Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, DC, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Spielberg, Cameron, Wachowskis, or Ghibli.

Design handoff belongs in the bin. Not improved, made irrelevant. 🗑️ It's a waterfall relic we've normalised as best practice. I wrote about what the alternative looks like and how to get there. 🔗 bit.ly/4e4Blae

Y'all need to get the fuck off Substack.

I’m so fucking tired of tech bros

Just an hour left to get your answers in for The Question Episode 072: bit.ly/answerTheQue... We're talking about Extreme #designsystem Support!

Seriously. Every message in a channel is not a personal message to you that requires a response. 🤦‍♂️

It’s that time again - I’m on the hunt for new clients from the beginning of April. I’m open to full or part-time contracts outside IR35. I can help you with: - design system consultancy, coaching, management or documentation - content design - UX writing - technical writing 1/2

Design systems are platform problems, not feature problems. Operating within a feature organisation can push design system teams from macro thinking to micro thinking. That misalignment compounds until the system stops functioning as a platform. www.shaunbent.co.uk/blog/design-...

This is going to be a great episode of “24 hours in Police custody”!

Every company has that one person who it seems like all they do is sit on Slack all day, instantly responding to everything and seems to be in every channel and conversation. 🙈

Sometimes decisions are made for you. Everyone knows they're wrong, but you can't change them, and as a leader, you have to guide your team through it. I wrote a story of layoffs, reorgs, and bad decisions. How I led my team through it, and what I learnt. www.shaunbent.co.uk/blog/when-th...

"...an engineer at Spotify on their morning commute...can tell Claude to fix a bug...all before they even arrive at the office." This isn't the win you think it is. 🤦‍♂️ It's normalising work on personal time, eroding boundaries, and celebrating always-on culture as innovation.

I shared some thoughts on handling breaking changes in design systems for @zeroheight.com. A bunch of lessons learnt from my time leading design systems at Spotify.

Just @lucympowell.bsky.social talking about Labour and the Gorton and Denton by-election but disabling comments and quote reposts. It’s almost like Labour wants to avoid a debate and discussion. 👎 The complete opposite approach to the engagement you get from @zackpolanski.bsky.social 💚

My book, Accessibility For Everyone, is now free and online as a website. accessibilityforeveryone.site The book was first published by A Book Apart in 2017 but it holds up! It covers web accessibility for designers, developers, content folks, and really everyone who works in tech.

Would you like to work with me? 👋🏻 I’m currently helping to strengthen the existing design systems team at Kesko and we’re looking for a nice & talented designer/developer to join us. arielsalminen.com/2026/hiring-...

Why are we hiring so many designers? I analysed 256 design system roles. The ratio of designers to engineers was telling. In my last team, we deliberately ran the inverse. If the biggest value comes from code, are we building design systems or just designing them?

If you're still on X: why? I had 270,000 followers when I closed my account. But all I lost was 200,000 bots and trolls. The real people — the funny, the decent, the smart, the interesting — are already here. They'll find you. Leave X. Just do it. It's personal, political and societal poison.

Happy New Year!!!! 🥳🍾🖤

In design systems, change is the only constant. And thinking ahead to life after the release of our first components can positively impact how we start. Check out @hereinthehive.bsky.social's article for the @zeroheight.com blog: zeroheight.com/blog/design-...

A few years back, I nearly wrote "The Fallacy of Federated Design Systems." Then @nathanacurtis.bsky.social beat me to it. But what happens when you try it anyway? At Spotify, I watched federated fail twice, resulting in a huge number of barely reused components and damaged trust in design systems.

A director once showed a prototype they’d made in Figma Make and then with all seriousness told me: “I think we can reduce our engineering team by 50%” 🤡 (I laughed out loud in response)

every company in 2025

Super toxic leadership stuff. 🗑️ My last place was very much leaning into this monitoring AI usage. 🤢

The problem with going to an airport lounge in the UK is that it’s full of Tories. 🗑️

I'm in! ✅ I feel energised, engaged and for the first time in a longtime like I have a political home!

New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer. This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Episode 062 of The Question with Jeremy Elder is LIVE. This week, we’re considering how #designsystem teams can deal with the pressure to go faster. Answer (bit.ly/answerTheQuestion) to join the deep dive! 👏 Thank you to @zeroheight.com, the organizers of Converge, for making this one possible! 👏

It’s officially here! @ladybug.dev is back! 🐞 Buckle in for the next 10 weeks as @emmabostian.bsky.social and I cover tons of important topics on engineering management. Welcome to Season 7! www.ladybug.dev/episodes/a-b...

A parting gift to the Stockholm Design System community! 🙏 Hope to see lots of folks in Stockholm next month! 🇸🇪💚

After nearly 9 years, today was my last day at Spotify.
Working here has shaped me in so many ways, both professionally and personally. 👋 I moved to Stockholm to join the company, and that move changed my life. I met people from all over the world who shaped not just how I work, but who I am. 🇸🇪

A reminder that we're kicking off @amyhupe.bsky.social's amazing talk about jargon on DS Live in TWENTY MINUTES webinars.zeroheight.com/register/zer...

Super great piece from Lauren, I find myself resinating with so many of the points in here.

After nearly 9 years living in Sweden, this week I moved back to the UK. 🇬🇧 Manchester is one of my favourite cities in the world, the culture, the music, the warmth of the people. Very excited to start the next chapter of my life here. It’s going to take a while to get used to the view.

lmao www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

"If you focus solely on achieving compliance without changing your systems (embedding accessibility into processes and culture), progress will be temporary." Fantastic article by @dadederk.bsky.social with several great takeaways on how to create an #accessibility culture within your organisation.

Early start for Record Store Day. #rsd2025

👇 I like Stu, you should hire him.

🎟️ I'm in, who else is joining?

Having spent 8.5 years in a country with a national ID system, I have to say the UK feels like it's living in the Stone Age without these. They make life so much easier and more secure.

Big life news: a one-way flight from Sweden to the UK has been booked. 🇸🇪 ✈️ 🇬🇧

Thrilled to announce that Into Design Systems is coming to Spotify! 🇸🇪🎶💚 Huge shoutout to @shaunbent.co.uk thank you so much for making it happen! ❤️ Follow @intodesignsystems.bsky.social - we will announce the event soon!! Can’t wait to see you all in Stockholm! 🇸🇪 Let’s go 🙌

👀

I called the Space Nazi a Nazi in a comment on LinkedIn and my comment was removed because it’s considered “hate speech” 🤡

"It feels disrespectful to sum a group of people down to a percentage in order for someone to feel better about not fixing something." – @heather-buchel.com heather-buchel.com/blog/2025/02...

Such a great speech from @ianbyrnemp.bsky.social - shame it fell on deaf ears to a largely empty room. 😢

Also made a bunch of buns ready for fried chicken sandwiches tomorrow! 🍗

Made Birria Tacos 🌮

The US Web Design System deletes info on inclusive design, in response to the Executive order "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs...". github.com/uswds/uswds-... Why not use the Inclusive Design principles instead: inclusivedesignprinciples.info #accessibility #a11y #inclusion

Having a non, all male line-up for your conference = “hassle” 🤦‍♂️