Do our design systems give new joiners anxiety?

Do our design systems give new joiners anxiety?

From Design Systems WTF by zeroheight

February 3, 2026 · 33 min · Season 2 · Episode 48

About this episode

The episode discusses the anxiety new joiners face when confronted with complex design systems.

Live recording of the fortnightly podcast Design Systems WTF (back for season two!), where Luke Murphy and Michelle Chin attempt to combat all the amazing wtf in design systems. In each episode, they answer a single question around design system troubles with a Q&A from the live audience. Set the scene - you've joined a new company as a product designer or engineer, and you're confronted with a massive system, with custom naming and opaque decisions. Queue anxiety. So how do we make our d...

People in this episode

Hosts: Luke Murphy, Michelle Chin

Topics covered

  • design systems
  • new joiners
  • anxiety
  • product design
  • engineering

Keywords

  • design systems
  • anxiety
  • new joiners
  • product designer
  • engineering

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