Big details
The little things are only little because we've made them that way.
PJ Onori’s blog
Latest posts
I’m making a spec for design system documentation
I have no right to be doing this. But that’s never stopped me.
Testing agents on design systems
It’s really easy to say agents are able to use a design system. It’s another thing to prove it.
Don’t talk like them
It’s important to say things that sound like a human said it.
Design system contributions work better when everyone knows your name
Some things work better in a small and cozy environment.
Design systems are today’s cure and tomorrow’s cause of shitty software
Design systems have been propping up quality from collapsing. And in doing so, risk making the collapse even more spectacular.
The many layers of dependencies in design systems
Every design system is built on something. For better and for worse.
Fame, fortune, and podcasting
A story about my time podcasting and how it's led to untold wealth and international celebrity status.
Public design systems are worth it
It’s incredibly valuable to make a design system available to all–no matter what the bean-counters say.
Design system ambassadors–the goldilocks of collaboration
“Ivory tower design system”. That’s a more common four-word combination than people may think. A centralized design system is, by nature, detached from the people using it. It’s a downside that I’ll take every single time. But it’s a real issue. A detached design system team is risky as hell. Mainly because the symptoms of being cut off from the systems users tend to lag. Once the symptoms begin…
What I learned from making a (second) mobile app
Some things just require a second time to fully grok.
Writing about making a writing app
What could possibly go wrong?
Planning and design systems–how much time you got?
There are few things more impactful than good planning. Planning isn’t all that different for design system teams. But I do think it plays a more important role. Design systems are playing with a different timescale than feature teams. Systems think in years whereas feature teams focus more on immediate outcomes. Feature teams are most autonomous in their focus. Design systems thrive on…
Buyer beware
I’m going to Config this year. It’s my first time. These kinds of events aren’t my wheelhouse. I don’t like being sold and I’m not into dog and pony shows. Config’s Venn Diagram of those two would be a perfect circle. To be clear, I don’t blame Figma. This is their job. We, the consumer, aren’t holding up our end of the bargain. The job of the business is to sell. To pitch everything with the…
Design system documentation is essential–as long as it’s good
Documentation, of all things, is a contentious topic within design systems. Never in a million years would I expect something as boring as documentation to get folks up in arms. Some people (like me) think it’s essential. Others think it’s useless. Part of me thinks this is due to modern-day internet hyperbole. If something isn’t the best thing ever, it’s the worst thing ever. Another part thinks…
Maybe this is design technologists’ time to shine
I’ve had a weird career. And before that, I had a weird education. I went from majoring in computer science to graduating with a degree in Visual Arts. I then entered a job market that was in free fall and not very interested in graphic designers. I decided paying rent was pretty important, so I dusted off my dev skills to become a front-end coder. I didn’t give up on design though. I would take…
Naming things in design systems–and why it’s the worst
The exercise of naming can easily descend into a mindfuck death spiral. I often joke that every design system conversation devolves into a naming argument. As the years go by, it feels less and less like a joke. I vacillate between naming being performative navel-gazing and the most important part of the job. Given I consider it so critical half the time, I thought I d write about it. I hold…
I don’t want your email
I don t know who reads this. I don t know how they find it. I don t know if they ll ever come back. I don t know a damned thing. And that s by design. I value my privacy and by extension, I value others . That s exactly why I don t have newsletters. The last thing I want is someone s email. This blog is a place to get things out of my head. I write for myself. Putting it on display provides just…
The existential challenge of design system team morale
What the hell do I know? Not much to be honest. I’ve been working in this industry for a long while now and I still don’t have a damned clue. But, as the years go by, I don’t think many people do either. Meaning most of us are all just figuring this out together. I don’t have answers, but I do have experiences. That’s all I can share. These experiences are not profound. They’re not new. There’s no…
Own what’s yours
It’s 2025. Read.cv is shutting down. WordPress is on fire. Twitter has completely melted down. Companies are changing their content policies en masse. Social networks are becoming increasingly icy towards anything outside of their walled garden. Services are using the content you post to feed proprietary LLMs. Government websites appear to be purging data. It’s a wild time. It’s hard to know where…
Craft and tools and jigs
I wish I would have gotten into woodworking when I was younger and had the time to pursue it. It’s a practice that I now enjoy vicariously. I watch skilled people make all sorts of interesting things. And through that process, I’ve seen how the craft of woodworking relates to the craft of making software. The software design practice remains in a self-imposed existential crisis related to craft.…
Consistency means nothing
Words create a false sense of agreement. My line of work relies on many words loaded with meaning, but lacking concrete definition. Words like quality, craft and simplicity. These are abstract words. And in the abstract, people generally agree on their meaning. But definitions stray wildly once those abstract concepts get specific and real. This is a problem–a big one. It represents a single…
What I learned from making my own design system
Knowing isn’t understanding. Books are a great way to know. Understanding takes first-hand experience. A person can know that having kids will change their life. They won’t fully understand until they’re living it. Design system teams are just as vulnerable to the knowing/understanding gap. A team can know how people use it. They can know what’s working and what’s not. But they may not understand…
AI doesn’t have to be horrible
I like Dave Rupert. Never met the guy, but I like him nonetheless. I enjoyed his thoughts on AI and decided to write my own. I find writing useful to get my head in order. AI isn t going away, therefore it s only responsible to form a point of view. So unfortunately the world now has another AI blog post. I’m sorry. I’m skeptical of AI. Less because of the tech and more because of those ushering…
Everybody reads
Despite the contrary.
