#Design Systems on Barbara Denney

Experimenting with Annotation Mode in Figma

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 10:15:00 -0600

Background

Our design team recently began exploring a new way to annotate designs directly in Figma. While searching for examples of this technique online, we came up short, which made us wonder if other teams were thinking about this the same way we were.

Figma already supports switching between properties using modes which is great for themes like light/dark mode or responsive layouts. We started thinking, could we use modes to annotate?

Reflection on Early Lessons

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:30:00 -0600

Looking Back on Hard-Won Lessons

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post reflecting on the early lessons from establishing a new design system. The big ideas I shared that focused on creating alignment, scaling consistency, and building shared patterns remain as relevant as ever.

But with more experience under my belt, I’ve come to understand that operational processes are the invisible foundation that determines whether a design system thrives or slowly deteriorates. These can be considered Design System operations.

Design System Series: Part 1 – Why We Built It

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 09:20:00 -0600

Part 1: Why We Built It (You are here)
Part 2: Gaining Stakeholder Buy-In
Part 3: Breaking Down Silos Through Communication
Part 4: Driving Team Adoption
Part 5: Lessons Learned

Background

The client’s website was undergoing a bold redesign: new tech, new processes, new branding.

Initially, things were going well until we learned another team’s redesign looked very different, despite being based on the same ui-kit. We were all using the same UI-kit but designs and patterns were being applied differently, depending on the team. This discrepancy highlighted the need for a shared resource: a Design System.