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Dan Donald

@hereinthehive.bsky.social
1.5K followers 681 following 334 posts

Design System Consultant. Design, Dev & Product. Prev zeroheight, Auto Trader, BBC All about design systems, design tokens, product design and occasionally making music at @thesedeadmachines.bsky.social

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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Getting @stereotype.co ready for the first testers…prepping environments, testing, observability and all that jazz It’s getting close!! Exciting times 😁
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Things are getting exciting over in @stereotype.co towers. Ever closer to getting early testers on board and find all the bugs 😁 Sign up if you want to be one of the first on and help shape it! stereotype.co
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
😁
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
…enough about me. How’re _you_ doing?
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It’s really interesting being in [massive global financial institution]. It’s kind of what I expected and I know culturally, I’m not a fit…but I get to own an interesting space and see what can be done within constraints, so kind of enjoying that
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
All feels productive and fun. Even had a great session using it to structurally support creative writing…but there’s now things out in the world that I should keep going and push on but there’s only so much of me 😁
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It’s become a double-edged sword, the ‘superpowers’ I feel AI gives me. Now random obsessions or side quests become real, which is a good and a bad thing! I’m not far off getting testers on one product but got distracted by a bigger project but then segued from that to make another thing 😂
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Would love to speak to anyone impacted by the layoffs at BrooklynVegan, Alt Press and Revolver. Me and @altversion.substack.com are working on something we really hope will help music journalism: stereotype.co
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It’s super early days for us but if you’d like to be early testers of a new music community platform that me and @alt_version are building, sign up and we’ll keep you in the loop We’re very excited 💥 stereotype.co
stereotype.co
Stereotype — coming soon
A music discovery community, in the making.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It’s super early days for us but if you’d like to be early testers of a new music community platform that me and @alt_version are building, sign up and we’ll keep you in the loop We’re very excited 💥 stereotype.co
stereotype.co
Stereotype — coming soon
A music discovery community, in the making.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
You test a cohort of the same persona to get a more resonant response. Randomness from outside the system in introduced within persona constraints to construct more varied responses Great for testing out ideas or a layer before user research to get some early feedback. Give it a go: sparebrain.com
sparebrain.com
SpareBrain — sense-check it before you ship it
You're about to spend six weeks building something. Paste it and fifteen simulated strangers read it — two minutes later you get the argument they had about it.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Those ideas are now a testing project called SpareBrain. So far you can test text or a URL with either a range of built-in or custom personas, the results of the study help generate hypotheses. If you have real user research results you can make it to find the relationships between them
sparebrain.com
SpareBrain — sense-check it before you ship it
You're about to spend six weeks building something. Paste it and fifteen simulated strangers read it — two minutes later you get the argument they had about it.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
After hearing a talk David Hawdale did a little while ago around synthetic user testing, I left with a bee in my bonnet. I could see the space it could be useful in but very aware of the limitations with how LLMs work. I mulled on it, researched and came up with some ideas
sparebrain.com
SpareBrain — sense-check it before you ship it
You're about to spend six weeks building something. Paste it and fifteen simulated strangers read it — two minutes later you get the argument they had about it.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Yup! And we know that everything will change over the months and years anyway, so getting used to effectively personalised software and the concepts helps with adaptability
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Context setup is the basic first step. Vital but easily diluted That’s why it writes context based on discovery and encourages folks with hooks, research, skills and agents in a single lightweight way. Just a gateway to help less technical folks explore more is all
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Exactly. And there’s 1000 ways to do the same thing. That’s why I kept Kickstart tiny and dynamically generates what a user _might_ need and writes the context file and hooks to get them started. Aims to encourage exploration and write their own stuff
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Experiment dictated to Claude Code on my phone one evening and refined the morning after The goal is to help less technical people get a set-up that helps them along based on their needs. So dynamically generates skills and agents based on conversational discovery github.com/hereinthehiv...
github.com
GitHub - hereinthehive/kickstart: A Claude Code starter — fork, run /onboarding, and Claude sets itself up for your project
A Claude Code starter — fork, run /onboarding, and Claude sets itself up for your project - hereinthehive/kickstart
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Sad seeing the rise of Reform in the UK…no, sickening…the status who might not be working but this hateful bullshit is not the answer
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Haven’t been on here in ages - how’s tricks?
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Reposted by Dan Donald
London Web Standards @londonwebstandards.org · 07/05/2026
State of the Browser 2027 👀 Tickets 👀 Not many when they are gone they are paused until @pixelpioneers.co 2027.stateofthebrowser.com/tickets/
2027.stateofthebrowser.com
Tickets | State of the Browser
More information and buying options for tickets.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Music fans! @hannahc.bsky.social and I are working on a very cool music community side project: stereotype.co If you’re involve in music…an artist/band, a label, a venue/run events it’d be great to chat and when the time is right, have people on our list to test Let us know if that’s you! #music
stereotype.co
Stereotype — coming soon
A music discovery community, in the making.
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Reposted by Dan Donald
Oliver Lindberg @oliverlindberg.com · 18/12/2025
In design systems, change is the only constant. And thinking ahead to life after the release of our first components can positively impact how we start. Check out @hereinthehive.bsky.social's article for the @zeroheight.com blog: zeroheight.com/blog/design-...
