net - UK (2020-01)

Q&A

As an instructor, what are the most common

misconceptions about UX you encounter?

That UX is visual design. Many students come in with

the idea that as a UX designer, they’ll be focused on

making pleasing user interfaces. Imagine the shock

when we spend weeks on research and testing.

Students also find it surprising how much

communication and diplomacy it takes to practise

UX. You need a genuine interest in people. Much of

our work centres around listening, empathising and

then advocating.

How’s it going at CloudBees so far?

It has been exciting to work on new products. I’ve

stepped away from management and am focused on

solving user problems, not organisational ones. Right

now, I’m working on a feature flag product called

Rollout and my mission is to improve the onboarding

experience for new users. It’s been a lot of fun. The

team I work with is top-notch.

Why did you and Taurie Davis write Building Design

Systems and why should people buy it?

In the beginning, a lot of the time Taurie and I spent

building GitLab’s design system was focused on

understanding what we needed and how to structure

it. We looked at other design systems, read articles

and researched the technologies available. A lot of

the materials focused on what I’d call the ‘ideal’

design system. It was overwhelming and a bit

demoralising for a small team with dodgy support for

building a system.

We made it through by dividing labour and focusing

on iterating our system over time. Taurie spearheaded

the technical aspects, while I focused on gaining

support from the company and team. The book came

from our desire to cut through that BS idea of the

‘perfect system’. We wanted to write something that

people could read and immediately act on within

their organisation. The book focuses on the practical

considerations for any system. Whether you’re a team

of one or 10, you can create a maintainable, scalable

system that works for you.

What else is exciting you most in the field of web

design right now?

So many things! Version control for design files and

better communication tools so that design,

engineering and product can all participate. Also, I

co-host a podcast called ThunderNerds and had the

honour of chatting with Jen Simmons. We talked a lot

about how creativity and exploration have felt dead

for quite a while. We are both optimistic that, with

evolving CSS tools like Grid alongside a maturing UX

community, that sense of exploration will return.

SARRAH

VESSELOV

Q&A

Could you briefly introduce yourself to anyone who

doesn’t know you?

I’m a UX professional, speaker and author with over

(cough) 15 years of experience in design, development

and management. I’ve worked on the web so long I

remember when we did everything in tables and you

weren’t a real web designer if you hadn’t figured out

how to make rounded corners using images.

What were the biggest challenges to overcome

during your time at GitLab?

When I joined GitLab as the UX manager, the UX

team was still relatively small and the company was

under 150 people. UX design was appreciated but not

understood by everyone at the organisation. There

was a lot of unhappiness around a navigation change

and the company was looking at the UX department

to lead the redesign. It was a lot to walk into but the

design team was eager to make changes.

The designer, author and instructor discusses

popular misconceptions about UX and

design systems

INFO

job: Senior user
experience
designer,
CloudBees

w: sarrahvesselov.com
t: @SVesselov