Reasons design systems fail part 4: Governance challenges. The system must evolve from a team project to a shared infrastructure. The founding team shouldn’t dictate every detail, nor become a service desk. Collaborate through version control, pull requests, docs, automated testing, access control.

UI components as Lego: an analogy too far, or not far enough? A box of UI bricks only gets you so far. What happens when product teams need parts that don't exist? Time to examine the Lego analogy more closely.

A box of UI bricks only gets you so far. What happens when product teams need parts that don’t exist? On the blog…
measured.co/blog/ui-lego...

Design systems that scale: the case for composability Composability is essential for UI systems at any scale, but often misunderstood. Here's how to make it the foundation of your design system.

For large organisations, composability isn't just a nice-to-have. It's the difference between a system that enables teams and one that obstructs them. Our latest blog post…
measured.co/blog/composa...

Start with a slice: 7 steps to get your new design system moving Design system projects often stall because teams start too broadly to make progress. Here's how to pick a narrow slice that shows value in weeks, not months.

Design system projects that start with grand visions can get bogged down under the weight of options.

The trick isn’t having all the answers. It's choosing something small enough to finish but visible enough to matter.

Our latest blog post…
measured.co/blog/design-...

“Your Scrum Masters were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Take it from Jeff. Only demo when you’ve got something interesting to show.

Reasons design systems fail part 3: Everyone nods at “We need a design system” while imagining their personal magical unicorn.

In praise of opportunity roadmaps How do you avoid your roadmap becoming an organisational wish list, with concrete deadlines and complex interdependencies? The key is evolution, not prediction.

A good product roadmap should be lean, adaptable and almost entirely albatross-free:
measured.co/blog/opportu...

Reasons design systems fail part 2: the buyers didn’t consult the users.

Reasons design systems fail part 1: water cooler chats don’t scale.

Priorities variable 3 to 5, occasionally 4 to 7 near month-end, backing synergies later. Widgets. Good.

You explained it perfectly. They listened, but they’re busy and stressed. Be patient and try again later. And again after that. 3️⃣🌻

Project handovers, a visual metaphor:

Continuums as a tool for understanding Complex problems rarely have tidy answers. The continuum is a powerful tool to shift from grasping for quick fixes to finding a considered, effective approach.

Continuums are a useful model when making decisions in complex circumstances. Plus you get to make funny hand gestures when you explain things. 🫲 🫱

We’ve written a blog post about it:
measured.co/blog/continu...

Discovery that doesn’t lead to action isn’t discovery. It’s kabuki with post-it notes.

The value of the client engagement check-in Regular client check-ins keep projects on track, build trust, and surface issues early. Here’s how we run them — and why they’re worth the time.

We wrote a blog post about client engagement check-ins. Mainly to answer the question “What’s a client engagement check-in?”
measured.co/blog/client-...

Small meetings: Good for time. Better for attention. Best for the people that didn’t have to go.

Anyone that has built a good design system had to build a bad one first.

Picture of a satellite marked with the NASA logo, USA flag and the words United States. Next to it is text identifying it as the Solar Maximim Mission with guidance on marking placement. Underneath is the caption: Make sure all spacecraft are clearly labelled.

Sensible…

Simple side-on illustrations of two cars, one white with black NASA logo and text, one black with white NASA logo and text. Underneath is the caption: Text should have sufficient contrast to be easily readable.

Accessibility…

"Apollo 11" in black above a free-hand inky sketch of the Apollo 11 astronauts‘ heads. Underneath is the caption: Don't mandate a logo when subtler brand expressions are enough.

No logo…

Three side by side images of silhouetted spacecraft: Space Shuttle, Apollo-Soyuz and Skylab. Each has medium- and light-gray drop shadows. Underneath is the caption: Plan ahead to create a coordinated look across a series.

Planning…

Why the NASA Graphics Standards Manual of 1976 is still relevant today.

The identity manuals and style guides of the late 20th century were a big influence on modern design systems.

NASA’s 1976 Graphics Standards Manual is a great exmple — covering everything from letterheads to spacecraft insignia.

Just for fun, we looked back to see what still holds up today…

Anagram: `we need a design system` > `tending messy seaweed`.

A big well done to Measured associate @mattlynch.dev for WINNING Saturday’s Granola x @Vercel.com Hackathon to build a productivity app. Matt and co built a tool that takes Granola meeting notes, then derives action items with optional reminders and calendar invitations. Sign us up, please, Matt!

Problems with font distribution, and why versioning matters When we rebuilt the Measured site, we didn’t expect fonts to be a problem. But meeting our requirements while keeping file sizes down became a bit of a mission.

After our website rebuild turned into an unexpected deep dive into how fonts are distributed and integrated into modern web infrastructure, we made some notes. Not a blog post we planned to write:
measured.co/blog/font-di...

Scrum is basically cosplay for work.

The power of saying it three times We’ve found that when communicating a complex idea, it helps to say it three times to make sure it takes hold.

It’s not you. It’s not them. It is what it is. 🔁
measured.co/blog/say-it-...

Forking an old design system is like taking the carpets when you move house.

Why we use Kanban — not Scrum The right thing at the right time in the right way: When it comes to agile, we favour the flexibility of Kanban over the rituals of Scrum. Here’s why.

Because if an opinion is worth having, it’s worth putting on the internet, right?
measured.co/blog/kanban-...

A space grey Macbook Air with a blue Measured logo sticker centered on its lid. The sticker features three white corner shapes resembling the letter 'M' and the word 'Measured.' written in white below them. The laptop is placed on a wooden surface. In the top-left corner of the image, part of a black music production device with multiple buttons visible. In the top-right corner, there is a potted plant with green leaves in a terracotta pot filled with rocks.

A square blue sticker with rounded corners featuring the Measured logo. The logo consists of three white corner shapes resembling the letter 'M' and the word 'Measured.' written in white below them. The sticker is placed on a wooden surface.

We’re looking forward to catching up with everyone heading to State of the Browser on Saturday. We’ll have the first batch of Measured stickers in tow. Come and grab one and say hi! #SotB25