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Design System
Design Guide
Visual Design
Design Process
Product Design
ARTICLE #125
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Design System: A step-by-step guide to build the best one
Design System
Design Guide
Visual Design
Design Process
Product Design
Design System
Design Guide
Visual Design
Design Process
Product Design
Written by:
5 min read
Updated on: October 18, 2024
Samson Mosilily
Senior Regional Manager
African Market, Regional Management, Growth
Samson Mosilily
Senior Regional Manager
African Market, Regional Management, Growth
Building fresh design elements is always fun—but what’s better is automating that magic for everyone else. A design system can feel like the unsung hero quietly holding everything together—kind of like the backstage crew that makes a theatre production run smoothly.
While infinite design choices sound great on paper, they often lead to chaos and wasted time if left unchecked. A good design system brings order and consistency, allowing designers and developers to craft cohesive user experiences across a company’s entire line-up of products or services.
Let’s go through a straightforward approach to building a design system that keeps your team in sync and delivers a cohesive user experience.
Building fresh design elements is always fun—but what’s better is automating that magic for everyone else. A design system can feel like the unsung hero quietly holding everything together—kind of like the backstage crew that makes a theatre production run smoothly.
While infinite design choices sound great on paper, they often lead to chaos and wasted time if left unchecked. A good design system brings order and consistency, allowing designers and developers to craft cohesive user experiences across a company’s entire line-up of products or services.
Let’s go through a straightforward approach to building a design system that keeps your team in sync and delivers a cohesive user experience.
What is a design system?
What is a design system?
At its core, a design system is a set of reusable elements and guidelines (consider it as your brand’s shared vocabulary) that unify how you create and maintain products or services. These components might include colour palettes, icons, typography, layout patterns, and even the tone of your product’s language.
The real point of a design system is ensuring your brand stays consistent while giving designers and developers a central reference for building new features, pages, or entire products. It’s not just about the look, either—done properly, it can improve usability and overall user experience.
Why bother with a design system?
Coherent user experience: Customers feel they’re using one product rather than pieced-together bits of different ones.
Faster development: Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, you reuse established components and patterns.
Brand consistency: Your colours, typography, and spacing remain uniform across every platform, app, and web page.
At its core, a design system is a set of reusable elements and guidelines (consider it as your brand’s shared vocabulary) that unify how you create and maintain products or services. These components might include colour palettes, icons, typography, layout patterns, and even the tone of your product’s language.
The real point of a design system is ensuring your brand stays consistent while giving designers and developers a central reference for building new features, pages, or entire products. It’s not just about the look, either—done properly, it can improve usability and overall user experience.
Why bother with a design system?
Coherent user experience: Customers feel they’re using one product rather than pieced-together bits of different ones.
Faster development: Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, you reuse established components and patterns.
Brand consistency: Your colours, typography, and spacing remain uniform across every platform, app, and web page.
1. Define the goals of your design system
Before creating any shiny new components, you need clarity on your system’s purpose. Ask:
What are your organisation’s main objectives?
How can a design system assist in achieving them?
Which challenges are you trying to solve?
Typical ambitions may include brand consistency, improved collaboration among teams, or a more streamlined development process. You’ll also want to research user expectations, especially if you’ve observed bottlenecks in your current design or development workflow.
When these goals are well-defined—say, “speed up design handoffs by 30%” or “strengthen brand identity across marketing and product”—it becomes easier to measure whether your design system is doing its job.
Before creating any shiny new components, you need clarity on your system’s purpose. Ask:
What are your organisation’s main objectives?
How can a design system assist in achieving them?
Which challenges are you trying to solve?
Typical ambitions may include brand consistency, improved collaboration among teams, or a more streamlined development process. You’ll also want to research user expectations, especially if you’ve observed bottlenecks in your current design or development workflow.
When these goals are well-defined—say, “speed up design handoffs by 30%” or “strengthen brand identity across marketing and product”—it becomes easier to measure whether your design system is doing its job.
