#20 Mar 2 2017

Design systems are the new black. Clients are asking for them. Designers are proposing them. Everyone from major blue chip companies to the local chip shop seem to have one and a plethora of tools and frameworks have sprung up to make our lives easier in planning, designing and deploying them. But nobody is talking about the work it takes for a design system to take root, to grow and flourish and to do its job. Just like a garden, a design system needs a good environment to thrive.

In this talk, Mark will talk about design system failures. Design systems that tried to grow in toxic environments and great companies that just didn’t need one.

About Mark

1) How to go niche and find and audience that values what you do

2) How we built an audience with content and events

3) How to hire the right people to help you grow

About Alex

Alex is a co-founder at We Make Websites, the highest rated UK Shopify agency. We Make Websites create well-designed and easy to use ecommerce websites that generate sales. Alex is an international speaker on the topic of ecommerce and has spoken at Google, Digital Shoreditch and Top Drawer. He talks about best practice in ecommerce and digital trends in business and his style has been described as “clear and engaging” and “refreshingly open”.

You probably already have your own scripts and shortcuts for getting things done quickly. But your browser, email client and phone have a bunch of settings you can tweak and hidden features you can activate for optimum productivity. In this talk, Vicky outlines a few of her favourite geeky ways to "hack" her tech to get stuff done.

About Vicky

Vicky does design, website and marketing stuff at White October Events, the folks behind tech conferences including Render and The Lead Developer. She enjoys tweeting about food she’s eaten, watching SNL clips, and hogging the karaoke machine.

We love technology but what is constant smartphone use doing to our minds, our attention and our relationships with other human beings? Andrew will draw on current research into attention and mindfulness to suggest that there might be a better way to enjoy the technology without sacrificing our own awesomeness.

About Andrew

Andrew is a consultant, mentor and executive coach. He works with individuals, teams and organisations to develop new perspectives and better mental models that support performance improvement.

Imposter syndrome affects all of us in different ways. Chances are most of the speakers at MKGN have suffered it at some point, maybe even on the night. In this session, Si talks about how he’s tried to overcome the disorder in recent months in work (and play) with a little JFDI.

About Si

Si has worn many hats over the years, currently leading the Optimisation Engineering team at UK fashion retailer, ASOS. Previously, he’s been fortunate to work across a range of industries with Yahoo, UEFA and West Midlands Fire Service.

Sitting across design, engineering and leadership disciplines, Si could be seen as a “jack of all trades, master of none” but continues to show passion across them all. He’s established a number of reputable communities in web, music and sport whilst trying to support his family in the Midlands. Phew!