When every button looks a little different, spacing feels off, and handoffs between designer and dev are painful, you know something's wrong.
A design system can fix all of that, aligning everyone around a shared language and providing the tools to build faster and better. It avoids inconsistent UI, longer review cycles, and time spent debating minor visual tweaks.
Video: Welcome to Design Systems – Lesson 1: Introduction to Design Systems (15 min)
Key components
A solid design system should include:
Style guide, design tokens – Brand guidelines, color variables, typography, iconography, spacing grids, and accessibility guidance
Component library – Reusable UI elements like buttons or inputs, built in your design tool with variants and usage guidance. May include page templates and broader patterns
Documentation – Guidelines for component usage, dos and don’ts, examples and demos
Design system governance – Clear ownership of the design system, a contribution process, tools for dev handover, and semantic versioning to manage updates
Design tokens are small, reusable design decisions that make up a design system's visual style.
Why it works
One source of truth – Everyone (designers, developers, POs, QA) works from the same playbook, avoiding continuous rework and reducing inconsistency.
Changes are made in one place which scales across projects
*The design system can span across multiple projects, it is up to the implementer to decide
Faster build time – Shared components and patterns boost delivery speed
Accessibility guidelines – Standards like contrast, keyboard navigation, and screen-reader support come by default
Signs you’re due for a Design System
Spacing, fonts, or colors shift between screens for no reason
Handoffs and review meetings are dominated by nitpicking visual issues
Design doesn’t match production
Style guides are outdated, scattered, or missing entirely
IBM Carbon Enterprise-level, open source, and WCAG-compliant.
Shadcn Headless components + Tailwind, great for custom styling and modern UIs.
Shopify Polaris Design, content, and accessibility all-in-one.
Wise Design Multi-brand theming, shared tokens, and flexible components.
Design System maturity: From Library to Ecosystem
Design systems don’t need to be fully built from day one. There are different levels of implementation depending on the maturity of the team/product.
Most teams don't start with a full design system — they start small with just a few shared components and evolve over time.
Since “design system” is often used loosely, this table helps clarify where your team sits and what to aim for next:
Stage
Description
1. Design Library
A shared file (e.g. Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) with consistent styles and reusable components like buttons and inputs.
2. Documented System
Adds usage guidelines, naming conventions, dos and don'ts, accessibility considerations, and basic governance (who owns updates).
3. Design–Dev Alignment
Design tokens are mapped to code, creating a shared language between design and development for color, spacing, and other foundational styles.
4. Coded Components
Components exist in code (e.g. Storybook) and match the Design Library.
5. Scalable Ecosystem
Includes formal governance processes, versioning, contribution model, changelogs, multi-product usage. Often has its own site or portal.
Start small in 7 steps
Audit your UI – Look for visual and structural inconsistencies
Define tokens – Start with color, spacing, and typography
Build your first components – Focus on core UI elements (i.e. header, footer, buttons, input fields)
Integrate tokens – Start with simple design tokens in your design tool, then explore code integration tools like [Style Dictionary(https://styledictionary.com/) as your system matures
Document as you go – Add usage rules, visual examples, and versioning
Share internally – Use demos and changelogs to get buy-in
Govern wisely – Assign owners, plan updates, and gradually layer in code
Quick-start tip: Kick off with a shared library (e.g. Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) and key components to provide value, then expand.