2. Audit current design assets and processes
Next, examine what’s already out there. Pull together everything your teams use to design products or websites:
Existing style guides
Logo versions, icon sets
Spacing guidelines, typography choices
Look for overlaps, inconsistencies, or bits of “secret sauce” only a specific developer seems to know about. Narrowing your design tokens—items like fonts, primary buttons, or accent colours—helps bring uniformity and cuts down on guesswork.
Some organisations prefer starting from scratch, while others use a tool like Frontify to organise and maintain their design system. Whichever route you pick, keep your setup as uncluttered as possible.
Next, examine what’s already out there. Pull together everything your teams use to design products or websites:
Existing style guides
Logo versions, icon sets
Spacing guidelines, typography choices
Look for overlaps, inconsistencies, or bits of “secret sauce” only a specific developer seems to know about. Narrowing your design tokens—items like fonts, primary buttons, or accent colours—helps bring uniformity and cuts down on guesswork.
Some organisations prefer starting from scratch, while others use a tool like Frontify to organise and maintain their design system. Whichever route you pick, keep your setup as uncluttered as possible.
3. Create a visual design language
A visual design language ensures your brand’s look and feel are crystal-clear to everyone involved, from junior designers to external agencies. Maybe you already have brand assets for colour or typography. If so, treat them as the starting point and expand your documentation.
Icons: Are they all from one consistent set, or are you mixing styles?
Colour palettes: Keep them consistent, with options for backgrounds, text, buttons, etc.
Typography: Define font families, sizes, and weights for headings, subheadings, and body text.
Spacing rules: Decide how much padding or margin standard elements should have.
By unifying these visual elements, you avoid product pages that look like they were stitched together by different teams living on separate planets.
A visual design language ensures your brand’s look and feel are crystal-clear to everyone involved, from junior designers to external agencies. Maybe you already have brand assets for colour or typography. If so, treat them as the starting point and expand your documentation.
Icons: Are they all from one consistent set, or are you mixing styles?
Colour palettes: Keep them consistent, with options for backgrounds, text, buttons, etc.
Typography: Define font families, sizes, and weights for headings, subheadings, and body text.
Spacing rules: Decide how much padding or margin standard elements should have.
By unifying these visual elements, you avoid product pages that look like they were stitched together by different teams living on separate planets.
4. Establish design principles and guidelines
Design principles express the “why” behind every choice. They outline your brand’s core philosophy—do you value minimalism, or do you thrive on bold, expressive visuals? Bring in a cross-functional group (developers, designers, product managers) to shape these principles.
Examples of principles might be:
Simplicity: “We avoid clutter; we solve user needs in the most straightforward way possible.”
Authenticity: “We stay true to our brand voice and style, even when adapting to new platforms.”
Accessibility: “Our products remain usable by people of all abilities and backgrounds.”
Keep them top-of-mind whenever you create or revise elements in your design system.
Design principles express the “why” behind every choice. They outline your brand’s core philosophy—do you value minimalism, or do you thrive on bold, expressive visuals? Bring in a cross-functional group (developers, designers, product managers) to shape these principles.
Examples of principles might be:
Simplicity: “We avoid clutter; we solve user needs in the most straightforward way possible.”
Authenticity: “We stay true to our brand voice and style, even when adapting to new platforms.”
Accessibility: “Our products remain usable by people of all abilities and backgrounds.”
Keep them top-of-mind whenever you create or revise elements in your design system.
5. Develop reusable UI components
Now, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and build those building blocks. Start small—buttons, toggles, form fields. Then, scale up to more elaborate modules like navigation bars or entire page sections.
Basic elements: Buttons, icons, input fields
Intermediate elements: Modals, dropdowns, cards
Complex modules: Page layouts, dashboards, multi-step forms
Document each component thoroughly. Include code snippets for developers, usage examples for designers, and any do’s-and-don’ts. This not only saves time but also prevents each team from interpreting the “primary button” in six different ways.
