Design Systems Engineering - Scaling User Interfaces @trivago

In 2015 we started with an iterative rebuild of our user interface at trivago. With this we introduced a Design System and started to rethink the way we build our user interfaces in code and design. I'll present our experiences, approaches and learnings with integrating and rolling out the System.

Transcript

1. Design Systems Engineering
 Scaling User Interfaces
 
 Christoph Reinartz | @pistenprinz |
2. Based on a true story
 Share what you’ve learned
3. Do what works for you
 This is what worked for us
4. 2012
 Let the show begin
7. Legacy PHP Framework
 Come with us they said
8. JavaScript
 Make sure to `onclick` every DOM node
9. CSS.inc
 We don’t always write CSS but when we do we make sure to save it in dot inc files
10. Specificity graph 2012
 The specificity wall
11. .gradient_bright_hover:hover, .gradient_bright_hover:hover *, .gradient_dark_hover:hover, .gradient_dark_hover:hover * { color:#fff !important } Show me your code
 Part 1 - Specificity 20
13. Symfony Framework
 Twig templating & Assetic
14. jQuery
 to plugins
15. SCSS
 Pre-processing introduced - Ruby Sass
16. #banner_topnav div.tablink li div.dropdown #table.localization
 a.plain:hover { color:#fff !important; } Show me your code
 Part 2 - Specificity 254
18. Amount of Frontend Developer
 x 1
19. 2013 - 2014
 The first steps
20. Project Moon
 Flat Design facelift
23. The first guidelines
 I make my own rules
24. HTML5 101
 Fight the divitis
25. Templating guidelines
 Naming and structure
26. CSS Tipps
 2 simple rules (Nesting, Naming) + best practices
28. http://bradfrost.com/blog/post/atomic-design-in-one-gif/
31. Mobile traffic
 D’oh
33. How it should not be solved
 Viewport vandalism
35. Project Mars
 Desktop first facelift
37. Project Venus
 Let’s launch in Israel
40. Let’s talk about consistency
 Once again
43. Hackathon Project 2014
 CSS Framework
46. 
 “We built a CSS Framework. You should totally use it”
47. Amount of Frontend Developer
 x 5
48. 2015
 Let’s scale
49. Graph 2015 
 Way better, but still…
50. Specificity graph 2012
 The specificity wall
51. Graph 2015 
 Way better, but still…
52. Houston, we have a problem
 It doesn’t scale anymore
53. #1 Sprites were out of control We built Frankenstein with Icons
54. Title
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55. #2 Too much CSS How many Selectors do you use? ALL!
56. Christoph Reinartz - @pistenprinz #3 Too much CSS How many Selectors do you use? ALL!
57. #3 Desktop first approach Oh you poor mobile devices
58. #4 Inconsistency and missing Styleguide Or how to create fifty shades of grey
60. Title
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61. Title
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62. Title
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63. #5 Repeat yourself 97 different footers - no single source of truth
64. Title
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65. Title
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66. Title
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67. Title
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68. #6 Overly complex CSS/DOM structure div, div, div, span, span, span
69. #7 Too much confusion in code Scary comments
70. Title
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71. #8 JPG to Jira Task driven development Developing on the live system
73. Design Systems to the rescue
 An Overview
74. Components Process UI Layer Styleguide Design 
 Language Documentation Assets UI Kit Design 
 Principles Inspired by: https://medium.com/@NateBaldwin/anatomy-of-a-design-system-7a6b0677bf5
75. Definition
 CSS Framework This is the front-end code and production-ready design assets. The CSS framework is referenced and consumed by the product(s). It is a modular, scalable, and extensible tool that fosters rapid development and typically confirms to a CI/ CD development environment. https://medium.com/@NateBaldwin/clarifying-our-style-guide-nomenclature-ab72358ee111#.nduusckg1
76. Title
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77. This is the documentation resource for the design system. Since the design system is purely code and assets, the style guide is a site to demonstrate the UI patterns with references to aid in implementation and usage. Definition
