Design systems are essential
Post by Dimitris Bizioglis, first appeared on https://www.bizioglis.com/design-systems-are-essential/
New studies showing that companies prioritising design are seeing 32% higher revenue than those who aren’t. We’re seeing some dramatic shifts toward more intentional systems and processes.
Over the last few years, the concept of a design system, or component-based shared resources between product and brand, has quickly gained momentum. Companies regularly publish their design system documentation, and entire conferences, have emerged dedicated to this topic.
2019 is the year that design systems will become a must-have for any company of consequence. By implementing design systems, forward-thinking companies will not only have an efficient codebase and consistency across platforms and products, but they ’ll be able to get more from their design teams; to unlock their true potential to dig into tough problems, where they were previously spending cycles recreating existing UI.
Beyond just documenting the components we use, these systems encompass how a team’s work is produced—design principles, accessibility guidelines, and learning resources.
Exceptional design systems scale design’s impact by allowing product teams to build better products, with limited design resources.
Ben Blumenfeldco-Director, Designer Fund
A decade ago, designers mastered a consistent set of tools. Fast forward to today, and designers have more options than ever before. But building a design system is as much about the people and communication as the tooling you choose to manage these systems. And when it comes to design systems, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
We often hear from our customers that no one knows how this “should” be done, and each company has to figure out what will fit their needs. As Spotify’s Josh Mateo and Jillian Nichols say, “Everyone’s business is set up differently and will need to lean into their values and structure to move in the right direction.”
Do you have this problem? Think…
- Are you always happy with the speed of product development?
- Do your interfaces share the same design patterns, colours, typography and other styles?
- Do you always have enough time to deliver a quality product to meet KPIs?
- How much time and money do you spend on redundant design or code tasks?
- How much time and money do you spend cleaning up design or technical debt?
One NO makes the creation of the design system worthwhile. To overcome these challenges thousands of companies are investing in Design Systems.
What is a Design System?
A scalable framework of decisions & team behaviours across a product portfolio to converge on a cohesive experience.
Nathan Curtis
A design system is a collection of reusable components, guided by clear standards, that can be assembled together to build any number of applications.
Why is a Design System important?
Diana Mounter, Design Systems Manager @ GitHub, summed it up rather well:
- Design systems bring order to chaos. Everyone is kept on the same page, so the entire product remains consistent and polished throughout.
- Design systems improve the user experience through the repeated use of familiar and proven patterns. Designing anything from scratch leaves room for error, so try to use what already works.
- Design systems improve workflow efficiency. Product teams know exactly how components of new features should look and how to implement them.
Is it worth it?
Let’s look at some conservative numbers.
Are designers spending 30 minutes/day on any of these?
- What shade of blue are we using?
- Can you redline this for me?
- Can you redesign this, we can’t build it?
- Where’s our logo?
- Where are approved stock photos?
- Was this pattern used somewhere else?
Design System ROI for the Design Team:
$50 per hour. Team of 20 designers.
2.5h/week * 52 weeks * $50 * 20 designers = $130,000/yearUXPin Inc.
Design System return on investment for the Development Team:
Design systems also save time and money. Just by eliminating code redundancy, more than 20% of a developer’s time can be regained. For a team of 100 developers, this means around $2 million per year.
projekt202 Managing Architect Drew Loomer
Just the time and money saved thanks to a design system makes the whole project worth it. And this isn’t even the entire value. You’ll deliver better experiences faster. Customers will notice. By using well-tested components, you’ll lower the cost of long-term maintenance. And you’ll get the most out of every new hire, due to faster-standardised onboarding with the design system.
A Design System is a full product, which is going to help the creators of a project to build other products. Design systems have the power to transform a typical organisation into a powerful product design force.
Special thanks to Heather Phillips and UXPin Inc.
