108. U.S. Bank’s Beau Ulrey on Building Trust Through Design Systems

Design Systems Podcast

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On this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, we're thrilled to have Beau Ulrey, the Design System Manager at U.S. Bank, join host Chris Strahl live at the Kiln space in Portland. Today’s episode deep dives into the intricate world where design meets development. Beau will share his fascinating journey from a design and photography background to becoming a pioneer in interaction design at IBM, and his current influential role at U.S. Bank. Beau and Chris discuss the vital role design systems play in building customer trust through consistency, and how U.S. Bank’s design system is tailored to meet diverse customer needs across various platforms. We’ll also unpack the complexities of design codes and the transformative impact of well-integrated design systems in the banking industry.

View the transcript of this episode.

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Guest
Beau Ulrey leads and manages the Shield Design System team at U.S. Bank. He's passionate about using empathy and good design to help people reach their goals. Whether working as a designer, coach or manager, his goal is to uncover what people need to create better experiences and tools. He writes about design systems and product design practices on Medium (@beauulrey) and talks them as well from time to time.When away from the screen, Beau can be found hiking in the PNW, splashing in the Pacific with his kiddos and toting his camera along the way.

Host
Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.

Sponsor
Sponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.

Bab

1. Transition from graphic to interaction design at IBM. (00:00:00)

2. Encouraging community participation, tinkering, and learning. (00:00:00)

3. Lead designer in money movement, then management. (00:04:18)

4. Design systems need community input for success. (00:07:49)

5. Adoption of design system crucial for success. (00:11:32)

6. Large organizations need informal experimentation playgrounds. (00:14:03)

7. Discussion on central vs. federated design control. (00:16:35)

8. Partnership with marketing, brand expression, cohesion. (00:21:52)

9. Challenges and accomplishments in AI interfaces. (00:24:03)

10. Challenging to change decisions, release in small pieces. (00:27:51)