Today we are talking about the a hot topic in the design industry - Design Systems. In today’s episode we share our experience of working with design systems, their benefits and how using an efficient design system can help your team.
Sometimes people mix up design systems and style guides. A style guide is about the application of the brand, something that is handed from a designer to a client at the end of a branding project to tell them how to use the different elements that have been created for the brand. A design system is something for internal use by designers at the company, to make it easy for them to stay aligned in their design.
When creating a design system the obvious place to start is to identify what elements have been reused in the site or app, like buttons and typography. Design systems leave less room for error because everyone on the team is using the exact same assets. If you’re creating a design system for a team of people, make sure to consult them. Find out what they would like to see included so that everyone has a part to play in creating the most efficient system possible.
A design system can be considered successful when it helps you, more than it hinders you. Bonus points if your design system matches up with engineering, then the design system will help you to be even more efficient because different people across teams are using the same information as a starting point.
Use a design system but know when to go off system as well. This will ensure the design system in place doesn’t stifle your creativity.
01.20 – Catch up
05.37 – The difference between Design systems and style guides
08.52 – Femke’s experience of design systems at Uber
13.25 – Charli’s experience of creating the ConvertKit design system
16.35 – Tips for using Figma
18.55 – Successful design systems
23.52 – What size team benefits most from having a design system
