Luis Klefsjo

My involvement in the design system industry dates back to early 2018. Throughout this period, I’ve been deeply engaged as both a contributor and a leader within design system teams. My role has encompassed guiding multiple clients and/or teams through crucial aspects of the design system journey, including securing buy-in, orchestrating setup procedures, overseeing implementation, crafting comprehensive documentation, and ensuring effective governance of these systems. I have over the years worked on various Design System projects across many industries and with companies and organizations of various sizes, from SMEs whose design maturity may have been questionable (as in whether they needed, or were ready for design systems), to large multi-product organizations where a design system was required to be not only a white-label and functioning as a singular source of truth, but also be scalable to accommodate internal and external products.

My contribution to the design system community draws from my involvement in establishing the Design Systems London Conference (DSL) in 2018 and 2019, as one of the driving forces behind it. DSL was initially conceived as a conference, but as there was a clear hunger for this type of expertise from the product design community, I decided to pivot an existing event series – London Digital Products – that I had set up and was running at time. I was convinced that if we could continuously gather experts to share their knowledge in what was then still a fairly “new” field to many people, we could really help and support designers and engineers to improve their everyday work lives, as well as showcase to companies and organizations why they should take Design Systems into account. This led to DSL evolving into an ongoing platform that facilitates regular events for the Design System community, both in London and online, as well as a one-off event in New York. This experience has also enabled me to not only understand the nuances of designing effective systems but also to foster a vibrant and connected community of professionals passionate about design systems. We have had people come to us to let us know that the talks they have seen at our events have helped with everything from getting buy-in in their organizations, expanding their skill sets, and even helped them identify a new area for them to focus on and become experts in. There have also been scenarios where connections made at our DSL events have led to direct hires, of both individuals and companies to help tackle Design System challenges.

I actively engage in sharing my design system expertise with the community by spearheading and hosting Design System London (DSL), as well as lead and facilitate the panel discussions with our expert speakers at the end of each event. As the facilitator of the panel discussion, I encourage continuous conversations, as well as debate on topics from the talks, while also actively sharing my experiences and knowledge with our experts, and the wider Design Community in the room, or online. Our online community spreads across various continents and parts of the world. The DSL initiative takes form through both in-person gatherings and online interactions, providing a space where knowledge, insights, and experiences related to design systems are openly exchanged and cultivated. One of the most important things for me is to ensure that we create a welcoming and open space for anyone interested in sharing the experiences, regardless of background, and experience.

Sharing to the community

I actively share my design system knowledge through leadership and mentorship, creating an inclusive and collaborative environment for the individuals I work with. As a design leader, I have conducted many client workshops, guiding attendees through implementation strategies and mentoring young designers on creating, organising and implementing design systems. I’ve mentored individuals one-on-one, offering personalised guidance. To ensure inclusivity, I prioritise diverse representation in events like Design System London (DSL), showcasing varied perspectives.

I was also asked to appear on the podcast “What the DS”, a Design System podcast to talk about my experience and to provide tips and tricks on how to successfully work with Design Systems.

Value

I’d like to believe that my involvement in the community is seen in a positive light. We have over the years have had a lot of very complimentary comments, and feedback, both on the community, and even I myself have had some pretty nice things said about me, and my engagement. Find provided a link to some of these comments and feedback for Design System London.

As much I had to do this submission by myself, for myself, I would really like to point out that there are a lot of other people that are continuously contributing to the existence of the Design System London event; the people behind the scene that help make these events happen, the speakers that always contribute with amazing expertise and insights, and who by doing so, challenge me to ensure I keep my eye on the industry. And finally, all the people that attend and support the community over and over again – without any of them, DSL would never be what it is today. For that, I am incredibly proud; over the fact that DSL initially happened, and that it is still going!