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DAN SZYMANOWSKI

 * Writing
 * Linkedin
 * dan@shapes.cool


ABOUT

I’m Dan, a front end designer and strategist based in Southern California.

I currently specialize in design systems and product strategy, but, really, I’m
just passionate about communication and solving tough problems.

When I’m not working, I’m usually drawing, tinkering in the garage, or
navigating dad life.


CURRENTLY


DRIVEWAY

February 2022 - Present

Driveway is the e-commerce division of Lithia Motors, one of the largest auto
dealership groups in the US.

My role as Lead Product Designer has been the stewardship of Driveway's Design
System — guiding its maintenance, updates, and documentation.

Over time, my responsibilities have grown into more of a horizontal principal
role, encompassing additional design infrastructure, operations, and mentorship.


SEQUOIA DESIGN SYSTEM

My main focus at Driveway — involving a number of responsibilities…

 * Stewarding the UI library: Updates, bug fixes, and the articulation of
   net-new components within Figma.
 * Written documentation: Produced over 75 pages of component reference and best
   practice guidance.
 * Feature approvals: Making sure everything that gets handed to engineers
   passes DS muster.
 * Office hours: The system always changes. Plus, it won't thrive without input.
   I host regular office hours so everyone stays looped in.

The Sequoia DS at work. These are selected screens from Driveway's shop and
checkout flow. Figma component properties should, at minimum, support their
real-world permutations. Their configuration should also be approachable for the
designer. Mutual understanding between design and dev is crucial. Dev mode has
made it much easier to communicate expectations and aim for closer parity. It
often boils down to communication — making sure the right information gets to
the right person at the right time. Here, I'm mapping out the expected behavior
of an Autocomplete component for engineers.


DRIVEWAY DESIGN PRINCIPLES

My content-design counterpart and I authored a set of design principles for
Driveway in late 2023.

We pursued a collaborative, multi-step editorial process in effort to pull in a
range of voices and curb our own biases.

Ultimately, we made four principles that:

 * Captured the brand voice
 * Carried the company mission
 * Help designers make consistent choices

Read more about the principles and the process over here.

The final set of design principles. These particular assets were deployed as
Figma “stickers,” which we'll often use in design reviews. This voice and tone
map illustrates the full breadth of what our principles had to encompass. Words
are hard! Multiple group synthesis sessions were held to tune the language.


TOOLKITS

I've made a number of Figma toolkits to streamline design process,
collaboration, and organization among teams.

By creating tools, like drag-and-drop components for project summaries or a
lo-fi library for early design exploration, it's helped simplify process and
improve artifact consistency.

Lo-fi toolkit: I made a low fidelity toolkit so designers could begin making
early-phase design artifacts that were consistent. And no — you can't just use
the design system for lo-fi. Way-finding component: This guides people where to
start when they are thrown into a new document, while providing crucial project
information. Comment component: Capturing discourse on the Figma canvas can
preserve helpful context or rationale, especially if a project hits pause or
switches leads.


PREVIOUSLY


ILLUMINA

October 2016 - February 2022

Illumina is a biotech company specializing in the development and manufacturing
of genetic sequencing and microarray solutions.

As Senior Web Designer, I created application-specific design concepts and
prototypes, ranging from rapid design iterations to UI components, for the
Illumina marketing website and the broader Illumina design system.


GLOBAL TYPE

Shortly after Illumina unveiled a new brand direction, they faced the expiration
of their legacy typeface license. I was tasked with quickly developing a new
typographic system to align with the new brand vision.

This involved testing across various pages and breakpoints to identify and
resolve potential issues with legacy design decisions. I also collaborated with
QA specialists to create quality control protocols to ensure a smooth
integration.

The new type scale was designed to capture the updated visual tone and maintain
compatibility with existing designs. Beyond aesthetic enhancements, the typeface
update significantly improved overall text readability.


SECTION REDESIGNS

I led several marketing section redesigns at Illumina.

These would often be targeted toward a diverse set of personas, including
scientists, technicians, lab managers, and procurement professionals.

A common theme among this work was the need to deliver highly technical
information in a manner that was engaging and economical.

Content would often get technical. Showcasing Illumina's bioinformatics products
across the end-to-end workflow, for example, was a challenge. Fortunately, CSS
Grid allowed me to create something that was both flexible and accessible. I
strategically collaborated with UX and Content teams to design overview pages
that balanced key marketing points for a diverse audience, addressing interests
in speed, breadth, accuracy, and ease of use.


MEANWHILE


PERSONAL WORK

Nobody is just one thing.

I pursue a lot of projects in my personal time that can often influence the way
I approach design problems.


ILLUSTRATIONS

I studied illustration in college, but never enjoyed making them for other
people.

I rarely have much in mind when creating a picture. Many are squares — building
a picture in a square forces me to be economical and make more interesting
choices.

Single Person's Drink Prehistoric Vegetable Untitled Pink Window Breakfast Face


TAPESTRY

Tapestry is a flag-generating app built using the P5 javascript library.

Having spent a bit time looking at 60's graphic design, I'd found it interesting
that a few simple shape and color configurations could combine to pretty great
effect.

I wanted to see whether I could build something that would produce aesthetically
charming results when fired at random.




TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This website was created on Kumeyaay land and is hosted from a server on Tongva
land.