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Talk June 5, 2024

Design Systems for Data Visualization

Seattle Design Systems · Seattle, WA

Slide preview for the talk “Design Systems for Data Visualization” — Slide preview

Summary

Data visualizations often fall into an awkward space between design systems and application-specific code. In this talk, I explored how teams can apply design system thinking to charts, graphs, and complex visualizations—drawing on dashboard work for a large philanthropic organization and later maintaining visualization libraries in production. The talk covered how to define visualization specifications, identify common patterns, and treat charting components as reusable design system primitives. Using examples from Victory, visx, and Material Design, I examined the tradeoffs between flexibility and consistency, framing data visualization architecture as a spectrum where teams balance control, usability, and long-term scalability.

Related

Data Visualizations and the Main Thread: A (Sometimes) Love Story
Adventures with Victory and Canvas

Becca Bailey

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