The system stack by zeroheight - October - spooky edition with a cartoon mummy, ghost, spider and one eyed creature.

Hey there,

Spooky season is here, but the only scary things in this edition are lurking in your design system. Think haunted instruction files your AI agents trust a little too much, prop names that rise again under a different spelling, and the LEGO metaphor that's been quietly misleading us all along.

Luckily, there are treats too: another 'Meet' accessibility article from Jennifer Chadwick, the new HTML and CSS features worth using from Declan Chidlow, and a plan for onboarding newcomers from Nicole Kutos. Grab a pumpkin-spiced something and dig in. 🎃

New HTML and CSS features you should be using in your design system

Your design system might be doing more work than it needs to. Declan Chidlow rounds up the newest HTML and CSS features worth adopting, so you can ditch the hacks and let the platform do the heavy lifting.

Read here.

Meet Drew: 8 practical ways to design for a person with ADHD

Jennifer Chadwick is back with the next instalment of her 'Meet' accessibility series. This time she sits down with Drew, an interaction designer with ADHD, to share eight practical ways to design for people like him.

Read here.

Wrong, but never in doubt: What AI agents change about design system governance

Your AI agent believes every word you give it, including the outdated ones. Murphy Trueman explores what that means for design system governance, and why your instruction files now need an owner and a review date.

Read here.

How to design better component APIs for your design system

Your tokens have rules, so why don't your props? Cristian Morales Achiardi makes the case for governing component APIs with the same care, and shows how a simple prop map can catch naming drift before it ships.

Read here.

Why LEGO was never the right metaphor for a design system

Guy Segal explains why the LEGO metaphor we all reach for hides the real work of design systems: earning adoption, funding maintenance, and governing something that's never finished.

Read here.

How to onboard newcomers to your design system

Nicole Kutos knows first impressions count, even for design systems. She shares a five-phase plan for onboarding newcomers, so they get up to speed quickly and stick with your system rather than building their own.

Read here.

What a frightfully good edition it was this month! 😅 We'll be back next month with more treats. See y'all then.

love and design systems,

The zeroheight team