Having a proper design system might seem like an Everest to climb, there is a practical way of implementing design systems and keeping them alive and healthy. The analogy of washing dishes can be apt here. Just as letting dishes pile up can turn what is a manageable task into an overwhelming one, neglecting the gradual integration of a design system can similarly make its implementation seem daunting and prohibitively expensive. If we approach design system implementation like we do with washing dishes (hopefully)—tackling them one at a time, as soon as they're used—we can maintain a cleaner, more useful, more pleasant situation. In the context of design systems, this means integrating and prioritizing design system components and principles as we go, rather than waiting for a "big bang" overhaul. Brad Frost outlines in this post great ideas for how to take on your design system a bit at a time like when a checkout redesign is seen as an opportunity to implement and refine checkout UI components from the design system, we're effectively washing our dishes immediately after use. When rolling out a rebrand, leveraging the design system's token architecture allows for a smoother transition, akin to cleaning up as we cook. And when replatforming to a new CMS, using the design system's components to power the UI layer ensures that we're keeping our workspace tidy and efficient. #designsystem #userexperience #uxdesign #designsystems
Principal at Big Medium, design system consultant, web designer/developer, speaker, writer, musician, and artist
💡 Make design systems a priority by attaching the effort to other priorities. In order for a design system to be successful, it must be a priority. If it's not, it will die. But design systems are a means to an end; the trick is to make a design system a priority by making it a critical component of accomplishing other priorities. - The checkout redesign/rebuild is a priority => the design system provides many of the checkout UI components - Rolling out the rebrand is a priority => the design system's token architecture is the vehicle of rolling out the rebrand - Replatforming to the new CMS is a priority => the design system's components power the UI layer of the new CMS It takes careful work to strike a balance between advancing product work while simultaneously establishing critical design system infrastructure. That's what our team at Big Medium has been helping clients do for the last decade. It's an artform! #designsystems #design #uxdesign #frontend
