Beyond UX Design

Build Trust, Not Just Components: What Most Design Systems Get Wrong With Justin Crews


Listen Later

Building a design system is the easy part—getting your team to adopt it is the real challenge. We dive into the hidden elements that make design systems truly successful.


What if the real blocker to your design system isn’t tooling or design, but trust?


This week, I talk with Justin Crews, a senior product designer with a background in film, systems thinking, and complex enterprise UX. We dig into what it actually takes to build design systems that people want to use, not just systems that look good in a pitch deck.


Justin shares hard-won lessons from his consulting and in-house roles, where he has helped scale multi-product systems. We discuss the mindset shift from dictating to documenting, and why building alignment across teams is more important than enforcing rules. One of my favorite insights: your design system isn’t a product—it’s a process.


If your components are collecting dust or you’ve hit a wall with adoption, this episode gives you the strategy and language to rethink what design systems are really for. Hit play and learn how to build systems people actually want to use.


Topics:
• 02:35 – The Challenge of Design System Adoption
• 04:39 – Understanding the Role of Design Systems
• 08:17 – When to Start Building a Design System
• 18:41 – Documenting vs. Dictating in Design Systems
• 24:58 – Managing Stakeholder Expectations
• 28:24 – Building a Design System from the Ground Up
• 40:13 – Building Team Adoption for New Tools
• 40:57 – Creating Designer-Friendly Components
• 41:47 – Championing and Showcasing the System
• 44:22 – Stakeholder Management and Engagement
• 46:42 – Measuring Success of Design Systems


Helpful Links:
• Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
• justinnn.com


---


Support our sponsors!


Ok web designers. Let’s talk about the “c” word—creative burnout.


You’re working on a site for a really big client, but between resourcing, feedback, tight budgets and even tighter deadlines—it doesn’t make the cut. Wix Studio helps close that gap, so you can deliver your vision with less friction. Built for agencies and enterprises, you get total creative control over every last pixel. With no-code animations, AI-powered tools, reusable design assets, advanced, intuitive layout tools and a Figma to Wix Studio integration, you can design the way you want to and deliver when you need to.


And if you’re worried about the learning curve eating into time you don’t have—don’t be. Wix Studio is intuitive by design, so your entire team can hit the ground running.


For your next project, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wixstudio.com

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Beyond UX DesignBy Jeremy Miller

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

48 ratings


More shows like Beyond UX Design

View all
How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

How I Built This with Guy Raz

30,219 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,746 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,180 Listeners

Creative Confidence Podcast by IDEO U

Creative Confidence Podcast

124 Listeners

Design Better by The Curiosity Department, sponsored by Wix Studio

Design Better

323 Listeners

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

14,389 Listeners

Future of UX | Your Design, Tech and User Experience Podcast | AI Design by Patricia Reiners

Future of UX | Your Design, Tech and User Experience Podcast | AI Design

19 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,312 Listeners

NN/g UX Podcast by Nielsen Norman Group

NN/g UX Podcast

106 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

28,304 Listeners

Honest UX Talks by Wix Studio by Anfisa Bogomolova & Ioana Teleanu

Honest UX Talks by Wix Studio

40 Listeners

Product Thinking by Melissa Perri

Product Thinking

144 Listeners

Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research by Sarah Doody from Career Strategy Lab

Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

36 Listeners

Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

Prof G Markets

1,048 Listeners

How I AI by Claire Vo

How I AI

4 Listeners