Why "systemic"
The people who use a product are one part of the ecosystem, alongside the people who maintain it, regulation, costs and the people left out. Looking only at the user leads to things that are right for one person and wrong for the system.
Systemic design changes what you decide to build and, often, what you decide not to build.
The method in three steps
01
Semantic audit
Before building anything I find out what already exists and where it contradicts itself.
02
Relationship architecture
I define how the parts depend on each other, as well as the parts themselves.
03
Handover
The system has to keep working once I am gone.
Cases
**Ekitai.** The component architecture of the platform that also runs this site: sections, typographic atoms, themes. One system serves several clients without any of them losing its identity.
**Airbnb and Translated.** The AI-assisted localisation flow for Airbnb listings in more than 10 languages, designed from the host's perspective and shipped with the 2021 Winter Release.
**Accredia.** Information architecture and document flows for the Italian accreditation body. The measured result is around 960 minutes of work freed up each month, roughly one person's time. A much larger savings figure circulated early on: it was a projection the client never confirmed, and I do not use it.
FAQ
**Do we need an existing design system?**
No. Projects often start from scattered files and rules that live only in someone's head.
**How long does it take?**
It depends on the size. The audit usually takes a few weeks, and the rest is decided after.