Creating a design system is a big step toward scaling design and development efficiently. Here are 5 key tips to know before you start building one:
1. Define the Purpose and Scope First
Before jumping into components or tokens, clarify why you're building a design system. Are you solving consistency issues? Speeding up dev cycles? Supporting multiple products?
Define:
- Primary users (designers, devs, PMs)
- Supported platforms (web, mobile, etc.)
- Short-term and long-term goals
2. Build a Strong Foundation with Design Tokens
Design tokens (colors, typography, spacing, etc.) are the core of your system's consistency. Start by establishing:
- A naming convention (e.g.,
color-primary, spacing-sm)
- Token hierarchy (global vs. component-specific)
- How tokens will be consumed by code (via CSS variables, JSON, etc.)
3. Start Small and Scale
Don’t try to build everything at once. Focus on core components first—buttons, inputs, modals—then expand.
Use real product needs to drive what gets added. Avoid "just in case" components.
4. Collaborate Early with Developers
A successful design system is not just a design asset—it's a living product used by teams. Involve engineers from the start to:
- Align on tech stack (e.g., React, Vue, Web Components)
- Ensure components are accessible, performant, and maintainable
- Avoid a “design-only” system no one uses
5. Document Everything Clearly
Adoption depends on clear, centralized documentation. Include:
- Guidelines (how and when to use components)
- Code snippets or package install instructions
- Do/Don’t examples
- Contribution and update processes
If you are using Angular, you can keep project Structure like this.
src/
├── app/
│ ├── core/ # Singleton services, guards, interceptors
│ ├── shared/ # Shared components, pipes, directives
│ ├── features/ # Feature modules (lazy-loaded)
│ └── design-system/ # Your component library (if building one)
├── assets/ # Images, icons, styles
├── environments/ # Env-specific settings
You can create a component library of your design system:
ng generate library ui-kit
For documenting UI components you can use Storybook:
npx sb init --type angular