Patterns Podcast

Building in the Age of Agents with Alex Wilson, Engineering Leader at T. Rowe Price. 13.05.2026 53min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. Software teams are operating in an environment where the job description changes every two months. As agentic AI moves from novelty to real engineering capability, the assumptions that have held enterprise software together — long SaaS contracts, stable teams, predictable agile rhythms — are starting to bend. In this episode of Patterns, Chris Strahl talks with engineering leader Alex Wilson about what it actually takes to bring AI into a large, regula...

Building Trust: Designing Product Ecosystems in the Age of AI 10.03.2026 33min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. Digital products no longer exist as standalone apps. They live inside complex ecosystems of interfaces, AI systems, legacy infrastructure, and workflows that all have to work together. In this episode of Patterns, Chris Strahl talks with product design leader Andi Rusu about what it takes to design reliable digital experiences in environments where multiple systems—and increasingly AI—are shaping how products behave. Drawing on experience at Disney, So...

Inside the Alaska–Hawaiian Merger: Shipping a Multi-Brand Experience in 10 Months 10.02.2026 41min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. The Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger came with physical and regulatory deadlines that dictated an inflexible 10-month delivery window for digital and design work. With the timeline tied to real-world change, combined design, product, and engineering teams had to build and ship alongside a transformation that was already in motion. Chris Strahl talks with Noelle Lansford and Forrest Akemann about what it took to deliver a multi-brand experie...

Designing the Learning Loop: Context, AI, and Compound Systems 27.01.2026 48min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In the first episode of Patterns, Chris Strahl sits down with Dave Brown, design leader at Qualtrics, to explore what modern systems thinking looks like in an AI-driven product landscape. Moving beyond traditional notions of software design, the conversation reframes product creation as a shift from a single golden path toward a world where every experience is effectively an edge case. Together, they unpack why context, not features, is becoming the pr...

DSP 139. Why the Future of Digital Production Starts With Code, Not a Canvas 17.12.2025 34min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. As AI compresses the distance between idea and execution, the abstractions that once made design tools necessary are becoming points of friction. In this conversation, Knapsack leaders Chris Strahl, Evan Lovely, and Robin Cannon make the case that the future of digital production starts in the medium products actually ship in, code. They unpack why design systems are infrastructure, not artifacts, how context becomes the critical input for enterprise A...

DSP 138. Scaling Inclusive Design: An Accessibility Conversation with Anna Thielke 04.12.2025 24min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. How do teams turn accessibility from individual effort into system wide practice? Chris talks with Anna Thielke, founder and CEO of Mantis and Company, to find out. They explore why representation on system teams leads to better standards, how designing for the edges strengthens products for everyone, and what it takes for accessibility work to spread across large organizations in a sustainable way. Anna also shares how lived experience shapes her pers...

DSP 137. Why You Shouldn’t Aim for Perfect: Building Design Systems That Deliver Business Value with Noelle Lansford 11.11.2025 44min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. If you’ve ever struggled to balance perfection with business reality, this episode is for you. In this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, Chris Strahl talks with Noelle Lansford, founder of Shep, about why chasing the “perfect system” often breaks more than it fixes. Drawing on her experience across startups and Fortune 5 companies, Noelle argues that design systems succeed when they serve people and the business—not when they chase architectural p...

DSP 136. Are Design Systems Still for People? A Conversation with Elyse Holladay 22.07.2025 45min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In this episode, Chris Strahl talks with Elyse Holladay—staff design engineer at Color Health and host of On Theme—about the evolution of design systems and how AI is reshaping the way we think about abstraction, collaboration, and contribution. They explore what it means to maintain relevance in a landscape where LLMs increasingly influence product development, and reflect on whether design systems are still for people—or for machines. Elyse shares a ...

DSP 135. The Infrastructure Behind Digital Production: A Conversation with Steve Dodier-Lazaro 08.07.2025 36min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. Design systems aren’t just a UI toolkit—they’re the backbone of digital product creation and management. In this episode, engineer and researcher Steve Dodier-Lazaro joins Chris Strahl to unpack why treating design systems like standalone products is holding teams back. They explore what it really takes to scale product design and development in enterprise environments—from shared tooling and token standards to how AI and LLMs can bridge messy, real-wo...

DSP 134 Modernizing a Legend: Catherine Dubut Builds the Future at Ford Pro 13.06.2025 30min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. What does it take to transform 121 years of automotive legacy into a modern digital ecosystem? Catherine Dubut, Director of Global UX Strategy at Ford Pro, joins Chris Strahl to share how her team is reengineering the organization’s fragmented product landscape into a scalable, unified digital assembly line. With over 80 legacy sites, 20+ global markets, and deeply siloed teams, the scale and complexity of Ford Pro’s challenge was immense. Catherine ex...

