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I’m Jenny Slaughter, a design technologist and obsessive systematizer. I live in Virginia, where I untangle chaos, make checklists, and build websites.
I’m energized by creating systems, designing interchangeable parts, and inventing repeatable processes. That’s why I love design systems and pattern libraries. I’ve built dozens of pattern libraries for large institutions and am obsessed with organizing, developing, and documenting perfect patterns.
![Jenny Slaughter at Blackwater Falls, WV](https://jslaughter.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/falls-cropped.jpg)
Professional Background
I’ve worked officially in the web industry since 2002, although prior to that I’d made many websites for myself or any local organization with a domain name and a mission statement. The first site I built for a real client who paid in actual dollars was for a professional mandolin player.
It was a Flash site that featured a flying instrument. You could buy CDs via a form you completed, printed, and mailed in an envelope to the client’s home address. Music played on load and there was no way to turn it off.
I was immensely proud of it.
My portfolio has more recent work, but with unfortunately less ActionScript.
What I'm doing now
As a design technologist, I thrive in the place where design and development intersect. For most of my career, I’ve worked as a hybrid front end developer and designer in agency settings. I enjoy learning new languages, frameworks, and technologies, but my real passion is for architecting the systems that use those tools, rather than the tools themselves.
In 2014 I started to focus on building atomic design pattern libraries for my agency clients. Ever since, I’ve been obsessed with crafting flexible, functional systems using a limited set of well-engineered parts.
As a result, I’m shifting to focus full-time on design systems: building them, growing them, and evangelizing them to others. I enjoy sharing my obsession by speaking at workshops and conferences. I love helping people understand not only design system mechanics, but how design systems can create better products and more consistent user experiences.
Sharing design system knowledge: giving a talk about pattern libraries at Texas A&M University and leading an atomic design workshop at an education-industry conference.
Remote Life
In 2016, I transitioned to working remotely full-time. I’m comfortable on a distributed team, and enjoy the balance of self-managing, maintaining open communication, and building connections remotely.
One of the things I appreciate the most about remote work is the potential to build a diverse team with many different backgrounds and perspectives. These different viewpoints help us see a problem from more angles, and lead us to better solutions.
Extracurriculars
My love for systems extends beyond those constructed with code. I see beauty in organization, and build a system for nearly everything in my life — enough that it probably annoys all the people in my life. I own the same shirt in thirty different colors and prints. I systematize laundry, dinner prep, home projects, and party planning. I enjoy packing things into cars.
I tend to collect hobbies rather than drilling deep into a particular interest. I’d recommend this if you want to learn a lot about a wide variety of topics and spend a lot of money on equipment and supplies you’ll never use again.
When my laptop is closed, I enjoy making things, throwing parties, learning to sail, and going on adventures with my daughter in the Virginia mountains.