friend or foe?

Hi all. My name is Diana Osipova. I am an ambassador of JSC “GNIVC” at the Chuvash State University in Cheboksary. In addition, I recently joined the company team as a junior designer.

Today we’ll talk about a topic that is quite popular in the IT community – design system. I think everyone has heard about this term at least half an ear, but not everyone fully understands why it is so good. Let's discuss its pros and cons, and at the end I will share with you a non-obvious secret to creating an ideal design system.

A design system is an integrated approach to creating and managing design, in which all elements work together to form a single ecosystem.

As for me, design system is a whole philosophy that guides the work of employees. It significantly improves operational efficiency and the quality of the final product.

The basis of a design system consists of three aspects:

Visual language – includes colors, fonts, sizes, shapes and more.
Framework – is a visual language code. A centralized developer library that allows you to reuse every detail of a product.
Guidelines – style guide: what an element should look like and how it should be used. Plays an important role in ensuring uniformity.

Why did the design system captivate everyone, why did it cause such a stir and interest in the industry? This is because its implementation brings a number of benefits to companies. Here are some of them:

Possibility of reusing components. The design system contains a library of ready-made interface components. Instead of building them from scratch for each new project, teams can use existing components, saving time and resources.
Faster development. With the help of ready-made components and a special framework, developers can quickly integrate interface elements into code without wasting time creating and styling them.
Reducing the influence of the human factor. Using standardized components reduces the likelihood of errors and design inconsistencies. Helps avoid costly rework and delays in the future.
Easy to update. When design changes need to be made, teams can do so centrally in the design system, rather than making changes to individual products.
Reduced training time. Because a design system provides a single set of rules, new team members need less time to learn and adapt to the existing code base and styles. I was able to appreciate this advantage from personal experience: having joined the company quite recently, the existing design system became a real lifeline for me. With the help of the guides, I was able to quickly adapt and become familiar with the organization's design approaches.
Consistency. Because all components and styles follow the same rules, teams don't waste time coordinating small design details. This ensures consistency between the company's various products, which also saves labor costs.

Impressive, isn't it? But not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. For all its advantages, the creation and implementation of a design system is a labor-intensive process that requires significant resources and time. In addition to high initial costs, you will have to deal with a long development and implementation process, the need for constant support and updates. There may even be a temporary decrease in team productivity while adapting to the new. Before you start developing a design system, I recommend discussing with your team: is it really necessary for you right now? After all, there are alternative solutions that may be more suitable for your needs.

If you are not afraid and have firmly decided that in the near future you need a design system more than ever, then I will reveal a secret: the success of creating and implementing your ideal design system lies in collaboration. For example, collaboration between designers and developers at all stages helps to avoid inconsistencies between design and implementation. Through communication, teams can anticipate and address potential problems early. Ultimately, this leads to the creation of a high-quality user interface.

Let's make a conclusion. A design system is one of the good tools to improve the development efficiency and quality of products. It has a number of advantages that are definitely worth paying attention to. But it is important to understand: a design system is not a static product, but a constantly evolving product. It requires constant updating to suit the needs of your users. Ideally, have a whole dedicated team dedicated solely to providing support for the design system.

We are currently actively working to improve and implement the company’s design system. We hope to be able to share it with the community in the near future.