Meet the team

I was enticed by the prospect of doing work that is impactful at a company-wide scale and beyond, and the striveness for excellence that performing at such a critical, very low-error-tolerance environment entails. I am always very proud to see the results of my team's and my hard work materialized in beautiful, useful applications deployed worldwide. I also appreciate the opportunity to work very closely with design while still wearing a developer hat.

I've had the opportunity to work and be mentored by some truly amazing folks. From managers, technology leaders, software architects, professors turned colleagues, and more. I appreciate every professional I have and will interface with along my journey and take a small piece of them with me wherever I go.

Honorable mentions go to Sergio Lopez, the college professor that took me under his wing and beared with me as I broke production more times than I'd be willing to admit, closely followed by Joe Harvey, who taught me the difference between software development and engineering.

VSCode, GitHub, TypeScript, React, middle-of-the-day naps, high-speed internet, and, most importantly, a mini can of Coke Zero

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Being able to utilize the same components throughout different applications is what I love about design systems. I believe it can be a powerful tool to keep consistency, especially in regards to accessibility. I also love the challenges that a design system brings, along with the rewards for the developers that utilize it.

I've learned a ton from my colleagues in the past. Stephen, Kyle, Michael, John, Trevor, and so many others. I'm also a big fan of Adrian Roselli, Sara Soueidan, Marcy Sutton, and all the others who helped me gain more insights into accessibility as a whole.

VS Code, NVDA, GitHub, CodePen, my notebook

I love how they foster an environment and culture of continuously learning, growing, and connecting within a community. Being able to support people in their day-to-day work is so rewarding to me, especially when these tools or resources help to improve the access of everything we make.

I've always loved watching talks by Alan Kay. The way he thinks about the future and inventing for it makes me so hopeful and excited.

I also enjoy revisiting talks from Sebastian Markbåge, Nicholas Matsakis, and Sandi Metz. I learn something new each time as I hear them talk about their approach to writing code and incrementally evolving complex systems over time.

When it comes to accessibility, I am forever grateful for all the resources, writing, and presentations from Adrian Roselli, Sarah Higley, and Scott O'Hara. Their work has been so influential to my own.

Finally, when it comes to building and supporting teams I've loved going through resources from Julie Zhou, Lara Hogan, and Will Larson.

NeoVim, GitHub, ARIA APG, coffee, Figma, Spotify

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Design systems were initially described to me as “a centralized hub for designers and developers to build faster, more efficiently, and consistent.” That made a lot of sense and it’s easier said that done. When I started to work in web accessibility (a11y), I realized the biggest impact I could make on a product was through an accessible design system versus one-off product fixes, which only increased my interest.

I am extremely grateful to have a series of mentors that have created brave spaces for me as someone in tech with multiple marginalized identities. Most recently, I’ve been inspired by the compassion and optimism of the a11y community, and younger generations who realize that web accessibility is civil and humane right versus an afterthought.

Figma, Inspect, Colour Contrast Analyzer (CCA), Slack, Spotify, dance breaks

After seeing how reusable component libraries can solve so many UX and DX problems, I continued to dig into the space and started learning about design systems and I was fascinated by the concept since then! I also love focusing on building individual pieces and making them accessible with a systematic approach so that other teams only worry about their domain-specific problems.

Alla Kholmatova’s Design Systems book was one of the first resources I came across in this area and it broadened my understanding greatly. The work Dan Mall, Brad Frost and Nathan Curtis have been doing in the design systems space helped me start putting things in action along with some of my favourite platforms and they are Invision Design Better, IBM Carbon Design System, Smashing Magazine. There are also quite a few individuals I enjoy learning from and some of them are Joshua Comeau, Sara Soueidan, Marcy Sutton, Stephanie Eckles and of course the amazing Primer team 💙

VS Code, Notion, GitHub, Slack, pen and paper, Hario V60 brewing kit, books

Having worked on a few different projects over the years I realized that having a solid design system is one of the best ways to build faster, more consistent, accessible, and overall higher quality products. I love focusing on the details of all the different pieces of a design system and how they fit together to create awesome experiences for both end users and developers.

