Oliver Lindberg

css-tricks.comCSS-Tricks has a new owner!Yes, I've got the keys to the castle, so to speak. And, even after 12 years of working on the site, I'll admit I'm a little overwhelmed and nervous about that.

This is such good news. CSS Tricks is finally in good hands again. ♥️

CSS-Tricks*@css-tricks.com

CSS-Tricks has a new owner! Yes, I've got the keys to the castle, so to speak. And, even after 12 years of working on the site, I'll admit I'm a little overwhelmed and nervous about that. https://css-tricks.com/css-tricks-has-a-new-owner/

If nobody trusts your design system’s releases, it doesn’t matter how good the system is. 🌲 In this article for @zeroheight.com, Daniel Yuschick shares how he renewed a legacy design system by starting with its community instead of its technical debt: zeroheight.com/blog/refacto...

converge.zeroheight.comConverge 2026 — Design systems conference | Newcastle, UKConverge is zeroheight’s annual design systems conference. Join us on 22 October 2026 at The Glasshouse, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK — talks, community, and the afterparty.

👉 Daniel will deliver a talk about rebuilding trust in legacy design systems at Converge, zeroheight's #designsystems conference, in Newcastle on Thursday: converge.zeroheight.com

How do you onboard newcomers to your #designsystem? 🤔 In this practical article, Nicole Kutos walks us through a phased approach that can help teams drive adoption and decrease friction. 👉 Read it on the @zeroheight.com blog: zeroheight.com/blog/how-to-...

In her latest article for @zeroheight.com, Charlotte MacInnes argues that AI makes the value of #designsystems impossible to ignore. 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

AI is great at scaling whatever you give it – good or bad. So, is your design system ready for AI? Charlotte explores why AI exposes the design systems that were never really working, and how teams can strengthen theirs. Read the full blog ➡️ https://hubs.li/Q04zhFCN0

You work in #designsystems and often reach for the LEGO comparison to explain what you do? You're not alone. But maybe it's not quite the right fit. 👉 Check out @guysegal.com's latest article for the @zeroheight.com blog:

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Save the date! @pixelpioneers.co is coming back to Bristol on 11 June 2027! 🙌 For our 10th anniversary! 🎉 👉 Register your interest, and we'll let you know as soon as tickets go on sale: ti.to/pixel-pionee... 📣 Want to speak? Our Call for Speakers is open now: pixelpioneers.co/call-for-spe...

Cognitive #a11y considerations deserve a place in every design system. Big thanks to Nathania for writing this post and the experts who contributed their experience and perspectives: Stéphanie Krus, @kierancutting.bsky.social, @rachelanne.bsky.social, and @ericwbailey.website. 🙏

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Undocumented decisions don't stay undecided. They get decided by whoever or whatever is building next. Nathania explores why cognitive accessibility belongs in your design system, and why it's every role's responsibility 👇 https://hubs.li/Q04ydHVV0

zeroheight.comNew HTML and CSS features you should be using in your design system - zeroheightDeclan Chidlow explores new HTML and CSS features that can make your design system more flexible, adaptable, and maintainable.

HTML, and especially CSS, have picked up some new tricks that #designsystems can put to good use. @vale.rocks suggests native functionality to replace custom code and reduce complexity. 👇

Vale@vale.rocks

Some flavourful goodness about some fresh new web things over on the @zeroheight.com blog. Certainly read up on the latest and greatest to grace the web platform! So much brilliant new stuff to help your design systems thrive. zeroheight.com/blog/new-htm... #DesignSystems #HTML #CSS

youtu.beMaking HTML Make Music – Heydon Pickering | Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

Good times! @heydonworks.com closed out @pixelpioneers.co Bristol 2026 in a way only they can. 🎵😀🕺

Pixel Pioneers@pixelpioneers.co

Write music, not JavaScript. Watch @heydonworks.com's talk from our June event: youtu.be/lmlE9oI8_2A?... Warning: Includes dancing by @brucel.bsky.social and @letorey.co.uk.🕺 👉 Also check out hyperblam.how, Heydon's system for sampling, processing, and sequencing sound and music directly in HTML.

