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Artwork for On Theme: Design Systems in Depth

On Theme: Design Systems in Depth

Elyse Holladay
Design Systems
UI Development
Accessibility
Engineering
Product Development
Enterprise Design Challenges
Product Teams
Token Structure
Design Principles
User Experience
User Needs
Stakeholder Engagement
Technology and User Experience
Collaboration In Design
Design Language
Therapy Brands
Collaboration
Workshops In Design
Scalable Design Resources
H E B

Exploring how successful design systems get built, maintained, and deliver impact. Design systems is having a major reinvention moment, and I want to share what's working from design system practitioners out there forging the way. Expect aha moments, actionable insights, thoughtful discussions, and spicy takes from accomplished design system practitioners. Hosted by Elyse Holladay.

PublishesMonthlyEpisodes25Foundeda year ago
Number of ListenersCategories
DesignArtsTechnology

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Artwork for On Theme: Design Systems in Depth

Latest Episodes

Y’all know I am fully bought in on design-with-code tools, so I loved this episode with Robin Cannon, VP of Product at Knapsack and former IBM Carbon and J.P. Morgan Salt design system exec, on why he thinks the infinite canvas is obsolete, and what ... more

Noelle joins me again for some 2026 predictions trend encapsulations, and we try to unpack the absolute madness of the first two months of 2026. 

1️⃣  Designing with code is in, making pictures of UIs is out. 

2️⃣ The new critical deliverables for ... more

My very first minisode of the entire podcast was some 2025 predictions, and a lot has changed. (Honestly, what was I thinking trying to make predictions in the era of AI? fml) Noelle Lansford joined me for Season Two's official first episode to  reca... more

I'm back from Zeroheight's Converge conference in Bristol, UK, with my recap and thoughts. In this minisode, find out my three major themes from the event: reducing complexity, shifting towards code to design, and the narratives "framing our future".... more

Key Facts

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Recent Guests

Robin Cannon
Product and design executive with a decade of design system leadership (IBM Carbon, JP Morgan Salt); VP of Product at Knapsack
Knapsack
Episode: What comes after the infinite canvas? with Robin Cannon
Noelle Lansford
Design systems practitioner, guest on the episode
Episode: Five 2026 Predictions for Design Systems with Noelle Lansford
Natalya Shelburne
Designer, developer, and educator leading the Primer Design System at GitHub
GitHub
Episode: Creativity and design system leadership in the age of AI, with Natalya Shelburne — #17
Sam Anderson
Director of the Intuit Design System, leading design into its AI accelerated future
Intuit
Episode: But "design systems as infrastructure" is boring, with Sam Anderson — #16
Ben Callahan
Founder of agency Sparkbox, and host of The Question, which is a weekly collaborative learning experiment for design system practitioners.
Sparkbox
Episode: The Four Quadrants of Design System Impact, with Ben Callahan — #14
Daniel Henderson-Ede
Head of Design Technology and Systems at Mantis Co, specializes in accessible, scalable design systems.
Mantis Co
Episode: The flaws of the “accessibility is built in to the design system” argument, with Daniel Henderson-Ede — #12
Amy Ogg
Seattle based design system nerd and coffee lover, currently working at Therapy Brands.
Therapy Brands
Episode: Help, I'm starting a new design system job! with Amy Ogg — #11
Jeff Pelletier
Hybrid front-end developer focusing on design systems
Episode: Hand off the API: a design & build workflow for components, with Jeff Pelletier — #10
Smith Schwartz
Product design manager at Spotify, working on a design team positioned horizontally across the advertising business.
Spotify
Episode: Bye Purple! A redesign powered by local & global design system layers at Spotify, with Smith Schwartz & Tyce Clee — #09

Host

Elyse Holladay
Host of On Theme: Design Systems in Depth; design systems practitioner and facilitator of practical discussions on governance, scalability, and organizational impact.

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 8 ratings
  • Great podcast!

    Love the in depth conversations about design systems and the focus on more nuanced topics. Looking forward to the next episodes 😉

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Nubeh
    Switzerlanda year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners appreciate candid discussions about AI's role in design systems and organizational change.
Deep dives into design systems and nuanced topics make each episode feel substantive and actionable.
The conversations emphasize governance, strategy, and cross-functional impact over pure tech detail.
Guests with practical, practitioner-focused perspectives provide real-world takeaways.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#56
United Kingdom/Arts/Design
Apple Podcasts
#66
Switzerland/Arts/Design
Apple Podcasts
#75
Netherlands/Arts/Design
Apple Podcasts
#85
Norway/Arts/Design
Apple Podcasts
#100
India/Arts/Design
Apple Podcasts
#101
Singapore/Arts/Design

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The flaws of the “accessibility is built in to the design system” argument, with Daniel Henderson-Ede — #12
Q: What role should design systems play in accessible product development?
Design systems should provide smart defaults, contextual examples, and integrate accessibility guidelines directly into documentation to support developers and designers in building accessible products.
All the things you shouldn’t do for design system success, with Dan Mall — #04
Q: How do you see successful design system teams managing their broad scope?
On the macro side, design system teams should not inherit responsibilities like design standards, as this often leads to burnout and the overextension of resources.
All the things you shouldn’t do for design system success, with Dan Mall — #04
Q: What are you excited about for the future of design systems?
I hope we get out of the discussion of component APIs and Figma variables and all this. There's more that we can do.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About On Theme: Design Systems in Depth

What is On Theme: Design Systems in Depth about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The series explores how design systems are built, scaled, and delivered with impact, emphasizing governance, AI-assisted workflows, and practical enablement across organizations. Episodes frequently discuss design-to-code handoffs, scalability patterns, and leadership dynamics, with guests ranging from system practitioners to industry leaders who share real-world lessons learned. Noteworthy is the focus on human-centered practices, collaboration across teams, and a tendency to challenge traditional design-system paradigms by highlighting infrastructure-like thinking and organizational enablement. This mix should help listeners decide if strategic design system work, tooling choices, and cross-functional collaboration align with their goals ... more

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1. Design System Office Hours
2. Patterns Podcast
3. Design Systems WTF
4. Dive Club 🤿
5. Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

How many episodes of On Theme: Design Systems in Depth are there?

On Theme: Design Systems in Depth launched a year ago and published 25 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on On Theme: Design Systems in Depth?

Recent guests on On Theme: Design Systems in Depth include:

1. Robin Cannon
2. Noelle Lansford
3. Natalya Shelburne
4. Sam Anderson
5. Ben Callahan
6. Daniel Henderson-Ede
7. Amy Ogg
8. Jeff Pelletier

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