Design System
A design system is a set of guidelines, principles, and reusable components. It serves as a single source of truth for decisions and helps streamline the development processes across an organization or project. Take a peek into a design system I am currently working on for a start-up company.
Software & Tools: Notion, Figma, UXPin.
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Questions
Why should I care about having a design system for my company/organization?
There are many benefits from having some sort of design system implemented within your business. The most obvious one being an accessible trail of documentation on how your business works. Not just for you, but for everyone on the team. Where are you progressing? Failing? And so on. Plus, design systems make the onboarding of future employees less daunting as there are resources laid out for them to learn the business in every way, but it is ultimately your decision to dedicate resources towards it. You do not have to necessarily care about it, but your current and future employees will thank you!
If that does not do it for you, here is what chat GPT says:
"Consistency: It ensures that the product or service maintains a consistent and unified look and feel across all its components and interactions. Efficiency: By providing reusable components and design patterns, it streamlines the design and development process, reducing the time and effort required to build and maintain the product or service. Scalability: It allows teams to scale their design efforts more effectively as the product grows and evolves over time. Collaboration: A design system fosters better collaboration between designers and developers, promoting a shared understanding of the design language. Brand Identity: It helps reinforce the product's brand identity and visual language, enhancing brand recognition and user trust. Overall, a design system is a valuable tool for organizations and design teams aiming to create high-quality, consistent, and user-centric digital products."
Does my company need to hire a UX or UI designer?
If your website or web store is already built out and using the latest "industry standard" tools then you probably do not need to hire someone to build a design system. However, if your website needs work or is from the early to late 90s AND you do not already have people working towards this transitional approach of updating, documenting changes, and developing designs on a regular basis then you need to look into it more critically.
BUT, let's just say you are okay with the way your business is performing. It's not bad, but could definitely run more smoothly. Maybe your employees get frustrated from time to time and would like to learn a better way to do their jobs more efficiently. Perhaps communicate better with their customers, whatever it is. A design system would make these pain points transparent which (in theory) would help all parties remain on the same page in the creation of a better experience for everyone. For example, best practices for HR, Accounting, Sales, Marketing, Web Development, you name it. Although the term 'design system' is used primarily in the context of web design, they are not mutually exclusive. Design systems take an organized approach in every sense of the word.