Are your design system's principles actually helping teams make decisions? In this article, @benbrignell.com looks at the gap between having principles written down and using them to guide the everyday choices designers and developers make. 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Design systems exist to reduce decision-making. But no system covers everything. 👀 So are your principles actually guiding your decisions? Read more here ➡️ https://hubs.li/Q04xMJcZ0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtu.beLanguage: The Secret Sauce of Great UX – Candi Williams | Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

9 Sept

Why does language matter (beyond just the words) for user experiences? How do you work with content people in your teams? And what do you do if you don't have any? 👉 Watch Candi Williams's talk from our June event and find out: youtu.be/Suzd-6kVWoc?...

Designing for accessibility means designing for real people, not making assumptions. In this post, Jennifer Chadwick shares six practical ways designers can make digital experiences work better for blind people. Includes a checklist of actions to take in #designsystems. #a11y

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Have you ever asked yourself if what you're designing still makes sense if you can't see it? This article shares insights from an interview with a JAWS + Braille user, including design best practices and how to meet WCAG compliance in your design system. Learn more 👉https://hubs.li/Q04x6wGS0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtu.beUnderstanding Layout Between UI Design and Code – Christine Vallaure | Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

7 Sept

Another video from our June event is live! 🙌 👉 Watch @christinevallaure.bsky.social's talk on understanding web layout between UI design and code: youtu.be/ieZwHvpJawI Enjoy!

15 Sept

In this post, Jarvis Moore discusses these 6 pillars of a successful #designsystems team: ✅ Core Systems ✅ Components ✅ Design Tooling ✅ Education & Communication ✅ Research & Documentation ✅ Culture He also explains how to map them to business outcomes and how this scales for any team size.

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Most design systems are organised around what they produce: tokens, components, documentation. This article dives into why that breaks down at scale, and the 6-pillar operating model that fixes it. Check it out 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04w4rDL0

youtu.beWell, I Didn’t See That Coming! - Kardo Ayoub - Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

14 Sept

Pixel Pioneers@pixelpioneers.co

Another video from PP Bristol 2026 is now free to watch on YouTube! 🍿 Kardo Ayoub presented an incredibly personal talk about becoming a visually impaired designer. It's an essential watch about accessibility and inclusive design: youtu.be/aP89uEMDGUI

10 Sept

Has your design system been built to reflect your actual users, or just to work for them in theory? AI is making it easier for more people to participate in design, but that's not the same as inclusion. Read the final part of Thomas Shillingford's trilogy on AI ethics in enterprise #designsystems:

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

AI will democratise whatever your design system is built to value. Build it to value everyone. Closing out the 3-part AI ethics series: can AI-augmented design systems genuinely democratise design? Read part 3 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04vHZTd0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtu.beDesign Systems are Dead. Long Live Design Systems – Luke Murphy | Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

2 Sept

Are #designsystems dead? 💀 Well, at least design systems as we know them. In this talk from our June event, @lurkmoophy.bsky.social argues for positioning them as core product infrastructure rather than a separate, magical discipline. 👉 You can watch it now, for free: youtu.be/sa_IJRjPtJw

8 Sept

When AI generates your design system's output, who is actually responsible for what it produces? In the 2nd part of Thomas Shillingford's series on AI ethics in enterprise #designsystems, he explores the accountability gap in AI-assisted design.

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

The hardest part of AI design tools isn't learning them. It's knowing when to stop trusting them. Part 2 of Thomas's series digs into how AI design output can look credible while missing things like accessibility labels or quietly reinforcing bias from training data. 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04tqlSb0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtube.comWhere Do Your Web Performance Metrics Come From? - Matt Zeunert - Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

1 Sept

We regularly cover #webperformance, and at the PP 2026 edition, @debugbear.com's Matt Zeunert gave a brief intro to page speed, then dived into different network throttling methods in Lighthouse, DevTools, and other tools. 👉 Watch the video of the talk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO02...

3 Sept

Most enterprises have AI running in production, but almost none of them are ready for when it goes wrong. In the first part of Thomas Shillingford's series on AI ethics in enterprise #designsystems, he argues that clear ethics guardrails aren't a brake on speed — they're what make AI safe to scale.

