Shipping a Design System Solo

Four steps for the design-team-of-one who's been asked to build a system the whole company can use. Audit, the twenty-token starter kit, component discipline, and documentation nobody will read until they have to. Written from my first year building ours at a fintech where I was employee number three.

Steps

2 min read

Audit First, Build Second

Spending a week reading your own product is the single highest-value thing you can do before building a design system. Here's how I did it, and what…

Read step 1

2 min read

The Twenty-Token Starter Kit

A design system does not need ninety tokens on day one. It needs twenty. Here are the twenty I actually shipped, and why I stopped there.

Read step 2

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Components vs. Patterns (And Why the Difference Matters)

A button is a component. A login screen is a pattern. Most failed design systems are failed because the team tried to make components out of patterns.

Read step 3

2 min read

Documentation Nobody Will Read (Until They Have To)

Your design system will be used by people who do not read documentation on purpose. They read it at 10 p.m. when something is broken. Write it for…

Read step 4