anderson — #16

Y’all, I’ll be honest. Some days, I’m scared and nervous and uncomfortable with AI’s emergence, and implications, too. But I am also curiously optimistic, and more import

Naming is hard, but have you tried working with people? with Guy Segal — #15

Guy Segal joins Elyse to unpack the messy, complicated world of… people. Guy shares practical strategies from his experience at Thomson Reuters, including the powerful "p

The Four Quadrants of Design System Impact, with Ben Callahan — #14

Ben Callahan joins Elyse for a fun conversation on creating impact with design systems. Ben shares insights from his consulting experience, discussing common pitfalls lik

Shipping new ways of working to a classic organization with the One UPS system, with Marcela Rodriguez Joos — #13

Marcela Rodriguez Joos shares the story behind the One UPS project, a massive effort to modernize and unify UPS’ brand and digital experiences through a new design system

The flaws of the “accessibility is built in to the design system” argument, with Daniel Henderson-Ede — #12

Ever had a team come to you after an a11y audit like, "but I used the design system, why does my product have accessibility defects??" Daniel Henderson-Ede, one of design

Help, I'm starting a new design system job! with Amy Ogg — #11

This one’s a little bit different than some of the projects and topics that we've had on the podcast so far — we’re talking about starting a new role. I think it's one of

Hand off the API: a design & build workflow for components, with Jeff Pelletier — #10

Design systems aren’t just about components—they’re about how teams work together to build better UI. Jeff Pelletier, a frontend engineer with a design background, joins

Bye Purple! A redesign powered by local & global design system layers at Spotify, with Smith Schwartz & Tyce Clee — #09

Spotify’s ad platform just got a serious glow-up, and Smith and Tyce are here to tell us how they pulled it off. Smith Schwartz, Product Design Manager, and Tyce Clee, En

What happens when your system can’t support your flagship product?, with Adriana Morales — #08

Adriana Morales from HEB (aka the best grocery store) poses a tricky question for the show: what happens when your design system can't support all your products, or your

I’m a design system consumer now: lessons from the other side, with Beau Ulrey — #07

I invited Beau to the podcast because of his great Medium articles on design systems... but he's not working on a system team right now! Beau shares his experiences on bo

Building a multi-brand joint venture design system for BetMGM, with ToniAnn Drenckhahn — #06

ToniAnn joins the show to share her experience building a multi-brand design system for BetMGM and Entain's joint venture. This episode is our first project deep dive and

Stop waiting for permission! and other ways to show design systems value, with Brian Alfaro — #05

If the way we're building design systems has a fatal flaw, it's "waiting for enough investment to get it right." In this episode, Brian teaches us to not wait for permiss