 Styleguide https://medium.com/@NateBaldwin/clarifying-our-style-guide-nomenclature-ab72358ee111#.nduusckg1
78. Title
 subtitle
79. Definition
 Pattern Library This is a library of standardized UI patterns. They are the final designs, and can be delivered in the form of a repository of design files, or a symbol library/UI kit. It is the resource for designers to build from. https://medium.com/@NateBaldwin/clarifying-our-style-guide-nomenclature-ab72358ee111#.nduusckg1
80. Definition
 Design System The entirety of the standardized UI patterns, framework, assets, and documentation, as well as the processes and people involved. It is the ecosystem that drives and supports the unified evolution of the product(s). https://medium.com/@NateBaldwin/clarifying-our-style-guide-nomenclature-ab72358ee111#.nduusckg1
81. Design Systems
 Examples
86. Design System Why do we need it?
87. #1 Establish design and code consistency Remove clutter in code code and design
88. #2 Improve code quality and maintainability Reduce technical debt
89. #3 Provide base for modern & sustainable UI rebuild Build modern applications fast
90. Design System Case Study A first try-out with patternlab.io
91. Digital Design UI Engineering
92. Design Development HTML CSS JavaScript
93. Design Development Accessibility Animations Integration Semantic Usability Performance JS Framework X
94. Design Development Accessibility Animations Integration Semantic Usability Performance JS Framework X
95. Design Development Accessibility Animations Integration Semantic Usability Performance JS Framework X
96. Design Development Accessibility Animations Integration Semantic Usability Performance JS Framework X
98. 
 “We built a Design System for you w/o knowing your needs. You should totally use it”
99. The initial version 
 Simple but it worked
100. Form Elements Buttons Navigation Teaser Header Footer Typographie Icons Tabs Grid
102. Good news everyone
 We do it differently now - The sales pitch
107. The roll-out Vision handling
 The verbose version
108. The roll-out Vision
 Filtered by Designers
109. Title
 subtitle Project Ironman Large scale CSS refactoring Christoph Reinartz - ScotlandCSS - Edinburgh, June 1st 2016
110. New CSS Core Old CSS Core normalize.css reset.css border-box content-box mobile first (min-width) desktop first (max-width) media queries inline in separate files embed SVG icon image sprites ITCSS layering [something] BEM, OOCSS [something] Post processing (MQPacker etc.) nothing (Assetic)
111. From Assetic to Node
 Webpack, ES6, post CSS
112. Graph 2015 
 Way better, but still…
113. New CSS base refactored CSS Graph after Ironman
 Improved curve…
114. <3 New Icon System From sprites to embed-SVG
115. Title
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116. Title
 subtitle
117. description details infobig hotelconnect smiley heart towel star pictures wifi spa beach breakfast pool pet golf tv family eco parking bed_single bed_double bed_small couple universal home menu share edit checkout checkin general rates faq_circle faq info_circle info arrow_right_circle arrow_left_circle arrow_down_circle arrow_up_circle arrow_right arrow_left arrow_down arrow_up tick exclamation x plus minus image media bag chair team candy journalist news hoteltest plus_circle minus_circle x_circle filter dashboard statistics hotel2 hotel travel2 travel booking hotelchain upload delete tick_circle exclamation_circle contact profile info product history giveback lock calendar search publisher career comment download map smiley_belowaverage smiley_satisfactory smiley_good smiley_verygood smiley_excellent smiley_belowaverage smiley_satisfactory smiley_good smiley_verygood smiley_excellent level sort department poi_citycentre poi_airport poi_sight poi_conference poi_harbor poi_mainstation poi_nature poi_nightlife poi_sports filterreset join thin share2 movie call piechart diagram music multimedia wifi spa beach breakfast pool pet golf tv family eco parking bed_single bed_double bed_small couple universal home menu share edit checkout checkin general rates description details infobig