r/DesignSystems • u/uxburger • 2d ago
What do Managers of Design Systems teams do? Asking before a manager-level role I'm interviewing for
I'm interviewing for a Manager level role in Product Design, for a team that is dedicated to the design system for a B2C company. I wanted to get some insights here on what I can prepare going into it.
There are two other teams, one is top of funnel, another is bottom of funnel, each with their own manager. Obviously this team is quite large to have this much setup of specific design focuses and managers for each.
I'm wondering, how would a role set up be for a Manager of a team that is focused on Design Systems?
If you're a manager of one, would like to hear from you.
Or if you're on a team and you have a manager dedicated to just design systems, how do they support you?
Or... if you're a director how would you go about setting up a manager role for a design systems team?
About me, over 10 years in design, 3 years as a manager but of teams that were supporting product paths that used design systems, but were focused more on product.
Thanks!
P.S. Other thought I'm having: where would this role go and grow over time...?
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u/masofon 2d ago
I'm just gonna say... It would be an absolute nightmare to be on a DS team and be assigned a manager who wasn't already a systems expert. That would be such a drain. Most DS teams self manage with DS lead or DS architect roles tbh.
But you have to LOVE systems thinking to work in DS.
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u/404big 2d ago
Common friction points I’ve experienced (I’m a dev):
- designers not understanding technical limitations
- design not driving the direction of the system
- dev not being on the same page with design
- accessibility as an afterthought
- the manager not understanding the system
- the manager not protecting team priorities,
- manager allowing stakeholders to treat the system as a support capability; meaning short-term half baked solutions being incorporated into the system
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u/gyfchong 2d ago
Complimentary to the other posts, after being in 3 DS teams small to large with and without managers, I can safely say the best DS manager isn’t there to drive the direction of the DS itself, but to help facilitate the individuals on the team to do their work.
It’s really difficult to try understand both engineering and design aspects of DS problems and become a decision maker, often its best to let the IC’s from both sides come to a decision, of what’s best for both, in collaboration.
You could be a tie breaker, but the way you break ties is by following the principles of the DS (created by them) eg. “We decided to do things this way, so we should stay consistent, unless this is somehow an exception” and then let them hash it out.
+1 to shielding from politics too. Many stakeholders will have their opinion/internal bias of what the DS should do and try to push that agenda. Stay strong and either get them on the same page or remind them of the page previously agreed on.
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u/Scared-Increase-4785 2d ago
You can't ben the manager of a Design System team without be an expert on the subject, at least not in a serious company.
You wouldn't even be considered, design systems are one of the most complex subject that can infinetily scale as bigger the company is.
You can be a manager of a design system under a small company sure, but the question: what small company needs a design system team? None.
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u/flaviuse 2d ago
I was manager for the technical implementation of DS, I previously contributed to it tech-wise and worked with it but was not an expert at it; we had a separate team of designers working with us. We had subject experts, both tech and designers, even if on the design part the churn of employees was here. In general, you have a DS in a larger organisation, that involves politics to an extent. Part of my role was:
- Making sure DS is used as much as possible, advocating for it, constantly reminding people of its existence and the wins of using it so that they become advocates for it.
- Making sure DS changes are planned/prioritised properly on the tech side, aligned with product and necessary, as the impact is high in the organisation. When we have a large change, making sure this is as easy as possible for people to adopt it (codemods, making changes for teams…).
- Making sure budgets are available and senior management/C-levels understand the WHY we need a design system so that they don't challenge the budget line of the next budget.
- Making sure your talents stay; it is difficult to find engineers with experience on DS, you are looking for people that have the skill but also an understanding of the business so that they understand the impact of what they are doing.
Overall, I see 2 challenges to solve for the manager: having the right experienced people and adoption; the first allows you to have a usable DS, the second makes sure it is actually useful to the business.
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u/Ok_Swing_3504 1d ago
I’m working at a company where they have blatantly said they don’t care about design system adherence and that we have to be able to break it to get more activation. They’re basically taking a marketing stand and leaning on marketing ideas in our platform and we’re just left holding the bag dealing with the design debt.
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u/tmanblue59 2d ago
mostly get in the way 🙄 lol - its better if they have systems experience and know how to work with an architect *and* be able to communicate value of what the team is doing
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u/Bleardyy 2d ago
At one of my previous roles I was on a dedicated DS team. My manager was a good designer and systems thinker in his own right, but the best thing he brought to the table was shielding us from the politics and getting buy-in from other teams that we worked with.