Speaker

Tatiana Kolesnikova

Tatiana Kolesnikova

Head of design at Seniordev

Bergen, Norway

UX designer with academic background in both IT and design, Tatiana’s main role is to bridge the gap between these two disciplines. She has extensive working experience in information architecture, usability analysis and full range UX and UI design both in-house and as an external consultant. Working as a design lead Tatiana kick starts about half a dozen projects every year and it is her own most urgent need to make the processes as efficient as possible. Curious by nature, she gets inspired by most cutting edge ideas and methodologies around design and development and challenges herself to apply them in her everyday work. The results she shares with the community at tech and design conferences.

Area of Expertise

  • Information & Communications Technology

Topics

  • Design Systems
  • UX Design
  • User Experience Design
  • Interface Design
  • Customer Centered Design
  • UI/UX Design
  • Design

Styleguide-Driven Development

Design system - it is a buzzword for many, a goal for some, but a reality for very few. Why? Because a real design system is not just creating a UI kit and a component library. It is changing the way interface is architectured, way the front end code is organised and - most important - how teams collaborate. It can even affect back end architecture. Sounds like a huge task?

In this talk we will show how to set the process right: what changes should be made in the workflow, the responsibilities, the tools the team is using and in the mindset of its members. We will discuss how to introduce living styleguide-driven approach in an existing product and how to start with it from scratch. When and how should the team jump into it? Should it be done straight away, at the very start of the project? Is it too late when the product is already live? What to start with if it is redesign? And probably most difficult - how to sell this idea to the team and the product owners?

In this presentation you will learn:
What changes must be made in the team and the development process and how to minimise them;
How transition to SDD for an existing project differs from starting from scratch and why it matters;
Is it worth the effort: what value it brings to the team and to the product.

Tokens in design systems - on source to rule them all

Design tokens - the smallest building blocks of a design system. The community has been talking about them for a while, now it is time to dive deep and see their real meaning and value.

Tokens systemise the visual style, document it and distribute to all platforms. Add new product, change tech stack - the system will be ready for all newcomers. They work as a communication tool between design and development sides. No design decisions are lost in translation. They make the products easy to maintain and future-friendly. Rebranding, acquisitions - no manual changes will be necessary. Tokens become the foundation of the whole design system providing immediate value and enabling further growth.

We will look at how to approach creating tokens and what should be the responsibilities of different team members in this process. We will discuss what changes need to be made in design to enable creating elegant and flexible tokens architecture. We will look at how to distribute them, what tools to use. We will see how to introduce tokens in code and discuss alternatives based on product needs.

You will learn:
- How different disciplines need to collaborate in creating and using design tokens;
- How to introduce tokens in new and existing projects;
- How to use tokens for scaling and maintaining consistent appearance and behaviour of multiple products;
- How to set up dynamic styling of white label solutions.

Lean implementation of design system: five small steps towards one big goal

You all agree that a design system is a great idea, you are inspired by examples of others, but a suggestion “This year we will start building a design system of our own” does not excite your boss or your client? Or you have already started implementing it, but it is not finished and not really used? For many companies creating a design system becomes a huge side project that they are trying to run in addition to the main roadmap. And a huge product that does not become useful before it is finished.

We use lean approach when creating new solutions for the market, but when it comes to design systems a lot of us are still in waterfall era. In this talk we will show how design systems can be implemented the lean way. We will go through five steps that can be taken one by one. We will discuss what to begin with and what to leave for later depending on your product state and goals. We will show, how to establish the smallest foundation that will begin bringing value straight away. We will see how to make the design system robust enough to be able to grow and evolve over time.

You will learn:
How to find the MVP of a design system for your product;
How to tie building it in your regular work;
How to make a design system that is used by everyone from day one.

Why design systems fail - and how not to fail with them

A design system can increase development speed, help collaboration and improve product quality - that's what is promised. But what about reality? A shiny design deliverable that has little connection with code? An awkward component library that is seldom used? Huge plans that are never prioritised?

Companies that try to implement design systems are different - but the problems they face are often the same. We will discuss the reasons of these problems and look into possible solutions. We will look at specific examples that worked in practice, but also analyse the fundamental principles that can help make design systems successful. What needs to be changed in collaboration between design and development? What parts of the system to approach first? How to connect building a design system with the rest of the development process? By the end of this talk you will know a little bit more about how to make the design system in your company live up to its great promises.

Design systems pre-event of Refresh conference

Lean Implementation of Design Systems

September 2018 Tallinn, Estonia

Agile on the beach

What to Build First and Why: Goal-Oriented MVP

July 2018 Falmouth, United Kingdom

Frontend United

A Practical Guide to Styleguide-Driven Development

May 2018 Utrecht, The Netherlands

NDC London 2018 Sessionize Event

January 2018

NDC TechTown 2017 Sessionize Event

October 2017

Swanseacon

Defining MVP with scenarios

September 2017 Swansea, United Kingdom

Agile in the City London

What's next?

June 2017 London, United Kingdom

UX Scotland

Styleguide-Driven Development

June 2017 Edinburgh, United Kingdom

UX in the City Manchester

Defining MVP with scenarios

May 2017 Manchester, United Kingdom

Booster conference

Designing MVP with scenarios

March 2017 Bergen, Norway

Tatiana Kolesnikova

Head of design at Seniordev

Bergen, Norway