What do you do when the message says: "We need light and dark mode across 5 brands… for web and mobile. And users want to customize the UI too."

Most of us freeze 🥶

Or we go build another variable collection and hope for the best 🤪

At Into Design Systems Conference 2025, Sam ( Sam I am Designs 🫶 🇨🇦) gave us a better way:

🧠 Systems Thinking for Theming

How Sam Breaks It Down:

One of the most valuable takeaways from Sam’s session is how she applies Systems Thinking to solve messy theming challenges.

Here’s a closer look at what that means and how to use it:

1. Zoom Out Before You Zoom In

Systems Thinking starts by zooming out to see how everything connects.

Sam’s mantra: “Think outside the grid.”

We’re often stuck in:

• Variable tables

• JSON structures

• Plugin UI

But those don’t show relationships.

🧭 Instead, Sam suggests drawing a systems map:

• What is influencing this problem?

• Who is involved?

• Where does data flow from/to?

• What’s the real goal?
  

📌 Example: Before adding a new brand theme, map how the business, dev, design and marketing teams will interact with that decision.

2. The “Past, Present, Future” Canvas

Sam’s framework includes a canvas to explore:

• What’s working? (Don’t touch it)

• What’s broken? (Prioritize it)

• What’s coming? (Design for it)

Why it works:

• It exposes gaps in your system thinking

• It gives everyone the same mental model

• It creates alignment across silos

  
  

3. Distinctions: What It Is / What It’s Not

This deceptively simple step prevents scope creep.

Instead of tackling a vague request like “add more personalization,” ask:

• What is this work really about?

• What’s outside the scope (for now)?

• What’s unknown?

📌 Sam’s rule of thumb: Focus on 5–9 “chunks” at a time. If it’s more than that, zoom in or split the map.

4. Mapping → Structure → Naming → Delivery

Once you’ve mapped your theming problem, you can:

➡ Turn it into token structure

➡ Draft naming conventions

➡ Translate it into Figma files or token sets

➡ Document the system for the team

It’s a thinking-first approach.

🎯 Don’t start in Tokens Studio. Start in FigJam.

5. Theme Maps Help With Adoption, Not Just Architecture

One underrated point Sam made:

System maps don’t ship. But they help you ship better.

These diagrams aren’t just for architects.

They’re for your team to understand, remember and use the system.

If your naming, files, or tokens are confusing, it’s probably because there’s no shared map behind them.

📌 Takeaway: Good maps = better onboarding, faster changes, fewer DMs.

6. Systems Thinking Makes Scaling Sustainable

Sam showed how theming supports scaling and how systems thinking supports theming.

🪴 Growth = more output with more resources

📈 Scaling = more output with the same resources

Theming unlocks scaling.

Systems thinking helps you scale the theming.

👇 Bonus: Build Your First System Map

Here’s how Sam suggests getting started:

1. Sketch the goal (e.g. support 3 brands on 2 platforms with 1 library)

2. List influences (business, design, dev, marketing, accessibility, etc.)

3. Draw relationships between these influences and the output

4. Define what’s in/out of scope

5. Use her map to structure tokens and name decisions

🗂️ Get Sam's examples, files and full replay

Missed Sam’s talk?
The replay is available with all shared resources, FigJam template and bonus naming guides.

👉 Get access to recordings and resources