Design systems and the never-ending job of buy-in
Boy, I'm sure glad we figured this problem out!
Color is a four letter word
Profanity can be a remarkable way to get a point across. The trick is sparse use in the right situation. The same goes for color. Yes, color turns heads. Flowers figured that out hundreds of millions of years ago. That can be good or bad. Color is both potent and volatile. What’s vibrant to one person may be gray to another. A certain hue can mean good luck in one culture and uh oh in another.…
Write like you design
Designers tend to be scared of writing. Which is funny because they already do it
I’m making a mobile app
I’m tired of using apps that I don’t enjoy, so I’ve decided to make my own.
An over-analytical analysis of style
Style is consistent constraint . I ve never heard a more concise and accurate description. This is a topic near and dear to my heart given I ve worked to develop a style in design and photography. You can find stimulation in strange places. I watched The Batman with comic-book-movie expectations and little anticipation. Then I watched it again. And again. Numerous times. Its style grabbed me. Then…
Screw it, I’m making a typeface
This post intends to be a journal of my progress with the creation of my own typeface. It ll be updated as updates are available. You can see the typeface in all its glory on its specimen page . Prologue I ve wanted to design my own typeface for nearly two decades. Now seemed like as good of a time as any. I thought it may be worthwhile to document this process and therefore I m going to chronicle…
Systems, math and explosions (in no particular order)
Any sufficiently complex system is indistinguishable from chaos 1 . Systems are complex at baseline because they re not just about collections of things, they re also about connections of things. And connections add up fast. Take the following three collections of connected dots. The first collection of three dots has three connections. Obvious. The second collection has nine dots, but now there…
Simple things make things simple
I m not a complicated guy. The older I get, the more I m drawn to less . This is best illustrated in a recent project. designsystems.news in all its glory I launched designsystems.news in April of 2023 as a weekly editorial on design systems. I needed space for more reading and thinking, but knew that wouldn t reliably happen without an intentional process in place. I made the site to keep me…
Measuring design system “adoption”
Measuring design system adoption is like measuring how much you love your children. It s hand-wavy and adjective-laced. Head-scratching ensues once the numbers come out. However, developing an adoption metric is attainable, productive and won t land you in family therapy. As long as your adoption metric isn t measuring adoption. Measuring true adoption is impossible Design system adoption isn’t…
Tend your garden
Stop being too busy to stop being too busy
The English language—A guideline for how not to make a design system
This post was initially published on the Pinterest Design blog . One of the major challenges of systems design is communicating the rationale of decisions — why you landed on certain choices, and why they make sense in the bigger picture. I’ve found language is an effective metaphor to explain my rationale: Creating a system is, in essence, creating a language. Let’s look at the definition of the…
An opinionated guide to designing a photography site
So, you’re looking to make your own photography site. Oh boy, are you in for a ride...
Making a design system is a people job
Think designing buttons is tough? Try convincing everyone in your company to use it.
Writing is design
I have long held the opinion that writing is crucial to design. Unfortunately I did not practice it. Writing was not given much priority while I attended art school and continued to be of little concern early in my career. I took my writing seriously once my wife began editing my blog posts. The first few sessions were rough. I was failing at the most fundamental level—I wasn’t getting a point…
Everything is a prototype
Interaction design is in constant change. Code is becoming a design medium, making prototyping a common design process. This is a step in the right direction, but is missing the point. Prototyping is not a step that designers check off the list. It’s what designers do. Everything designed is a prototype. By everything, I mean everything . Sketches, wireframes, visual comps, clickable demos, beta…
Design for speed
Have you ever asked a person a question where there is an unnatural delay in the response? It’s unsettling. You’re left questioning if the person heard you, if they understood, or if they’re just ignoring you. People expect a response in a certain amount of time, otherwise things get weird. The same can be said with peoples’ expectations of software. When they click a link, they expect the page to…
In defense of hard
Once upon a time, software was a tool used in a professional setting. That seems like a lifetime ago. Software is now engrained in daily modern life. Far from the professional tool, it’s for everyone. Usability and ease-of-use were less of a concern (if any concern at all) before this shift. Software companies could rely on training and manuals to make up for unintuitive interfaces. That all…