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Speaking

I regularly speak at conferences and on podcasts, panels, and live shows about design systems, design tokens, and theming. Here's a collection of my talks and appearances.

36 talks · 8 conferences

2026

  • May 2026 · New York, NY

    The Future of Design Systems

    A UXDX panel, moderated by Jim Morris with Alexander Wilson, debating where design systems are headed as AI generates more of the interface layer: from component libraries to the rules, constraints, and infrastructure behind dynamic experiences.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #AI
    • #Future
  • May 2026 · Long Island, NY

    Agentic Development within Design Systems

    A Long Island Technologist meetup host presentation with Michael Rispoli on agentic development within design systems.

    • #AgenticDevelopment
    • #AI
    • #DesignSystems
  • April 2026 · Online

    Creativity within Constraints

    A UX Days 2026 talk for the University of Illinois arguing that constraints, including design systems, unlock richer, more focused creativity rather than limiting it.

    • #Creativity
    • #Constraints
    • #DesignSystems
  • February 2026 · Online

    A Pretty UI Does Nothing

    A Cause of a Kind 'Stand Up' conversation with hosts Mike Rispoli and Justin Abrams on building trustworthy products: keeping design systems coherent as products scale, the marketplace-of-components idea, and why functionality has to come before aesthetics.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Product
    • #UXVsUI
    • #Trust
  • January 2026 · New York, NY

    Don't Tell Typographers

    A Design Engineering Meetup talk at Datadog on typographic fundamentals for the web: the mathematical relationships between letter spacing, font size, line height, and line length, and bringing them into CSS, because just because we can doesn't mean we should.

    • #Typography
    • #DesignEngineering
    • #DesignSystems

2025

  • October 2025 · Bristol, UK

    Creativity within Constraints

    Converge 2025 talk arguing that constraints, including design systems, unlock richer, more focused creativity rather than limiting it.

    • #Creativity
    • #Constraints
    • #DesignSystems
  • July 2025 · New York, NY

    Design Systems, AI, and the Human Role

    A panel at Knapsack's Patterns event in New York on building meaningfully with AI: where it creates real value, what foundations make adoption sustainable, how design systems evolve when interfaces become generative, and what must stay human when AI can generate anything.

    • #AI
    • #DesignSystems
    • #GenerativeUI
    • #Governance
    • #Brand
    • #Authenticity
  • June 2025 · Online

    Craft Across: Design Tokens

    A Craft Across panel by Infa.ai with Brad Frost, Samantha Gordashko, and Kaelig Deloumeau-Prigent on the future of design tokens: standardization and token bloat, keeping documentation current, AI's impact, and the tools shaping token workflows.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Craft
    • #Tooling
  • April 2025 · New York, NY

    Design Tokens for Developers

    A UX Engineering Meetup talk in NYC, hosted by Chromatic (Storybook) and Betterment, on design tokens from a developer's perspective: how to think about them, name them, and wire them into the code that ships.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Engineering
    • #Community
  • February 2025 · Online

    Talking Tokens

    A Knapsack 'Talking Tokens' webinar with Jackie Lai (Dow Jones) and Miranda Bouck (Instacart) on token governance and adoption at scale: who owns tokens, how to name them, building from scratch vs. retrofitting, and how AI might reshape token work.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Tooling
    • #Community
  • February 2025 · Online

    Inspect & Reflect, Nord Health

    An Inspect & Reflect session by Infa.ai reviewing the Nord design system with Maya Hampton, Davy Fung, Beatriz Martín Martins, and Alexander Wilson: layout components, naming conventions, props vs. slots, and balancing flexibility with consistency.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #ComponentLibraries
    • #Review
  • February 2025 · Online

    Inspect & Reflect, Adobe Spectrum

    An Inspect & Reflect panel by Infa.ai reviewing Adobe's Spectrum design system with Guy Segal, Marta Conde, and Francis Thibault: alert banners, search fields, naming conventions, accessibility, and design tokens across products.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #AdobeSpectrum
    • #Review

2024

  • December 2024 · New York, NY

    Content in Design Systems

    A JPMorganChase panel discussion where experts shared their experiences and tips on creating effective design systems in terms of content variants, taxonomy of elements, and optimizing for findability.

    • #ContentDesign
    • #DesignSystems
    • #Taxonomy
    • #Findability
  • October 2024 · New York, NY

    What is a Component?

    A lightning talk at the SmashingConf New York 2024 Jam Session, hosted at Figma, on the terminology behind components and why shared units of measurement let teams compare usage and success across systems.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Components
    • #Measurement
  • September 2024 · Online

    Design Annotation Live

    An interview in The Design Annotation LIVE community series with Donnie, founder of Design Systems House, on his journey into design systems, the day-to-day at Design Systems House, and where design systems and AI are heading.

    • #DesignAnnotation
    • #DesignToDev
    • #Documentation
  • September 2024 · Online

    Design System Token Architecture Planning

    Episode 032 of Ben Callahan's The Question, co-hosted by Donnie D'Amato, working live through the approaches to implementing design tokens in a design system and the challenges each one surfaces.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #DesignSystems
    • #Architecture
  • July 2024 · Online

    Strictly from Nowhere

    A Strictly From Nowhere episode on founding and bootstrapping Design Systems House: how design systems build consistency and trust, their impact on SEO and accessibility, and the realities of building a business from the ground up.

