Episode 078 Deep Dive: The Psychology of Design Systems with Ben Callahan and Kacey Wood

On Episode 078, Ben Callahan is joined by Kacey Wood, Product Designer for Design Systems at Tabs and member of Redwoods design system community. She and Ben open the floor to the community on the psychological side of systems work.The survey went out to over 1,100 design system practitioners and drew 50 responses across four questions. The community digs into reactance theory, where influence becomes manipulation, power dynamics and reporting structure, the behavioral concepts behind buy-in, and what any of this means when the consumer is an AI agent.Show Notes00:04 — Welcome and episode framing00:36 — Kacey Wood's path from data analytics to design systems01:21 — Building 0 to 1 at BetMGM, then starting over at Tabs03:45 — The four questions we asked this week04:41 — 50 responses from over 1,100 practitioners09:12 — Janesa Chan on how org placement shapes perception10:43 — Nobody relies on just one buy-in tactic11:38 — Data isn't enough, the story is what convinces12:31 — Peter Allen on collaboration versus mandate13:27 — Guy Segal challenges the influence/manipulation framing15:08 — Kacey on whether you're willing to lose16:11 — Steven Deeds on manipulation as disingenuous influence18:37 — Reactance theory, explained through a picky eater20:03 — Daniel Florez on skin in the game21:01 — Janesa Chan on giving designers the choice22:53 — Amy Ogg on power dynamics and reporting lines25:19 — Guy Segal on why educating people doesn't work28:40 — Endowment effect, curse of knowledge, social proof29:36 — The IKEA effect and giving people a win31:00 — Aristotle's modes of persuasion33:58 — Rebecca Ostrich on not condescending to people38:19 — ToniAnn Drenckhahn: design systems makes me a better person39:17 — Kyle Hyams on soft skills over craft41:22 — AI has no reactance, so what changes?43:56 — Peter Allen's personal note to his AI agentsWhere to Find the HostsBen Callahan is Founder of Sparkbox (https://sparkbox.com) and Redwoods Design System Community (https://bencallahan.com/redwoods). Read his writings, have him present at your event, or engage with him as a coach or consultant at https://bencallahan.comKacey Wood is a Product Designer for Design Systems at Tabs, previously building systems at BetMGM and EY. Connect with her here: https://bit.ly/4aOYcV0Get the Raw DataAccess the complete survey data from Episode 078 to conduct your own analysis: https://bit.ly/4w3P47vReview the FigJam NotesDig into the collaborative notes we took as a community during the deep dive: https://bit.ly/4fhdlkzJoin the ConversationThe Question explores design systems topics through community research and deep-dive discussions. Participate in future episodes and contribute to the next survey: https://bit.ly/answerTheQuestionMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: XXANWFJBSMJEM81F