In the world of design, standardization, efficiency, and collaboration are key. A well-structured design system can streamline your workflow, ensure consistency, and ultimately enhance the user experience. In this blog post, we’ll explore some valuable starting points, methodologies, and collaborative thoughts to kickstart the development of a design system, along with the importance of a Design System Pilot by gaining knowledge from InVision’s DSM Expert Advice series episode three “Starting strong: applying atomic design and choosing a pilot“.
What is a Design System?
A design system is a comprehensive set of guidelines and reusable components that serve as the “single source of truth” for a product or brand.
Atomic Design Methodology
Brad Frost’s Atomic Design methodology breaks down the design system into five levels:
- Atoms: The basic building blocks, like buttons and text styles.
- Molecules: Groups of atoms that form tangible UI elements, such as search forms.
- Organisms: Complex structures combining atoms and molecules, like website headers with search fields and navigation bars.
- Templates: Page-level objects that define content structure.
- Pages: Instances of templates representing the final product.
This step-by-step approach ensures that you’re building a design system on a solid foundation, starting with the smallest elements and gradually assembling them into more complex structures.
Understanding the Design System Pilot
A design system pilot is a controlled and preliminary implementation of a design system in a specific project or within a limited area of an organization. The primary objective is to test and refine the components, guidelines, and processes of the design system before rolling it out on a broader scale.
Key Components of a Design System Pilot
1. Scope: Keep it precise. Focus on a single project or specific components to avoid overwhelming tasks and ensure seamless integration.
2. Testing and Feedback: Test components in real-world scenarios. Gather user feedback to identify issues and areas for improvement.
3. Iterative Process: Embrace continuous refinement. Use user feedback to evolve the design system over time.
4. Documentation and Training: Create clear and accessible documentation and training materials to support project teams.
5. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster collaboration among designers, developers, and stakeholders for diverse insights.
6. Measuring Success: Set clear success criteria from the beginning, like enhanced design consistency and faster development times.
7. Scale-Up: After a successful pilot, gradually expand the design system to more projects and teams throughout the organization.
Conclusion
By launching a design system pilot, organizations can leverage practical implementation, gather valuable insights, and refine the design system to meet the unique needs of their projects and teams. This approach ultimately leads to a more effective and well-adopted design system when it’s rolled out on a larger scale.