hotelconnect smiley heart towel star pictures icn_profile icn_info icn_product icn_history icn_giveback icn_lock icn_calendar icn_search icn_publisher icn_career icn_comment icn_download icn_map icn_dashboard icn_statistics icn_hotel2 icn_hotel icn_travel2 icn_travel icn_booking icn_hotelchain icn_upload icn_delete icn_tick_circle exclamation_circle contact image media bag chair team candy journalist news hoteltest plus_circle minus_circle x_circle icn_filter arrow_right_circle arrow_left_circle arrow_down_circle arrow_up_circle arrow_right arrow_left arrow_down arrow_up tick exclamation x plus minus faq_circle faq info_circle info smiley_belowaverage smiley_satisfactory smiley_good smiley_verygood smiley_excellent smiley_belowaverage smiley_satisfactory smiley_good smiley_verygood smiley_excellent level sort department poi_citycentre poi_airport poi_sight poi_conference poi_harbor poi_mainstation poi_nature poi_nightlife poi_sports join thin filterreset share2 movie call piechart diagram music multimedia
118. <3 Sorted the colors Established and introduce a color palette
119. trv-blue-light #3f9fc1 trv-red-light #d67763 trv-green-light #8cba3f trv-green-lighter #b2d17f trv-green-dark #4c7b00 trv-juri-light #697379 trv-juri-lighter #9ba2a6 trv-juri-lightest #ebeced trv-blue-dark #005f81 trv-blue #007fad trv-orange #f48f00 trv-red #c94a30 trv-orange-dark #b76b00 trv-orange-light #f6ab3f trv-blue-lightest #e5f2f6 trv-red-lightest #f9ecea trv-orange-lightest #fdf3e5 trv-red-dark #963724 trv-green #66a400 trv-juri #37454d trv-juri-dark #293339 16 12 18 16 12 12 18 12 18 16 * trv-juri-very-light #cdd0d2 trv-red-very-light #f1d1cb trv-green-very-light #d8e8bf trv-orange-very-light #fce3bf trv-blue-very-light #bfdfea trv-red-lighter #e4a49b trv-orange-lighter #f9c780 trv-blue-lighter #7fbfd6 trv-green-lightest #eff5e5
120. Title
 subtitle Now 2015
121. Amount of Frontend Developer
 x 10
122. 2016
 From refactoring to rebuilding to roll-out
123. Refactoring first
 Disposable refactoring of old code
124. Step 1 New codebase integrated Old layout kept because don’t release what you haven’t tested
125. Step 2 Iterate new versions of UI components A new Search Result component based on the new base
126. Rebuilding later
 Relaunch a few weeks after the refactoring
127. Release and test
 And qualify it
128. Step 3 Go to step 2 Rebuild more Components
129. Rebuild more components
 Relaunch a few weeks after the refactoring
131. </3 What about a package? Copy & paste didn’t scale
133. </3 Let’s remove this CSS class Famous last words
134. pull-left vs. fl-leading
 nobody uses this old thing, or? deprecated class non - deprecated class 97% 3%
135. <3 Code Styleguide And Documentation
142. 
 “We build a Design System together. Everybody can use it”
143. <3 New Icon System iterated From embed-SVG to Inline-SVG
144. Title
 subtitle
145. 2017
 From refactoring to rebuilding to roll-out
146. 21 admin-library patternlab-loader admin-lib trivago-core_patterns daisy-and-trivi fork visualisation admin-tools application composer package composer package composer package symfony application scss _patterns _patterns
147. 100% Pattern lab loader reusable shared templates 100%
148. CSS Components to be open sourced soon 80%
149. </3 Dependencies From monolith to packages to mono-repo
150. daisy-and-trivi applications
151. daisy-and-trivi applications trivago core patterns
152. daisy-and-trivi applications trivago core patterns
158. daisy-and-trivi applications trivago core patterns
159. Design System Metrics
 Some data
160. 
 “We saved two weeks when using the System” * *) Communication Team
161. 
 16 contributors
162. 
 12 teams using it
163. 
 15 applications using it
164. Title
 subtitle
165. 
 5 external companies using it
166. 
 ~50% reduced bug reports
167. Thank you
 all this wouldn’t have been possible without Jean, Ann-Kristin, Daniela, Kay, Ian, Ailin, Lukas, Jan, Radovan, Tom, Janine, Frank, Gregory, Jessica, Daniel, Ulf, Dejan, Mirja, Christina, Karan, Celine, Andrej, Lisa, Victor, Timon, William, Andrea, David, Annett, Thomas, Tim, Alexandru, Irfan and many many more
168. Christoph Reinartz UI/UX Engineer @trivago
 
 Web: www.creinartz.de
 twitter: @pistenprinz