Design system

A design system is a comprehensive framework encompassing the principles, guidelines, components, and tools that drive the design and development of digital products. It not only addresses the visual and interactive elements but also the underlying philosophy, rationale, and methodologies that form a brand's design language.

Key features:

  • Principles: core values and beliefs that guide the design decisions, ensuring alignment with the brand's identity and objectives
  • Guidelines: detailed documentation that covers best practices, design rationale, and instructions on using components and patterns
  • Design tokens: atomic design values such as colours, typography, spacing, and more
  • UI components: reusable visual and interactive elements like buttons, forms, and modals, often found in pattern libraries
  • Tooling and utilities: tools, code snippets, and resources that assist designers and developers in implementing the design consistently

Key benefits

  • Consistency: creates a cohesive user experience across different parts of a digital product, ensuring brand fidelity
  • Efficiency: streamlines the design and development processes, reducing redundancy and speeding up product creation
  • Collaboration: serves as a common reference, improving communication between designers, developers, and stakeholders
  • Scalability: facilitates the growth and expansion of a digital product while ensuring design integrity and consistency
  • Maintainability: allows for centralized updates and modifications, leading to easier and more uniform changes across the product

Related terms