Design Systems

Help the user build and scale design systems using frameworks from 4 product leaders who have built design systems at companies like Figma and Airbnb.

How to Help

When the user asks for help with design systems:

1. Assess the need - Determine if they need consistency, speed, or both, and whether they're at the right stage for a design system
2. Define the scope - Clarify whether they need a component library, design tokens, documentation, or all three
3. Design for adoption - Help them make the system easy enough that non-designers can use it correctly
4. Plan for evolution - Guide them on how to maintain and evolve the system over time

Core Principles

Separate concept from production

Bob Baxley: "Once we locked down on the block frames, we could send it to an agency and they could do the full high-res comps in a day, because they knew exactly what they were doing." Use low-fidelity 'block brain diagrams' to lock down conceptual logic, then apply the design system for rapid high-fidelity output.