I've been fortunate to learn so much from my colleagues over the years! I'm also a big fan of all the people that write and share content with the community. Some of my favorites are Sara Soueidan, Sarah Drasner, Marcy Sutton, Steve Schoger, Suz Hinton and Salma Alam-Naylor.

iTerm, Visual Studio Code, Edge, Firefox, Microsoft Accessibility Insights, axe Accessibility Linter, GitHub, Spotify, Quip

The majority of my time as a designer has been within product design, and pursuing my passion for accessible design started early on. I began finding that accessibility and systems thinking were intrinsically linked, so transitioning to design systems to focus on accessibility was a natural course. Being able to affect change that helps people has always been a deep-seated need of mine to fill with my work, and I'm able to do that two-fold in design systems to help product designers and end users.

Years ago when I was interested in learning how to fix computers, a coworker once told me that you could teach a monkey to build a computer. The meaning behind this was that I could go out and learn whatever I wanted regardless of previous knowledge or background, as long as the desire was there. I really took this to heart with me and it's been a key part of my growth to where I am today. I've been able to learn from countless coworkers over the years who have shared their knowledge and helped me grow.

Figma, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Accessibility Insights, Procreate and GoodNotes on iPad, Obsidian, custom mechanical keyboards

Design Systems gave me a unique opportunity to combine two of my passions: systems engineering with design operations. I find pleasure in the small details, like drawing component schematics, automating repetitive workflows, writing specifications, etc. Crucially, I enjoy building systems that others can use to optimise their own workflows and lives.

I'm inspired by engineering thought leaders like Kent C. Dodds, Brian Lonsdorf (AKA Prof. Frisby), Eric Elliot, Dan Abramov, and all of my current and former colleagues in the space. I also enjoy following OG design system pioneers like Jina, Brad Frost, Nathan Curtis, Dan Mall and the work of teams like @salesforceux, @materialdesign, @spotifydesign, and it should go without saying… the team at @primer.

Spotify, Figma, Photoshop, React + React Native, AWS, Notes (I know...), Flat Whites

I have a background in design but also love writing code, and design systems are very welcoming to multi-disciplinary folks. I love how design systems bring people together across orgs and create a shared language for collaboration.

Medium posts from Nathan Curtis kept me afloat while I worked on my first design system, along with the community in Jina's Design Systems slack.

I've learned my favorite CSS trickery from Andy Bell, Rachel Andrew, Stephanie Eckles, Sara Soueidan, and Una.

Various design podcasts including SimpleBits, Honest Designers, Design Details, Design Better, and CSS Podcast

VS Code, Firefox dev tools, CSS, Figma, Pika, Notion

Early on in my career, I felt a natural pull towards design systems as I've always been a person who finds great joy in consolidating, organizing, and making sense of messy things. As soon as I began to specialize in accessibility, the power and importance of design systems became even more clear, ultimately turning into the core of my work.

I believe I inherited my curiousity and love for learning from my dad. My husband, who has helped teach me that I can be both a #bossatwork and a #bossmom. The Accessibility community who is small, but mighty, working hard to empower and educate people like me to grow the community even further. Lastly, all the open source design systems out there!

Notion, Slack, Figma, Microsoft Accessibility Insights, Spotify

I'm a big fan of useful abstraction layers, and design systems are generally great examples. Although I've been a programmer for a long time, I enjoy dabbling in design in my free time and love to see systems that make good design achievable (nay, easy!) for non-designers :)

Whenever I need some design inspiration, I head over to Dribbble. When I was a kid, I learned a ton from my mom who was a graphic designer for REI and Eddie Bauer in the 1980s (i.e. before computers).

VScode, Ruby, Chrome, iTerm 2

I think it happened naturally while working on bigger projects and having to define a source of truth. Producing and mantaining complex products is really difficult if you have to reinvent the wheel going through all the decision-making process again and again, alone or with your teammates.

My biggest source of inspiration have always been video games, I really like how good games craft a small reality and then put a lot of care into making interaction feel satisfactory and self-explanatory. Apart from that, I think there are lots of places inspiration can be drawn from: Music, furniture and interior design, photography, movies...

Photoshop, Figma, Maya, Unity, VS Code, PocketCasts, CityMapper.