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

AI ethics governance isn't a blocker to adoption. It's the condition for it. Thomas explores why the fastest AI adopters are often the least governed - and what that means for design teams. Read the first of the 3-part series: https://hubs.li/Q04t226q0

youtu.beHow to Design and Build More Sustainable Websites - Nick Lewis - Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

2 Sept

There couldn't have been a better time to talk about what we, as designers and developers, can do to combat climate change. 👉 Watch Nick Lewis's digital sustainability talk, now free to watch on YouTube:

Pixel Pioneers@pixelpioneers.co

Another video from Pixel Pioneers Bristol 2026 has gone live! 🍿 youtu.be/dJcN1bGiPZQ In his talk on digital sustainability, @sustainable-dev.bsky.social explains how designers and developers can reduce the footprint of the products and services they create for clients. Watch it here: 👇

1 Sept

Burnout, invisible maintenance, career pigeonholing — Nathania Gilson pulls together the honest, off-the-record version of design systems work. And argues that naming these patterns openly is what lets teams push back on under-resourcing. Read the article on the @zeroheight.com blog:

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

There's a polished story about design systems: strategic, scalable, high-impact. There's also the reality - told on Reddit and Discord after hours. Nathania surfaces the truths practitioners know but assume aren't worth sharing officially. ⬇️ https://hubs.li/Q04sc_yJ0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtube.comBuilding Better Product Teams With & Without AI - Morgane Peng - Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

18 Aug

And here's the next video! 🎉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR5R... In this talk, @morganepeng.bsky.social examines the Developer x Designer x PM trio. She covers how teams can spend less time translating each other, with or without AI, and more time working together effectively. 👇

25 Aug

What metrics actually matter in #designsystems? 🤔 In her latest article on the @zeroheight.com blog, Charlotte MacInnes explains how to measure design system impact with metrics that really help teams make better decisions:

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Design systems love metrics. 📊 But not all of them are useful. Some make us feel productive. Others help us make better decisions. Charlotte makes the case for treating design systems as products, and measuring them like one. Read the full article here ➡️ https://hubs.li/Q04rvwHS0

24 Aug

In case you missed it. This three-parter is a must-read:

Oliver Lindberg@oliverlindberg.com

Here's some weekend reading for you: Check out TJ Pitre's excellent 3-part series on the future of #designsystems for the @zeroheight.com blog. In part 1, TJ examines the product your design system is actually building: zeroheight.com/blog/the-fut...

Every enterprise design system TJ worked with has the same root problem. In part 2, he explains why design systems drift, why teams ignore it, and why that’s now a serious risk. TJ calls it the check engine light. Everyone can see it's on. Nobody wants to pull over zeroheight.com/blog/the-fut...

21 Aug

The gap between design and code has always been a trust-based handoff, but trust doesn't scale. In the final part, TJ explains how a diagnostic layer fixes structural communication without adding more meetings, more documentation, and more process: zeroheight.com/blog/the-fut...

20 Aug

I recently had the pleasure of working with @annaecook.com, and in her first article for the @zeroheight.com blog, she explains how product #designsystems can structure documentation so that deviation doesn't quietly become accessibility debt.👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Most accessibility docs focus on component level: states, contrast, keyboard behaviour. A gap remains: what happens when a team hits a pattern the system didn't anticipate? Read how to close that gap before it becomes accessibility debt 👇 https://hubs.li/Q04qQC5Y0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

youtube.comA Pragmatic Guide to Browser Support - Rachel Andrew - Pixel Pioneers 2026YouTube video by Pixel Pioneers

17 Aug

This first video of Pixel Pioneers Bristol 2026 is live! 🙌 Rachel's talk was such a great way to kick off this year's event:

Rachel Andrew@rachelandrew.co.uk

My talk on pragmatic browser support at the @pixelpioneers.co conference is now live www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOtx... I talk about Baseline, polyfills, progressive enhancement, and cover a bunch of interesting web platform features along the way.

19 Aug

In this article, Mike Barton of AudioEye explains what most teams miss about mobile #a11y, what mobile-specific accessibility barriers look like, how to add mobile accessibility to #designsystems, and where to start. 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Design systems are supposed to make consistency easier. For most things, they deliver. Mobile accessibility is usually not one of them. This blog digs into the accessibility barriers and what mobile-first accessibility looks like in a design system. Check it out 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04pR--50

18 Aug

In this article, Ron Graham (Digital Product Manager for BT's #designsystem) argues that Figma can only ever be a representation, not the source of truth. The goal is not to make Figma mirror code perfectly. It's to help teams understand the system well enough to use it effectively.

