Key takeaways: Luis Ouriach on how design systems are changing

25 October 2026

Key takeaways from How are design systems changing?, Dive Club. Luis Ouriach on why AI moves the design system from the corner to the centre.

The more we rely on a tool to create our code, the more we rely on a system to tell that tool what to code. And the less we invest in a system, the more we’re going to generate just honestly rubbish into our systems that will just pile up like a landfill.

A design system used to be a team in the corner raising the bar. Now it’s the centrepiece.

The pursuance of quality gets you to a system before you even know it.

It needs a technically curious designer and a design-curious engineer, and it can’t be a side project. It should be a thread through everything an organisation makes.

Most software sucks and people don’t really care about the pixels.

For years, getting people to care about pixels has been the job, and it’s why I read so much about influence and psychology. The harder problem now is the one with sales, sign-ups and revenue attached. Pixels still matter. They’re just not the first thing that makes a business succeed.

Writing down before you commit to a pixel is the best way to get buy-in for an idea.

Write first, prototype later. It’s part of why this site exists.

Listen to the episode on Dive Club⁠.