zeroheight.com
Design system change management: Change is the only constant - zeroheight
Dan Donald provides practical guidance for managing change in design systems — triage, naming, workflows, and communication.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
For those curious about AI and DS tooling, give my side project @gotrino.bsky.social a follow or subscribe the occasional newsletter talking more about progress; gotrino.com
gotrino.com
Gotrino - Design System Intelligence
Gotrino is a design system intelligence platform that helps you create beautiful, consistent, and accessible designs.
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Reposted by Dan Donald
Shaun Bent @shaunbent.co.uk · 11/12/2025
A few years back, I nearly wrote "The Fallacy of Federated Design Systems." Then @nathanacurtis.bsky.social beat me to it. But what happens when you try it anyway? At Spotify, I watched federated fail twice, resulting in a huge number of barely reused components and damaged trust in design systems.
shaunbent.co.uk
Why Federated Design Systems Keep Failing
Why do federated design systems keep failing? I watched it happen twice at Spotify. Here's what actually happened, where they broke down, and why centralised models usually work better.
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Gotrino @gotrino.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
If you could talk to your design system, what kinds of things would you ask it? #designsystems
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Go and follow my side project…maybe subscribe the newsletter. I think it’s pretty cool… @gotrino.bsky.social 🔥
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Mwah ha haaaaa @gotrino.bsky.social 🔥
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
After a lull in music through… _life_… 🤷🏻‍♂️ My alter ego @thesedeadmachines.bsky.social will have a new single out soon 🔥
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Maaaaan…really want to share what I’m doing in this space 🤫🤐
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
#ffconf BUELLER? BUELLER? BUELLER? BUELLER? BUELLER?
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Ohhh that old classic 😂
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
😂 This might be LinkedIn fodder…
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
One of many great #designsystems conversations over the last week: we need to stop using the phrase ‘single source of truth’. It’s bullshit.
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Amy Hupe @amyhupe.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
AS IF I snuck this episode of Systems of Harm out yesterday without posting about it - but 90% of the design systems community was at Converge. This week’s guest is none other than @bradfrost.com (‼️) talking about design systems and ADHD. Apple: apple.co/4qQfR50 RSS: bit.ly/43gtLkB
apple.co
Design systems and ADHD with Brad Frost
Podcast Episode · Systems of Harm · 30/10/2025 · 1h
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
With the end of my current contract at Gymshark coming to an end in Feb…and with the holidays inbetween, I’m starting to put the feelings out for a potential next gig Give me a shout if you’re up for a chat!
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Still in the place of barely using socials these days. Just not as interesting as it used to be, which is a massive shame… Tell me something good that’s happening in your worlds!
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Get on board!
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rem / Remy Sharp @remysharp.com · 11/09/2025
Published another of our #FFConf speaker interviews today. This time, pleased to introduce Hannah Clarke (if you're on bluesky, I've yet to find you!) on "An Uncomfortable Place" about building framework-agnostic components. Get your ticket and see it IRL, interview here: ffconf.org/articles/202...
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Big fan of Mario Kart World btw
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WDC @webdevconf.com · 02/07/2025
It's release day! We're pleased to announce the immediate availability of WDC OS 2.0. Updates include: * Full Speaker Lineup * Agenda for the day * WDClippy if you need help Tickets for the day are just £100. webdevconf.com
webdevconf.com
WDC2025 - October 10 2025, Watershed, Bristol, UK
WDC is the web conference based in Bristol, taking place in autumn each year. With great speakers and attendees alike.
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
…so how about you lot?
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
The book is still very much in progress - awesome designer working on the cover and copy editor about to start work on it Pre-orders once the design is ready from what I hear 🤯
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
It’s more than 6-months since my album came out. Still feels great that I actually did a thing Once there’s headspace, so much new music to finish and put out
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
While the day job is more design-side, it’s been pretty awesome working on a side project with @hannahc.bsky.social, learning a load of nextjs, api architecture, Supabase and all kinds of stuff
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Might see if I can get the ol’ social media reflexes going again. So much has been going on!
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Just don’t have that instinct or need to post on socials these days. The demise of Twitter and the continued shitification of pretty much every other platform have sucked what little joy there was out of it Anyway…hope you’re well
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Totally forgot about social media for a while. It’s been great!
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Sil Bormüller @silbormueller.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
🤔 Are Design Tokens overhyped? 😵‍💫 When does theming become a nightmare? 💸 Have you ever had trouble proving the Design System’s value? 🌶️ Tomorrow, we'll ask all the spicy questions 🥳 Over 500 design system professionals have already signed up. Are you joining us? 🙋‍♂️ lu.ma/c9lp044o
lu.ma
Into Design Systems Fck Up Stories 🧨 · Zoom · Luma
The perfect Design System doesn’t exist. Our speakers will share their failures and the valuable lessons they’ve learned! Join us for casual, real talk 🥵 What…
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Dan Donald @hereinthehive.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
It’s interesting getting to know myself more Like with onboarding at a new place - I kind of want all the In formation flicked into my eyeballs the minute I start so I can start digesting it rather than a chilled process to find your feet
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Guy Segal @guysegal.com · 20/02/2025
Everyone involved in the creation of a product has an obligation to consider its ethical implications. You can’t outsource this responsibility or expect someone else to “figure it out”. It has nothing to do with your job description, and everything to do with being human.
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