While working in numerous Rails codebases over the years, I kept seeing the same structural issues in the view layer as applications grew in size. I came up with an idea to bring component-driven design patterns to Rails, and am thrilled to be pursuing it for the purpose of building out our design systems at GitHub.

My mom is a professor in visual communication, so I’ve been in the design world since before I could walk. I learned how to be a software engineer from my friend Aaron Snyder, who took me as his apprentice after I left the newspaper industry. These days I learn a lot from my coworkers, especially tenderlove and seejohnrun.

VS Code, Todoist, Spotify

I was initially drawn to design systems while working on a small team, where we were stretched thin and struggling to keep the front-end and user experience afloat, recreating components and patterns by hand over and over again. We needed consistency, stability, a bridge between designers and developers, and a more efficient workflow. Once we put a design language and system in place, I was sold on the value. I find it fascinating how many approaches to design systems there are out there, and how different they can be depending on the individual product and teams’ needs.

Inge Druckrey and Edward Tufte inspired me to get into design, and introduced me to the world of typographic and informational systems (simultaneously). This talk by Bret Victor helped me feel less alone when I was starting out in the industry; at a time when code and design weren't yet openly intertwined. I’m also inspired by the folks behind designbetter.co for making knowledge around design systems transparent and available to everyone. Additionally, and there are too many people to name, people like Una Kravetz, Sarah Drasner, Tim Holman, and Val Head are always on my radar, keeping the internet weird and creative and continuously pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Atom, Figma, Bear, Dash, Slack

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I was drawn to design systems for many reasons—the opportunity to improve design and development workflow efficiency; the potential benefits well-design systems can bring to the user experience; I like to bring order to chaos and enjoy working at the intersection of design and code. I also love that there is still so much to learn in the field and really enjoy the passion of the community behind design systems.

I don't have room on this webpage to list everyone! SMACSS, The Art and Science of CSS, and Veerle Pieters were some early influences. OOCSS by Nicole Sullivan, CSS Wizardary, Basscss, Tachyons, and BEM influenced my approach to CSS architecture. More recently I've been inspired by Rune Madsen's Programming Design Systems, Compositor, Dan Abramov, Sebastian Markbage, and so many design and code wonder women like Mandy Kerr, Marcy Sutton, Lea Verou, Mina Markham, Sarah Drasner and Jina Anne.

Hyper, Atom, Figma, MDN, and Quip

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Studying engineering and design, I enjoy collaborating with designers and engineers from various teams to ensure that the design system remains adaptive in addressing evolving needs. Working on design systems provides a unique opportunity to shape the foundational elements that drive consistency, branding, and cohesive user experiences across an entire organization. In addition, it allows me to learn how to look at our products and experiences at a systems-first, future-proof level.

I'm immensely grateful for the online design community, a nurturing space where designers from all walks of life share their knowledge with the next generation— Steve Jobs, Julie Zhuo, Ethan Eismann and many others. This collective effort continuously inspires my own creative journey to create accessible, beautiful, and seamless experiences.

I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the design team at GitHub, who mentored and supported me in discoverying my passion for design systems: Natalya Shelburne, Katie Langerman, and Cole Bemis. Ultimately, it is the collective wisdom, creativity, and collaborations that fuel my joy in designing.

Copilot, Figma, Rewatch, GitHub, Youtube, Twitter, Primer.style

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It naturally occurred while working on startup projects with limited resources, striving to enhance our productivity while avoiding repeated activities and inconsistent UI. Learning about OOCSS, SMACSS, or BEM methodologies pushed and drew me in the direction of a system thinking strategy.

From all the co-workers and friends I’ve been lucky to work with: Hayk An, Victoria Nikitina, Daniel Guillan, Javier Sanchez, and from all of the folks who share their knowledge in the design and development space: Lea Verou, Harry Roberts, Sara Soueidan, Benjamin de Cock, and Brent Jackson to name a few.

VS Code, Notes, Figma, GitHub, Vercel, Spotify

Being able to focus on the key elements of design, form, color and typography.

Having an education in industrial design, the Bauhaus design philosophy and Dieter Rams inspired me a lot. Everything I know about digital product design I learned at Wunderlist, whose design team was very inspiring.

