May 22, 2025
We had the chance to sit down with Justine Montgomery, who works in Design Systems at Stripe, to talk about her journey from self-taught designer to systems designer and what makes a great design system portfolio.
Justine is presenting “Design System Portfolio Tips & Tricks” at Into Design Systems Conference 2025 and dropped some amazing insights ahead of her session.
From Graphic Design to Design Systems
“I’m Justine. I’m South African living in Spain. I started out as a graphic designer, then moved into product design — completely self-taught.”
Justine shared how she first got into design systems while trying to learn design system design on her own.
“I didn’t have a formal degree. I learned by studying reference sites like Material UI and Atlassian. They were my guides for building the apps I was experimenting with.”
That led to a first job where she started collaborating with developers and stakeholders — and where her systems mindset really began to take shape.
Early Challenges and Learning Resources
“There was a lot I didn’t know at the beginning — like the standard size for a button or how spacing should work.”
She quickly became fascinated with tokens and started learning by building her own component libraries.
“Eventually I found the Into Design Systems community, and that opened up even more. Reading articles by people like Nathan Curtis helped me understand the deeper structure of design systems — and the difference between a UI kit and a true system.”
Design Systems Work Isn’t What Most People Expect
Justine offered a reality check for those thinking about switching from product design into design systems:
“A lot of people think it’s just about building components. But that’s maybe 30 percent of the job. The rest is meetings, audits, maintenance, and cross-team communication.”
She warned that design systems work can be high-pressure, especially when teams rely on your libraries not to block their own work.
“If you're just doing it because there aren’t enough product design jobs, think twice. You have to really love the systems side of things — and the people part too.”
What Skills Do Design System Designers Actually Need?
Here’s what Justine sees companies looking for:
Design Tokens: Understanding how to structure and scale them
Documentation: Not just writing docs, but knowing what’s useful and sustainable
Accessibility: Building inclusive components from the start
System thinking: Creating consistency across patterns and platforms
Collaboration: Working closely with engineers, product, and other teams
Impact: Showing measurable results and ROI
“I landed my first role without formal DS experience. But I knew design tokens — and that was the gap they needed filled.”
She used Token Studio to learn before Figma variables were a thing.
So... How Do You Build a Strong Portfolio?
Justine’s approach is refreshingly simple:
“Start with one solid case study. It doesn’t need to be a polished UI kit or a full-blown design system. Just take one component and go deep.”
She encourages documenting:
What you built
How you built it
What you learned
Who you collaborated with
Where you failed and improved
“Show your thought process. Use gifs or videos. Highlight decisions. Recruiters and managers want to see how you think.”
And don’t forget to consider your audience:
Recruiters want clarity
Designers care about process and craft
Managers look for impact and metrics
Final Advice
“If you know how to use tokens, even if you’ve never used them at work — show it. Include it in your case study. That was the difference for me.”
“Design systems are about more than clean UI. It’s about working across teams, maintaining scale, and building trust. And it’s stressful — but also incredibly rewarding.”
Don’t Miss Justine’s Session
Her talk “Design System Portfolio Tips & Tricks” will include more insights like these, plus a free portfolio template to help you get started.