Benefits of Design Systems
Design systems are the tool for digital teams to work collaboratively on an experience by providing a standardized set of components and guidelines. They enable designers and developers to focus on what matters most, designing unique product elements instead of reinventing them each time. And they allow for consistent, scalable implementation across multiple experiences and channels. But building and maintaining a design system isn’t easy. It requires careful planning, inclusive governance processes, and expert facilitation between stakeholders to succeed.
Many companies have seen the benefits of a design system and are investing millions of dollars in creating them. Airbnb, IBM, and Shopify are all examples of successful businesses with well-documented and established design systems that have changed the way they build digital products. These Design Systems save everyone time, both designers and developers, by eliminating repetitive work. Instead of re-designing or coding the same design elements over and over, teams can spend their time on new features, QA testing, improvements, shipping updates, and other business-oriented tasks that grow their bottom line.
The best design systems are built in collaboration with the entire product team. A committee of engineers, programmers, designers and product managers is brought together to take inventory of all the current digital products (colors, logos, headers, footers, forms etc) and come up with a plan for how things should be designed, coded and presented moving forward. This becomes the source of truth for the entire organization, ensuring all future products are consistent and standardized.
The Benefits of Design Systems
Design Systems can make a huge difference to a company’s brand, too. By creating a single source of reusable design elements, they can be used to unify disparate experiences across different channels and siloed departments, giving the company a cohesive and consistent visual appearance. They can also help manage product rebranding and redesigns at scale by providing a central repository of pre-designed patterns and styles.
One of the most important functions of a design system is to provide a roadmap for what’s to come, so teams can anticipate when a change will need to be made and how it will impact their workflow. This is why it’s crucial to include a clear and concise documentation section for each component, describing its purpose, how it should be used, and its potential impact on the workflow.
ArtVersion is a leading agency when it comes to design language, design systems, and brand style guides. They understand the power of a cohesive design language in consistently conveying a brand’s identity and values. By developing design systems, ArtVersion ensures that every aspect of a brand’s visual representation is harmonized, from logos and typography to color palettes and imagery styles. These design systems serve as the backbone for brand style guides, comprehensive blueprints that outline the guidelines for maintaining brand integrity across all marketing materials and touchpoints. With their expertise in design language, design systems, and brand style guides, ArtVersion empowers businesses to create compelling and memorable brand experiences that resonate with their target audience.
Providing this information helps keep the design system a useful and effective tool for all users, including developers. Many design systems include catalogs of the underlying code for each UI element, making it easier for developers to pull in the right code for a given scenario without having to write it all from scratch.
Maintaining a design system can be a difficult task, especially for a team that doesn’t focus on it full-time. That’s why it’s best to have a dedicated design system team who is responsible for its creation and maintenance, as well as educating the rest of the organization on how to use it. Otherwise, a design system can become outdated, inconsistent and hard to maintain.