Remarkable tablet, Figma, Origami, Glyphs, GitHubs internal color tool

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A few years back, I was an apprentice for a freelance product designer and my main responsibility was to document his designs and help his customers understand how to continue on with our designs. I loved extracting patterns and spending time writing documentation so every chance I had at any job after that I either participated or initiated the design systems efforts.

I'll start with a lesson from a book. Mark Manson helped me stop looking for shortcuts. Javier Cañada pushed me to think about design outside technology and be inspired by history, literature, philosophy... Sasha Prokhorova taught me that design is not just about craft. She made me a better professional along with some others who I consider my mentors like David la Iglesia, Adrian Mato or Emily Hayman. From Yaili I learned to love design systems documentation and how to show others the value of it. Then Nathan Curtis content became the manual on how to write and present documentation. Yesenia helped me see how design systems can be functional, effective and still convey a brand's personality. The most important lesson, be it design or human level is that communities help us grow and learn from one another. This is why I'm so inspired by people like Jina, Mina, Diana or Stu who are passionate thought leaders doing so much for the design and development industry. Also Zendaya. What a great time to be alive!

Figma, Things, SPREADSHEETS!, Notion, Emojis, Moleskine journals and Fujifilm X-H1.

While studying computer science, I developed a passion for design patterns and abstractions. I especially enjoyed learning about programming languages and automata theory. I'm excited about the potential to apply what I've learned to create strong visual languages. I also enjoy building tools that make it easier for designers and developers (like me) to create better user experiences.

Too many to list! I would not be in this field if it weren't for my mom, who introduced me to HTML, CSS and JavaScript at a young age. Tom Falkner, Ben Waldron, Tyler Deitz, Tony Gines, Brett Spradling, Jake Swenson and Sam Ng have all been incredible mentors. And I'm constantly inspired by the work of Brent Jackson, Adam Morse, James, Max Stoiber, Brian Lovin, Bryn Jackson, Steve Schoger, Sara Soueidan, Dan Abramov and so many more.

CodeSandbox, Figma, GitHub, React, Slack, VS Code

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I first found out about design systems through my last internship, which was focused on building up a design system for the New York Times. I kept learning more and more about this emerging field, and really started to grow an affinity for it.

Design Systems seemed to blend all aspects of my interests: Product Design, Front-End Development, Graphic Design, Typography, Illustration, etc. I’m drawn to design systems as it’s a field that welcomes individuals who have too many interests to count, and find themselves at intersections of many different passions.

I draw in a lot of inspiration from so many different facets of my life. I’m really fortunate to come from a diverse set of backgrounds to be able to see parallels that emerge from a variety of industries.

The field of Graphic Design has a tremendous influence on me, and some of the designers and studios I’m inspired by are: Natasha Jen, Barron Webster, Maxime Buschi, Michael Bierut, Eric Hu, Micah Barrett, Draw Down Books, Wei Huang, Josh Schaub, Morcoskey, and David Rudnik. I’ve always been inspired by those who are experimenting at the intersection of design and technology: Tristan Harris, Brad Frost, Studio No-Plans, Marie Otsuka, Ben Wilkins, Jon Gold, Bret Victor, and Chris Novello. I also love typography, and have a lot of admiration for type-designers and foundries: Colophon Foundry, Kris Sowersby (Klim Type), Matthew Carter, Richard Lipton, Lucas Sharp, Grilli Type, and James Edmondson (OHnotypeco). There’s so many more people that I’ve learned and drawn inspiration from to mention and praise, so feel free to reach out! I’d love to share and discuss. <3

VScode, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Zero-Sugar Redbull

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Up until now, I've been mostly working Front End Engineering roles, but I've always been interested in finding something that was a good mix between Front End and Design. Design Systems feels like the perfect hybrid between the two!

I'm also really into accessibility, and I found that having a design system that enforces accessible standards is one of the easiest ways to make progress on getting a team on-boarded with accessibility best practices and getting those practices implemented in production

I'm super excited about our React component library that we've been working on over the past few months!

Some people & projects that have been inspiring to me are: are Nicole Sullivan, Vaidehi Joshi's BaseCS blog & , Mina Markham's slay.sh, Una Kravets, Suz Hinton's talk about accessibility at Dinosaur.js, Marcy Sutton, and Anil Dash.

Figma, Notion (for taking notes & planning), React

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