Tokyo Opening Keynote

on YouTube ↗21m

" summary

Argues that rising design-system complexity shows up in three concrete pressures: layout, theming, and process. Recommends specific tactics: use component props and nesting for many layouts, adopt a headless design system to separate presentation from content, add automated checks (a blend mode diff inside Figma) and use branching and merging for collaboration. Notes a surprising metric: a 20‑person team pushes design-system changes once or twice a day, so tests and workflow controls are necessary to avoid accidental breakage.

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" chapters (10)

1. 0:00Welcome and personal journey
2. 2:04Design systems past and present
3. 5:11Complexity in modern design systems
4. 7:17Solving layout with nesting
5. 8:21Managing theming
6. 10:50Process and organization
7. 13:19Testing and branching
8. 15:05Design borrowing from code
9. 17:31Balancing structure and freedom
10. 19:39Closing

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