robjmccarthy.bsky.social
Dad to some young'uns. Also doing some Lead Interaction Designer stuff at Ministry of Justice UK. Working on the MoJ Design System.
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Gee! Finally already.
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None of this is to complain about what anyone is doing (love your work @andyjones.bsky.social). But the centre have responsibilities and so do departments.
There are attempts to do more by all… but is it enough?
Is the current model and system frustrating enough to drive change @bowsy.co.uk?
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Can the centre really be responsible for it all?
And if they aren’t, can departments be responsible for contributing but potentially then not have their needs met?
Someone has to take the charge on this and solve it structurally rather than stealthily. Which is where I think it’s failing.
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I love this convo, but I wish it was more than just a convo.
And, it is frustrating. So frustrating. And it should be so frustrating that it’s being actively solved.
But, who is it frustrating for? I’d argue it’s not frustrating enough for anyone within the current system.
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Not come across any on GOV.UK (not to say there isn’t any though) but I have seen them in use across front-line NHS digital products for privacy and security reasons, and also for security reasons on internal facing products in gov.
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Those terms are certainly eye-rolling-public-sector-jargon.
But, I’m running several successful workstreams on the MoJ Design System. The workstreams are producing excellent work, far from mediocre.
I think the difference is the who, what and how of delivery, rather than what it’s called.
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Sounds amazing Shaun, well done to you and your team.
Is this to improve the “handover” of Figma designs to development internally on the GOV Design System team? Or is this to embed Figma into the GOV Design System with accessibility annotations on a central Figma file?
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This 👆
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We have an amazing Accessibility Specialist that is embedded within the team alongside a fantastic Content Designer, Interaction Designer and Developer. Accessibility is important to the entire team but having an Accessibility Specialist on hand means we can go above mere compliance.
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Without calling out any design systems, what does a “best practice” section look like?
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Amazing! Well done.
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Yes to all you’ve said Dave, thanks for sharing your tips.
And yes to making it as easy for the consuming user as possible. I think that’s definitely key, especially if it comes to a PM prioritising a backlog.
“Why do we need to spend time updating this thing when we already have it”.
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An amazing community resource. Thanks for sharing it Frankie.
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Design System folk: I would love to hear tips and techniques you’ve tried and tested to encourage adoption of improved components?
Or another, somewhat corporate way of putting it, what change management techniques have you successfully applied?
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You’d get more engagement to your post if you had written ‘I love Sharepoint’. That would have been click baity. Probs have gone viral.
Instead, you’re just truth saying.
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You should have a column in a tabloid. A weekly gossip column on design system “politics”.
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I’m the same. Buses, trains, anywhere actually. People seem to be fine with openly swearing in public these days and unaware of children around them.
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Ahhh I see, no probs.
So I see a component as a single reusable piece of UI that has a generic use (e.g. a date picker), and a pattern is often, but not always, a collection of components that are more specific to meeting a need (e.g. selecting a date and time for an appointment).
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Oooh juicy. Do expand?
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Now that’s a question. And I don’t think there’s an easy and definitive line to draw.
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What’s your thought on patterns? I think there’s a finite amount of components. But patterns, that’s where it gets exciting.
But, where a component may have a use across lots of (even all teams - I’m thinking a button) patterns are likely to be much less. Still multiple teams, but much less.
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Yes. Demoing the value is powerful.
“BOOM - Look! I made a thing just like that! And look closer, it’s accessible, it’s consistent with our other products, and a lot of it can be maintained and improved centrally. Now shall we talk money?”
I’ve shortened it a bit, but something like that 😂
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It’s a good point but it’s not always easy to just do a design system. Without sounding like Liam Neeson, you do need a set of specialist skills to be able to start a design system. But I think I get what you mean - you don’t need to ask permission, which I 100% agree with.
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Oh gosh yea. I don’t think DS teams should be creating one-off components.
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Completely agree on the lean front. But what if DS users need components that the DS doesn’t have. Should the DS be meeting that need and expanding the DS? And if it requires team expansion to maintain the DS, is it not the job of the DS team to make that case?
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Woohoo! Happy birthday 🥳
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I took your advice and punched it out: bsky.app/profile/robj...
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Another bit of feedback actually - We are doing a release today to update the MoJ button menu component. But, main point is that the button menu component isn’t a button. Our update today will clarify that a lot more as appreciate it isn’t that clear at the mo.
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I think it was ok as-is, but appreciate the refinement, just wondered if there was anyone here at MoJ who was involved and helping out? If you don’t have anyone, we’ve got a great DS team here who’d be really interested in helping out and connecting more directly with the GOV DS team and work.
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Great to see your MVP and experiment over the weekend. The intro copy at the top of the screen suggests that you had contributions from government departments. Who from MoJ contributed please?
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Yes! Great to see an experiment like this.