Now, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and build those building blocks. Start small—buttons, toggles, form fields. Then, scale up to more elaborate modules like navigation bars or entire page sections.
Basic elements: Buttons, icons, input fields
Intermediate elements: Modals, dropdowns, cards
Complex modules: Page layouts, dashboards, multi-step forms
Document each component thoroughly. Include code snippets for developers, usage examples for designers, and any do’s-and-don’ts. This not only saves time but also prevents each team from interpreting the “primary button” in six different ways.
6. Create detailed documentation
A design system with no documentation is about as useful as an undated map. People might guess their way around, but confusion is inevitable. So, write it all down:
Guidelines: e.g., “When to use a modal vs an inline alert”
Usage examples: Live demos, image mock-ups
Code snippets: For quick developer reference
Version control: Indicate changes or updates—like “Button v2: added new hover style”
If you keep your documentation up to date, new hires can dive into the system and get up to speed quickly, and veterans won’t have to rely on memory for every tiny detail.
A design system with no documentation is about as useful as an undated map. People might guess their way around, but confusion is inevitable. So, write it all down:
Guidelines: e.g., “When to use a modal vs an inline alert”
Usage examples: Live demos, image mock-ups
Code snippets: For quick developer reference
Version control: Indicate changes or updates—like “Button v2: added new hover style”
If you keep your documentation up to date, new hires can dive into the system and get up to speed quickly, and veterans won’t have to rely on memory for every tiny detail.
7. Build and teach your design system team
A successful design system thrives on collaboration. Gather a core group—developers, designers, product folks—who collectively have the authority to maintain and evolve it. Then, make sure they know the system inside out:
Identify gaps: If a junior designer is unfamiliar with advanced prototyping tools, provide training.
Share online resources: Tutorials, case studies, or articles on best practices.
Promote shared ownership: Everyone on the team should feel they can contribute ideas or improvements.
Secure a sponsor from leadership too, to ensure you have the backing you need for resources and decisions.
A successful design system thrives on collaboration. Gather a core group—developers, designers, product folks—who collectively have the authority to maintain and evolve it. Then, make sure they know the system inside out:
Identify gaps: If a junior designer is unfamiliar with advanced prototyping tools, provide training.
Share online resources: Tutorials, case studies, or articles on best practices.
Promote shared ownership: Everyone on the team should feel they can contribute ideas or improvements.
Secure a sponsor from leadership too, to ensure you have the backing you need for resources and decisions.
8. Implement your design system
Once you’ve assembled components and guidelines, it’s time for the real-world test: integrating them into actual products. Encourage product teams to:
Add the system early: Let the design system guide their first sketches, not as an afterthought.
Ask for feedback: If a developer or designer finds a gap or contradiction, document it and refine the system.
Hold workshops: These can be short drop-in sessions where team members learn how to use the system effectively.
Onboarding new team members with your design system from the start helps solidify its place in the company’s daily workflow.
Once you’ve assembled components and guidelines, it’s time for the real-world test: integrating them into actual products. Encourage product teams to:
Add the system early: Let the design system guide their first sketches, not as an afterthought.
Ask for feedback: If a developer or designer finds a gap or contradiction, document it and refine the system.
Hold workshops: These can be short drop-in sessions where team members learn how to use the system effectively.
Onboarding new team members with your design system from the start helps solidify its place in the company’s daily workflow.
9. Monitor design system adoption
Numbers don’t lie, so track usage metrics to see whether your design system is living up to the hype. Watch for:
Component usage: Are teams actually using your newly minted card layouts or toggles?
Documentation views: Do people visit your docs regularly or remain clueless about them?
Time to production: Did your cycle times shorten once you rolled out the system?
If adoption is slow, find out why. Maybe the documentation isn’t user-friendly, or the system lacks a crucial component. Either way, data helps you steer your efforts in the right direction.
