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Evan and Chris discuss source of truth and how it is linked most importantly to overall user experience opposed to just design or code.

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Guest

Evan Lovely is the co-founder and Head of Product & Engineering at Knapsack. Evan was previously the CTO at Basalt Inc and a software architect at Phase2. He has a passion for developing well-designed, scalable software solutions and extensive experience in leading technical teams and projects. 

Evan is certified as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and as a CompTIA A+ Certified Computer Technician.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Jennie and Chris discuss following the path of least resistance when building design systems. It must feel natural and easier for the people using the system, so much so, it doesn’t make sense to continue with old habits. 

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Guest

Jennie Yip is a hybrid design engineer with a heart for elegant user interfaces, simple user experiences, and beautifully crafted code. Loves building scalable design systems while helping designers and engineers work better together.  She’s currently Principal Design Architect at Atlassian, reimagining Atlassian Design System. You can find Jennie musing about design systems or her bebe component on Twitter @jenniesyip.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Avery Oldt and Chris discuss the importance of scaling ideas, systematic thinking, and cross-team integration for product delight and success.

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Guest
Avery Oldt is Head of Design & Research at Amazon for Amazon Fashion. His past work includes leading design, product, and engineering teams at MTV, Restoration Hardware, Louis Vuitton, Booking.com, and BNP Paribas. Over the past 25 years and across various industries, he's found his sweet spot at the intersection of design and technology, creating space for great products to emerge from diverse teams and positive culture.

You can find Avery on LinkedIn or walking in the redwoods of Marin County, California. 

Host
Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Jack McCloy and Chris discuss the purpose of a design system and its ability to iterate faster, build better, more accessible, consistent products. Not only saving money but achieving outcomes you wouldn’t practically be able to do without a systems approach.

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Guest

Jack McCloy is an Engineering Manager at Amplitude, where he leads the frontend infrastructure / design system team. He and his team develop architectural patterns, tooling, and systems that help engineers build and iterate more rapidly and designers scale their work. 

Jack also angel invests in companies working on dev/design tools, data tools, infrastructure, and b2b SasS products. You can follow / connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn. 

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Adekunle and Chris cover a number of topics spanning from the importance of flexibility, connection, communication, collaboration and designing systems to ultimately solve problems for its users. 

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Guest

Adekunle Oduye (Add-eh-koon-lay Oh-due-yay) is currently building design systems at Plaid. Outside of work, he is a coach/mentor, conference speaker and co-host of the Code and Pixels podcast. 

You can learn more about him on his website (https://www.adekunleoduye.com), linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adekunleoduye), or twitter (https://twitter.com/adekunleoduye).

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Jen, Donnie and Chris discuss how design systems reflect the people a part of it, who use it and who maintain it; and the importance of collaboration, that systems are built for and with people.

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Guest

Jen is a product designer and educator from NYC. She’s currently a Senior Experience Designer at Signet Jewelers, exploring ways to expand and improve their Amor Design System. You can find Jen on LinkedIn and jennifer.damato.design.

Donnie is a design systems architect, adjunct faculty of UX curriculum, and armchair philosopher from New York. Author of Gridless Design. You can find Donnie on LinkedIn and donnie.damato.design.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Michael and Chris discuss how systems have always been prominent when solving problems within designs and the importance they have in connecting and enabling everyone to remain consistent along the user journey. 

Donald Judd - 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, 1982–1986

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Guests

Michael Jeter is the Creative Director at Zapier, a no code automation tool that connects work apps you use daily. At Zapier, Jeter leads a brand team of twelve fantastic creatives. 

Jeter was previously a Creative Director at Dropbox, and has worked with brands like Google, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. to help tell meaningful brand stories. 

Jeter is based in Austin, Texas where he eats entirely too much queso.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Francesco and Chris discuss the importance of foundational concepts like code, that help secure buy-in and  prove value within an organization. Thus, supporting Francesco's current thoughts that building on existing design systems proves to be more viable for his work at Klarna.

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Guests

Francesco Cutolo is a Design Manager (currently leading the design system) at Klarna. Born in Pompeii,  he moved to Sweden after spending 10+ years building digital products for desktop and mobile systems across Europe.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Tyce and Smith discuss with Chris the concept of local systems and the focus on building areas within the business that extend past basics and build on core components that create variance. 

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Guests

Tyce Clee is an Engineering Manager working on Encore, the design system for Spotify. They’re a big fan of arcade games, travel, and emo karaoke nights.

Smith Schwartz is a Design Manager working on Ads Design System, an Encore local system for Spotify. Before tech, she designed and implemented IRL experiences for museums like The Art Institute of Chicago and Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

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Todd and Chris discuss shipping experiences, the experience being the product, and the math behind building a well-oiled design system. 

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Guest

Todd is the Chief Product Officer of Remote where he leads all things Product, including the Product Management and Design teams. Todd has led Product, Design, and P&L at several market-leading companies including Atlassian, Automattic, Auctane, and IBM. He is passionate about systematic approaches to increase the speed and quality of product development. He speaks and writes about product management, design, and remote work regularly. He has 6 kids, too many volunteering/service projects, and an obsession with Texas bbq and spicy Indian curries.

Host

Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.