I explore code as a design material. Co-founder of @designsystems.international. Author of programmingdesignsystems.com. Former New York Times, O’Reilly Media and ITP NYU.https://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3lt5f55462c2xWe've used Figma almost daily since the early days of @designsystems.international, and it's a core part of our creative process. Still, I've noticed that it's starting to change how designers work. I tried to unpack that idea in the piece below. https://designsystems.international/ideas/when-figma-starts-designing-us/04 Jul 2025 13:50 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt5f55462c2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3ljcvj75r7s2x18F did some of the best digital work in government. This is so sad. [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Mar 2025 12:14 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljcvj75r7s2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3lhxttw7jrc27I couldn't make up a better story to describe Microsoft than the fact that Azure Key Vaults (that is meant to store environment variables) does not support the use of underscore in variable names.12 Feb 2025 09:20 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhxttw7jrc27https://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3lejumofnec26I am writing an essay on why rigid planning is bad for designers, and I stumbled on this excellent book. It’s interesting to see how an initial observation from computer science became a much more significant idea related to the humanities too.30 Dec 2024 15:41 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3lejumofnec26https://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3leexrmodzs2mExcited to dive into this during the holidays28 Dec 2024 16:54 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3leexrmodzs2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3ldh7dx6nb22e“The entire academic enterprise, as it’s currently constructed, depends upon reifying power differentials between ranks and classes, keeping people hungry to advance, […] manufacturing all kinds of tests and rituals and administrative labor to deem people worthy of advancement.” [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Dec 2024 20:50 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldh7dx6nb22ehttps://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3lcuzvklnkc25I am giving a talk titled "Placing Design at the Heart of Digital Business" on January 16th in Copenhagen. The spots are very limited, so sharing this link early for anyone who's in town and interested in coming. https://www.meetup.com/uxdx-copenhagen/events/304811030/?slug=uxdx-copenhagen&eventId=30481103009 Dec 2024 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcuzvklnkc25https://bsky.app/profile/runemadsen.com/post/3lbtne3ed6t2xI inherited this mechanic calculator from my grandfather. Even though it only does addition, I’m quite surprised by how useful it is even today.26 Nov 2024 08:42 +0000at://did:plc:ol3oder6xjdmcq2m4edswph5/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbtne3ed6t2x