#01 - The Design System of Xero with Zac Sanderson-Harris

Xero, a company with 3000+ employees and 2 million users, was identified by Forbes as the World's Most Innovative Growth Company in 2014 and 2015. Their design team consists of 57 product designers, 13 researchers, and 2 content strategists working from Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the world. In this podcast, I talk to Zac Sanderson Harris, Product Design Manager - Design Manager (Systems) at Xero, about Design Systems.

In this episode, you will learn:

• What is a design system?
• How does it work?
• How does a designer at Xero know if a design is successful or not?
• What competencies do design system builders need to have?
• How can you learn those skills?

Zac also shares information about Xero's design team growth, with open roles in product design, design research, and design systems across Australia, New Zealand, and North America. You can find these opportunities on Xero's LinkedIn page, under jobs. Additionally, the design team has published articles about their work and experiences on Medium, in a publication called 'Humans of Xero (https://medium.com/humans-of-xero)'.

Design Systems resources:

• Atomic Design | Brad Frost (https://atomicdesign.bradfrost.com/)
• Design Systems | Alla Khomatova (https://www.smashingmagazine.com/design-systems-book/)
• Design Systems | Eight shapes (Medium) (https://medium.com/eightshapes-llc/tagged/design-systems)
• Design Systems Handbook | Invision (https://www.designbetter.co/design-systems-handbook)
• Practical UI Patterns for Design Systems | Diana MacDonald (https://didoesdigital.com/project/book-practical-ui-patterns-for-design-systems/)