Murphy Trueman

Design tokens promised to simplify your design system. For many teams, they've become the biggest source of complexity instead.

Check out my latest piece for @zeroheight.com on how this happens, and what you can do about it: zeroheight.com/blog/when-de...

Things are really starting to come together 🥹

For sure! It’s hard to separate from the passion and see it objectively/from the other side.

We're still terrible at the people parts Why teams with perfect systems still build around them instead

The teams with highest adoption rates aren't necessarily building the best components. They're building the clearest processes for collaboration.

🔗 I explored this idea further in my latest article:
open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

Praying for good weather so I can work on my car over the weekend 😩

I’m dying for some garage time.

This is so great ❤️

I'm a huge people pleaser – which similarly ends with me filling everyone's cup before my own.

Not being able to fix EVERY problem leads to me giving more & more, but never feeling like it's enough. Even when operating at 190%.

Your article will change how I think about that.

I'd love to! blog.murphytrueman.com

From component library to product engine How design systems evolve to drive strategy and scale business intent

Most systems start with components.
The strategic ones grow into infrastructure.

My latest article explores the shift toward systems that actually scale product decisions, not just pixels.

👇 Check it out below:
open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

Some of the most useful early conversations I’ve had on projects came from something deceptively simple: mapping out the app’s routes, together.

No wireframes. No flows. Just: what are the pages, and what happens on them?

It’s a simple move that sets the tone for everything that follows.

Some of the best product calls I’ve ever made started with something someone almost didn’t say.

Design ethnography helps you notice the stuff that matters, but hides in plain sight.

Great write-up from the team at @thinkmill.com.au 💡

Signals from the top What CEOs, research, and your own workflow are already telling you about design’s AI future

AI isn’t just in your toolbox, it’s in the org chart.

Designers aren’t being replaced, but the role is getting rewritten in real time.

This is what I’m seeing from inside the work.

open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

#Design #AI #Product

One thing I love about working at @thinkmill.com.au is that frameworks like DACI aren’t just theory – we actually use them, tweak them and make them part of how we move fast and thoughtfully.

Shoutout to the team for continuing to turn complex challenges into repeatable practices 🫶

What a car taught me about control, collapse, and creative repair How rebuilding a Nissan 180SX changed everything I thought I knew about design

Rebuilding a 180SX taught me more about design, legacy, and systems than I expected.

🛠 New post:
open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

A great example of the kind of work we love at @thinkmill.com.au – long-term, cross-functional, and collaborative.

Design systems, infra, and team support with AnywhereWorks.

👉 Read the full case study here: thinkmill.com.au/work/anywher...

Is it?! I've recently started posting and building some subscribers 🙃
Curious where people are hanging out otherwise.

"...The air smells of legacy CSS.

In the distance, the Button of Inconsistency glows faintly. Its label reads “Submit,” but its hover state says otherwise.

The dragon Component Drift stirs. Roll for semantic clarity..."

The hidden cost of design system entropy How AI tools surface every shortcut and inconsistency

Or if Medium is more your thing, you can check it out there!

murphytrueman.medium.com/the-hidden-c...

The hidden cost of design system entropy How AI tools surface every shortcut and inconsistency

AI doesn’t fix your design system – it reflects it.

With Figma’s MCP server, structure is the interface.
If your system’s messy, your output will be too.

👇 Read: The hidden cost of design system entropy
open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

So sorry to hear. Hope you're able to start feeling better soon. Take it slow ❤️

Your next design system user is an agent How to structure components for machine readability, semantic clarity, and long-term resilience

Your next design system user won’t be human.

Agents are already interpreting components and assembling UIs like your system is an API.

❌ Ambiguous names
❌ Visual-only intent
❌ Undocumented conventions

Structure scales. Vibes don’t.

🧠 Read → open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

#designsystems #ai

a man is standing on the beach looking at his phone ALT: a man is standing on the beach looking at his phone

Me hitting publish on another silly, little blog post, and hoping the algorithm will put it in front of the right people.

Thank you Katie!! Glad you like it 🥰

JSON demystified: A field guide for designers How understanding data structure improves your design process

Modern design is dynamic, data-driven, and deeply connected to APIs — and that’s why designers should understand JSON.

You don’t need to code. But reading API responses + design tokens makes collaboration faster and your work more resilient.

📝 New post

Why your components break in production (and how to fix it) How to build design systems that gracefully handle the complexities of real-world API data

🧩 New article: Why your UI components break when they meet real API data – and what to do about it.

I share 5 systematic approaches I've used to create interfaces that thrive (not just survive) when faced with messy production data.

open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...

The component adoption gap: Understanding the psychology behind design system success Why some elements become team favourites, while others gather digital dust –and what you can do about it.

I’ve posted a new article on #designsystems and the psychology behind their success.

Give it a read and subscribe to my newsletter! murphytrueman.substack.com/p/the-compon...

From handoff to harmony How continuous collaboration and iteration create better products and teams

🎨 From Handoff to Harmony 🤝💻

"Handoff" oversimplifies the dynamic nature of product development. In my latest article, I explore why collaboration, iteration, & shared ownership build better products & stronger teams.

📖 Check it out here: open.substack.com/pub/murphytr...