About
I'm a Design Systems expert with a Design Tokens obsession.
As part of the Tokens Studio Team, I'm on a mission to flatten the learning curve for designers and engineers to adopt new technologies in the Design Systems space.
From life-or-death design to genetic testing for psychedelic-assisted therapy, my career as a Design Team of One in tech innovation has given me a unique perspective on ways of working in small teams to build big things.
I'm known in the Design community for sharing my pro tips and experiences as SamIam_Designs as a speaker, host of design systems events, and educational content creator.
🎨 Open to consulting, freelance and full-time work opportunities as well as public speaking and teaching opportunities.
👩🎨 Creative weirdo 🌱 Plant person 🏡🎶 House music selectress 🌅 Sky chaser.
Speaking
Roasting my past self for 30 mins to an audience of 400 engineers was risky and terrifying, but it was a smashing success. So much so that I was asked to give the same talk again at the Smashing Conference in NYC a month later. (:
In this talk, I told the story of how my first time using Design Tokens made me realize that the "gap" problem was caused by a lack of empathy for my engineers and my naive perspective of how things worked in code. Taking a UX approach and collaborating with my team allowed me to meet them where they are at.
I've added some images from the Smashing photographers and community members, which will give you an idea of how people felt after watching my talk.