Introduction to Design Systems

Common mistakes

There are some common pitfalls you might run into when creating a design system.

Starting For Scale

While the ability to scale is good, building your components for scale can be a detriment.

Only scale when needed.

Educating Before Building

Educating your teams about your design system can negatively impact your rapport if there's nothing to use. Ensure you have something designed and built before educating so that designers and developers can jump right in.

Not Discussing Workflow

If you going to be collaborating on a design system, it's important to come to terms on a working model. You even might want to create a social contract.

Not Documenting Decisions

Design systems require a lot of investment and will often have lots of eyes on them. Documenting decisions will save you and your team the headache of having to explain to each stakeholder why you're doing something a certain way.