    • #DesignSystems
  • April 2024 · Online

    State of Design Tokens 2024

    A Supernova panel digging into their State of Design Tokens 2024 report with Jacob Miller and Kathleen McMahon: engineering's role in tokens, the rise of Figma variables, naming and standardization challenges, and code-based sources of truth.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Trends
    • #Tooling
  • April 2024 · New York, NY

    Do Components Exist?

    A conversational UXDX Community session in New York questioning what a component actually is: whether a card with a button is one component or a composition of several, how patterns and styles shift the definition, and why shared units of measurement make success comparable across systems.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Components
    • #Measurement
  • April 2024 · Online

    What's a Component?

    Episode 15 of the Code & Pixels podcast, where Donnie joins as founder and Chief Architect of Design Systems House to unpack what actually makes something a component.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #FrontEnd

2023

  • October 2023 · San Francisco, CA

    Mise en Mode

    Donnie's Clarity 2023 talk introducing Mise en Mode: organizing experiences through nested modes instead of ever-growing token sets, taking semantic responsibility away from tokens to avoid the 'OnDark' sprawl and keep systems expressive yet consistent.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Theming
    • #Modes
    • #SemanticTokens
  • October 2023 · San Francisco, CA

    The Future of Design Systems

    A Clarity 2023 panel, moderated by Chris Strahl with Amy Lee and Kaelig Deloumeau-Prigent, on where design systems are heading: the convergence of design and engineering, composite tokens, decoupling structure from behavior, AI's emerging role, and systems as organizational infrastructure.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Future
    • #Panel
  • October 2023 · New York, NY

    HTML by CSS

    A CSS Club NYC meetup talk at Resobox in the East Village: what if we made HTML by writing CSS? A playful look at pushing CSS past styling into structure.

    • #CSS
    • #HTML
    • #Community
  • September 2023 · Online

    Token Operations

    A DSW Day 2023 talk introducing 'token operations,' a proposed enhancement to the Design Tokens Community Group format that turns static token values into dynamic ones to serve the most complex systems.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #TokenOperations
    • #Scale
  • August 2023 · Online

    Theming in Complex Ecosystems

    A panel on theming in complex ecosystems with Skim Kimball and Mark Reynolds: how tools like Token Studio and Figma Variables are reshaping design and development workflows and the way design and engineering collaborate.

    • #Theming
    • #MultiBrand
    • #DesignSystems
  • August 2023 · Online

    Config & Design System Updates

    A Design Leader Insights interview where Alex talks with Donnie about the new Figma features shown at Config, where the design industry is heading, and his advice for design systems.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #FigmaConfig
    • #Leadership
  • July 2023 · Online

    Design Systems Field Guide

    Episode 2 of the Design Systems Field Guide, a live Q&A session with special guest Donnie on building and maintaining design systems.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Fundamentals

2022

  • October 2022 · New York, NY

    Complementary Space

    A lightning talk at the SmashingConf New York 2022 Jam Session on how designers use space, and how those habits might inform a new design token strategy for spacing.

    • #DesignTokens
    • #Spacing
    • #DesignSystems
  • June 2022 · Online

    UX Untamed, What Does a UX Architect Do?

    A UX Untamed episode with host Julieth Fajardo on what a UX architect actually does: the responsibilities, skills, and career path, and when a team needs one.

    • #UXArchitecture
    • #Career
    • #DesignSystems
  • May 2022 · New York, NY

    Scaling Your Design Systems

    A UXDX USA 2022 panel on scaling design systems for alignment across teams, with Alkistis Mavroeidi (KAYAK), Davy Fung (Disney Streaming), and Troy Azmoon (ServiceNow): how the designer's role is evolving and why alignment matters to product success.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Scaling
    • #Alignment
    • #Panel
  • May 2022 · Online

    Shifting Towards a Gridless Design System

    A UXDX USA 2022 talk on moving past the layout grid: how grid-based design limits inclusivity, how to adopt a gridless methodology in an existing system, and why it points to the future of product design.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Gridless
    • #Inclusivity
    • #Layout
  • May 2022 · Online

    Design Systems Social Club #13, Managers

    Design Systems Social Club episode on management, leadership, and organizational challenges in design systems teams.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Leadership
    • #Teams
  • March 2022 · Online

    Design Systems Social Club #11, New Tools

    Design Systems Social Club episode exploring new tools and emerging technology in the design systems space.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Tooling

2021

  • November 2021 · Online

    Design Systems Social Club #8, Exotic Platforms

    Design Systems Social Club episode on supporting 'exotic' platforms in a design system, like TVs, cars, and VR.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Platforms
  • October 2021 · Online

    Design Systems Social Club #7, Governance

    Design Systems Social Club episode on governance structures and decision-making frameworks in design systems.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Governance

2019

  • April 2019 · New York, NY

    Designing for Scalability

    An NYC Design Systems Coalition meetup talk, hosted by Reaktor, with a live demo of using html-sketchapp and Storybook to automatically generate Sketch symbols straight from coded components.

    • #DesignSystems
    • #Storybook
    • #Sketch
    • #Tooling