Create a Seamless User Experience at Scale with a Design System 

The current digital landscape can be daunting to manage—every company with any level of digital presence (which is to say, most every company) balances a mix of websites, mobile applications, blogs, emails, chatbots, and more, all of which need to meet ever-expanding customer needs and stay up-to-date technologically. They need to carry unified functionality and branding, while remaining flexible enough to adapt and scale to meet new demands. It is a long way from the early days of the internet, when an organization or company could simply launch a new, static website with a refreshed look and feel every five to ten years.

A design system is a centralized way to manage the assets, styles, and branding elements used to create digital experiences in a dynamic, consistent, and scalable manner. It consists of two parts—a library of reusable elements and patterns and a clear set of guidelines. Together, these items become the building blocks for designing and developing user interfaces. This may sound similar to a tool that has been available for some time, digital asset management (DAM), but the key difference is that DAM is just a repository of design assets. It is the inclusion of a clear and consistent set of guidelines that differentiates a design system. Knowing exactly where and when elements can (and cannot) be used is foundational to maintaining brand consistency and enabling teams to work more efficiently across various digital products.

AccessibilityThe Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) says “Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can... perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web.” Planning for maximum accessibility “also benefits people without disabilities [such as] people using mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc... people using a slow Internet connection, or who have limited or expensive bandwidth,” and a variety of others.

There are numerous benefits to using a design system, including:

While a design system on its own can be helpful in all the ways noted above, it truly shines when integrated with composable architecture, an approach to designing and building applications by assembling independent, self-contained, and interchangeable components. These complementary systems can be used to create nearly infinite combinations to create customized experiences, and new elements can be swapped or added without having to reengineer from scratch. This expanded flexibility has several advantages when implemented for web projects.

Given the complex nature of design systems, and the need for them to have extremely clear documentation to be effective, they are not something to be undertaken lightly. Yes, they are a game changer, but only if implemented thoughtfully. The following planning rubric can be helpful in starting off on the right foot.

The pace of digital growth shows no sign of slowing, and the need to provide exceptional user experiences is unlikely to change, which means staying ahead of the curve with both design and development is of paramount importance. Implementing a design system prepares organizations to meet the ever-changing needs of the digital marketplace. It is about more than creating a more efficient and creative work environment; it is essential to providing users with a seamless experience at scale.