Design systems have become an integral part of the product development process in organizations to streamline the process of creating products by providing a set of reusable components and guidelines for designers, developers, and entire product teams to work with. Despite their usefulness, many design systems fail to achieve their intended goals.
The root cause of design systems' failure is centered around the lack of focus on the people. Achieving the benefits of a mature design system operation takes more than curating a solid collection of building blocks. It takes navigating major changes to the way organizations work and, therefore, individual human behavior.
Lack of Adoption: The #1 Hurdle to Design System Success
Design system adoption plays a pivotal role in achieving success and a favorable return on investment. The primary objective of the design system team is to empower other teams in delivering exceptional user experiences while ensuring compatibility with existing workflows and structures. Unfortunately, many design systems fail to fulfill organizational requirements, leading to low adoption rates. Often, these systems are developed in isolation, distant from the actual product development process, which creates a disparity between the system's strengths and the areas that could have the most significant impact. Alternatively, feedback channels may be limited, thereby diminishing the system's overall capacity to support the practical implementation needs of teams actively involved in the process.
This often leads to a restart of the design system process and the accumulation of additional technical debt. To overcome these challenges, it can be beneficial for designers and developers need to avoid assumptions of seamless integration. Instead, taking the time to explore reasons behind team hesitancy and actively work on integrating the design system into existing workflows and structures to help foster a more successful and sustainable design system implementation.
Based on the insights gathered from the design system adoption report, it becomes evident that teams achieving long-term success prioritize behaviors centered around reuse and iteration, rather than pursuing a perfect initial version. Here were the key findings:
- Dedicated design system teams are increasingly being established, with a majority having dedicated resources for their system.
- Common challenges in adoption include a lack of knowledge and experience, internal politics, and a lack of documented workflows.
- Effective drivers of adoption include self-service resources, advocacy and training, and live support.
- Prioritizing behaviors focused on reuse and iteration, rather than striving for perfection, paves the way for sustainable success.
Fostering design system adoption is essential for reaping the full benefits and ensuring the long-term viability of the system. By addressing challenges and leveraging effective strategies, teams can integrate the design system seamlessly into their processes, enabling efficient and cohesive workflows.
Communication and Collaboration Challenges Between Disiplines
Design systems are designed to empower individuals across various roles, including designers, developers, UX writers, and product managers. However, before embarking on creating a design system, it is crucial to invest time and effort into understanding the people who will be using it, their organizational structures, and continuously collecting their feedback.
To create successful design systems, feedback loops play a vital role. Designers and developers must adopt a humble and open mindset, welcoming constructive criticism. Establishing feedback channels, such as surveys, slack channels, or integrating a feedback loop within the design system itself, is essential for its success. These channels enable the design system team to gain insights into the challenges faced by other teams and assist them in developing better products.
At its core, the design system team must merge design and engineering disciplines into a cohesive unit. They form a collective dedicated to empowering others and solving the problems encountered by various teams. Listening to the concerns of other teams and understanding their workflows are crucial aspects. The design system team needs to demonstrate how the system fits into these workflows, effectively addressing their problems and facilitating increased efficiency.
“One of the the reasons that you can't really buy a design system is it's as much software as it is process and culture change and team modifications” - Dan Mall
Design systems have a significant impact on collaboration among designers, developers, product managers, stakeholders, and executives. When moving forward with a design system, it is essential to consider the needs of all team members, ensuring that the system seamlessly integrates into the overall workflow. Most importantly, the design system should enhance productivity and foster innovation across the entire company.
By prioritizing people, actively seeking feedback from those you hope will use your system, and considering the unique needs of different teams, design systems can become catalysts for effective collaboration, improved productivity, and innovative solutions. Focusing on user needs and organizational objectives over a more general ideal or best practice for what you prioritize can greatly contribute to the success of the entire company.
Addressing Technology and Platform Challenges for Seamless Integrations
Delivering ROI, sustaining value, and scaling a system takes more than resources and culture. There’s a growing list of tooling and infrastructure needed to support these new ways of working. The space is still new, and many companies are struggling to identify tools that will help them deliver on the promise of systems while avoiding the limitations imposed by many of the point solutions or restricted platforms that make up the market today
Many teams start by either dealing with gaps between point solutions and making a serious investment in custom platforms. Multi-tool solutions address only a fragment of the larger problem, and custom-made solutions are costly and divert attention from your core services and offerings. As an alternative to custom solutions, an increasing number of teams are discovering the benefits of end-to-end platforms. This approach allows them to make faster progress and achieve a higher ROI. By optimizing workflows, fostering solution reuse, and promoting innovation sharing, teams can ultimately realize the desired returns.
Prioritizing People: The Key to Design System Success
The success of design systems depends on addressing the challenges stemming from the lack of focus on people, communication and collaboration issues, as well as technology and platform limitations. To achieve long-term success and high adoption rates, organizations can prioritize behaviors centered around reuse and iteration, integrate the design system into existing workflows, and establish effective feedback loops to gather insights and address the needs of teams. Fostering collaboration among different roles and considering the unique needs of team members is crucial for seamless integration and increased productivity. While technology and platform challenges exist, it is essential to carefully select a solution that supports the goals of the design system without imposing detrimental limitations or incurring excessive costs. By prioritizing people, communication, and technology considerations, organizations can leverage design systems as catalysts for effective collaboration, improved productivity, and innovative solutions throughout the entire company.