DSP 133. Garth Braithwaite on Design Tokens, Governance, and Scaling Spectrum at Adobe 27.05.2025 59min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. The design token nerds are taking over the pod! In this episode, guest host Christopher Bloom sits down with Garth Braithwaite, Lead Senior Staff Design Engineer at Adobe, for a deep dive into the inner workings of Spectrum’s design tokens. Garth shares how Adobe manages the complexity of scaling a multi-platform design system, and how thoughtful collaboration across teams builds real value for users. They get into the weeds on cross-team communication...

DSP 132. The Evolution of Digital Production: TJ Pitre Talks Flash, Figma, and the Future of Dynamic Design 29.04.2025 29min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In this episode, TJ Pitre, founder of South Left, joins the podcast to trace the real evolution of digital production — from the early days of Flash and Fireworks to today's dynamic, system-driven workflows. TJ shares his journey bridging design and development, reflects on the rise of modern tools like Figma, and explores the shift toward more connected, production-ready design. Along the way, he breaks down the growing role of the design engineer, th...

DSP 131. DSP Rewind | Rick Rodriguez on Building an Adaptable and Scalable Design system 15.04.2025 31min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. This week, we're digging into the Design Systems Podcast archives. Guest host Richard Banfield, VP of Design Leadership at Knapsack, revisits a 2020 conversation between host Chris Strahl and Rick Rodriguez, then Head of Design Systems at Walmart Labs. Rick shares how his team developed Living Design, Walmart’s internal design system, to support both customer-facing and associate-facing digital products. The conversation explores what it takes to desig...

DSP 130. Jon Warden on How GSK Uses Design Systems to Balance Scale, Flexibility, and Innovation 01.04.2025 41min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, guest host Andrew Rohman sits down with Jon Warden to explore how GSK leverages design systems to drive consistency, innovation, and efficiency across a highly complex global organization. With multiple brands, multi-product ecosystems, and diverse regional needs, GSK must balance scale and flexibility while embracing automation, AI, and modern workflows—all while keeping the customer experience at the cen...

DSP 129. Mashup | The Future of AI and Digital Production 18.03.2025 48min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In this episode of The Design Systems Podcast, guest host Richard Banfield takes us on a journey through the intersection of artificial intelligence and design systems. We revisit some of the most compelling discussions featuring experts David Calleja, Nick Hahn, Ranjeet Tayi, and Kate Moran. Together, they unravel how AI is transforming the way digital products are designed and developed. From AI's potential as a creative partner to its role in automa...

DSP 128. Rewind | Emily Campbell: Design and code convergence 11.03.2025 42min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. in this episode Knapsack's VP of Design Leadership, Richard Banfield takes a look back at a conversation between Chris Strahl and Emily Campbell. They discuss the convergence of design and code, and what that actually looks like. They walk through what a designer role looks like in a modern digital product team and Emily explains her idea that design and development are the same. They just have different approaches to the same process or medium. Other...

DSP 127. Building a Unified Design System for Instacart’s Multi-Product Ecosystem: Lessons for Success from Miranda Bouck 04.02.2025 31min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. Increasingly, design systems need to support multi-product ecosystems with a diverse array of consumers and stakeholders. This week, Chris Strahl sits down with Miranda Bouck from Instacart to explore the intricacies of managing a multi-faceted design system. Miranda delves into the challenges and strategies of balancing the diverse needs of consumer apps, internal apps, and enterprise retail partners, all while maintaining system flexibility and perfo...

DSP 126. Scaling Avalara's Design System to Support a Growth-By-Acquisition Strategy 21.01.2025 26min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. Many enterprise organizations face the challenge of scaling their design systems as the scope of product support expands through adoption and acquisition. In this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, host Chris Strahl speaks with Will Rodenbough, Senior UX Designer at Avalara, about the critical role of design systems in enabling scalability and supporting a growth-by-acquisition strategy. Key Topics Covered: Scaling Through Systems Thinking: How Ava...

DSP 125. Inside H-E-B’s Digital Transformation: Adriana Morales on Design Systems That Empower Teams 07.01.2025 37min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In our first episode of 2025, Chris Strahl sits down with Adriana Morales, Design Principal at H-E-B, to explore the evolution, challenges, and triumphs of design systems in organizations at different stages of maturity. Adriana shares her journey from IBM to H-E-B, highlighting how each company’s unique financial priorities and cultural dynamics shape the mission and execution of their design systems. Together, they discuss the paradox of design syste...

DSP 124. From Ideas to Impact: Chris Strahl and Evan Lovely on Five Years of Design Systems Innovation 10.12.2024 34min

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. In this special episode of the Design Systems Podcast, co-founders Chris Strahl and Evan Lovely celebrate five years of the podcast and reflect on their journey from agency work to building Knapsack. They discuss the evolution of design systems, lessons learned from working with global enterprise clients, and the importance of composability, constraints, and community in driving innovation. Enjoy anecdotes from their early days and a look ahead at the ...