Numbers don’t lie, so track usage metrics to see whether your design system is living up to the hype. Watch for:
Component usage: Are teams actually using your newly minted card layouts or toggles?
Documentation views: Do people visit your docs regularly or remain clueless about them?
Time to production: Did your cycle times shorten once you rolled out the system?
If adoption is slow, find out why. Maybe the documentation isn’t user-friendly, or the system lacks a crucial component. Either way, data helps you steer your efforts in the right direction.
10. Maintain and improve your design system
Like any product, a design system evolves over time. Keep it fresh and relevant by scheduling regular reviews—maybe every quarter or in sync with major product releases.
Gather feedback: Channels like Slack, Confluence pages, or monthly stand-ups allow teams to voice issues.
Define a governance model: Decide who can approve new components or modifications.
Use version control: That way, you can track changes, revert if something breaks, and maintain a clear audit trail.
Communicate updates: Send out a quick note or hold a mini demo so everyone knows what’s changed.
This proactive maintenance keeps the system from turning into a random heap of outdated elements no one wants to touch.
Like any product, a design system evolves over time. Keep it fresh and relevant by scheduling regular reviews—maybe every quarter or in sync with major product releases.
Gather feedback: Channels like Slack, Confluence pages, or monthly stand-ups allow teams to voice issues.
Define a governance model: Decide who can approve new components or modifications.
Use version control: That way, you can track changes, revert if something breaks, and maintain a clear audit trail.
Communicate updates: Send out a quick note or hold a mini demo so everyone knows what’s changed.
This proactive maintenance keeps the system from turning into a random heap of outdated elements no one wants to touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a successful design system?
One that’s modular, easy to adopt, and well-documented—so teams can quickly build consistent experiences without guessing.
What is the main purpose of the design system?
It supports your brand’s principles, fosters consistency, and streamlines the development process, ensuring products share a uniform look and feel.
What is the 5-step design thinking process?
Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. Though it’s generally used for broader ideation, design thinking can inform the early planning stages of a design system too.
Final Thoughts
Design systems might still be fairly new on the digital scene, but their influence is unmistakable. If carefully implemented—with solid documentation, strong leadership, and regular upkeep—they can turn scattered design practices into a powerful, unified approach. On the other hand, neglect or half-hearted support can leave you with a messy tangle of components that don’t genuinely help anyone.
Take the time to plan well, invite feedback, and keep iterating. That’s how you create a design system that not only makes your team’s life easier but also brings real consistency to every user interaction. And that’s how brand storytelling can become a springboard for wide-ranging growth (including in the design world).
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a successful design system?
One that’s modular, easy to adopt, and well-documented—so teams can quickly build consistent experiences without guessing.
What is the main purpose of the design system?
It supports your brand’s principles, fosters consistency, and streamlines the development process, ensuring products share a uniform look and feel.
What is the 5-step design thinking process?
Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. Though it’s generally used for broader ideation, design thinking can inform the early planning stages of a design system too.
Final Thoughts
Design systems might still be fairly new on the digital scene, but their influence is unmistakable. If carefully implemented—with solid documentation, strong leadership, and regular upkeep—they can turn scattered design practices into a powerful, unified approach. On the other hand, neglect or half-hearted support can leave you with a messy tangle of components that don’t genuinely help anyone.
Take the time to plan well, invite feedback, and keep iterating. That’s how you create a design system that not only makes your team’s life easier but also brings real consistency to every user interaction. And that’s how brand storytelling can become a springboard for wide-ranging growth (including in the design world).
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Work with us
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work@for.co
FOR® Industries
We’re remote-first — with strategic global hubs
Click to copy
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Click to copy
New York, NY
ny@for.co
Click to copy
Miami, FL
mia@for.co
Click to copy
Dubai, UAE
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Click to copy
Kyiv, UA
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Copyright © 2024 FOR®