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Are Figma components just another kind of design system documentation? Check out Ron’s take here 👇 https://hubs.li/Q04p0B6B0

17 Aug

Okay, where were we? Let's highlight the latest #designsystems articles I commissioned and edited for @zeroheight.com. First up is this great post by @iknowdavehouse.bsky.social, in which he introduces us to his favourite analogy for design system contribution: 👇👇 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Design system contribution is like a mountain range. Many ways up, many ways down - and it gets very steep at the top. Read about Mount Contribution - a framework for more effective design system contributions👇 https://hubs.li/Q04n4Bq80

8 July

Handovers between design and development have always been tricky. 🤯 In this article, @amyrogers.design explores how we can make our design documentation stronger, for both human and agentic development, and why she thinks now is the best time to start. 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

The handover between design and development isn't always straightforward - and drift between design output and the end user experience is a real cost. Amy Rogers explores how AI agents could be the answer 👇 https://hubs.li/Q04mCSPN0

1 July

In this article, @muldoon-design.bsky.social argues that a design system without a rulebook is unplayable and explores why it needs documented intent, so humans and AI can trust it. Read it on the @zeroheight.com blog: 👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Does your design system have a rulebook? Not just what was decided but why, and what was rejected. With AI working inside design systems, undocumented reasoning is a gap the model will fill on its own. Great piece by Kevin Muldoon on the three kinds of truth every system needs: hubs.li/Q04f6BFv0

24 June

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the amazing day that was @pixelpioneers.co Bristol last Friday. ❤️ If there's one photo that sums it all up, it's this one. 😀 Special thanks to @heydonworks.com, and their dancers @letorey.co.uk and @brucel.bsky.social, for such a memorable closing talk. 🕺

24 June

Huge thanks also go to our sponsors @tetralogical.com, @debugbear.com, and @zeroheight.com, plus community sponsors Grandmalytics, @scott.is's Mindful Design, @set.studio, and @vivaldi.com. An event like this isn't possible without your support! 🙏

22 June

So this happened on Friday... 😀 @pixelpioneers.co @heydonworks.com @letorey.co.uk @brucel.bsky.social

18 June

Okay, it's pretty much showtime for @pixelpioneers.co again! ☀️😃🙌 Looking forward to seeing everyone at the warm-up at JET tonight!

debugbear.comWhat's The Fastest Train Booking Website In Europe? | DebugBearAn analysis of 25 European train websites to discover which website performs best across the Core Web Vitals.

17 June

In this article, @murphytrueman.com identifies #designsystems contribution rituals that build momentum and strengthen adoption, such as office hours, credits, and design crits. 👇👇👇

zeroheight@zeroheight.com

Murphy Trueman just nailed something we've been thinking about for a while. Most design system contribution models have great documentation. Almost none have momentum. The difference isn't process. It's ritual. 💡 A great read for anyone working on design systems: hubs.ly/Q04dSNBz0

Oliver Lindberg reposted

DebugBear

@debugbear.com

15 June

We just published a new blog post benchmarking page speed for train booking websites in Europe! We also looked at the technical factors that drive the results, and how these websites could be optimized. www.debugbear.com/blog/which-e...

Oliver Lindberg reposted

17 June

A couple of people are no longer able to attend Pixel Pioneers on Friday and would like to gift their ticket to someone who would otherwise not be able to join us. 👉 First come, first served: Reply here, or email us, and tell us why you need to be at Pixel Pioneers!

16 June

😲 So looking forward to this talk! There's still time to join us this Friday. Check out Heydon's talk description and the rest of the schedule: pixelpioneers.co/events/brist...

Large Heydon Collider@heydonworks.com

At #PixelPioneers this week, I’ll show you how to scratch up an audio sample using HTML custom elements. The sample used here is the vocal from Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday. Code sample at the end.

15 June

It's the week we've all been waiting for: the end of the GCSE exam period. Oh, and it's @pixelpioneers.co Bristol on Friday! 😀

12 June

1 week to go! 😱

Oliver Lindberg@oliverlindberg.com

Here are the topics of this year's @pixelpioneers.co Bristol on 19 June: 🚀 Browser support 🧑‍💻 UI layouts 🌱 Web sustainability 🤝 Accessibility 𖨆𖨆𖨆 Better collaboration ✍ Content design 🎵 Music with HTML 📈 Web performance 🧩 Design systems Schedule & tix: pixelpioneers.co/events/brist...