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Knapsack has been specifically designed to meet the needs of enterprise teams that prioritize collaboration, customer-centricity, and a code-first approach (connecting design system tools and workflows to critical engineering and delivery processes). As a sophisticated and flexible solution that meets the unique needs of each organization, Knapsack excels in supporting complex product ecosystems and is best for enterprise teams considering a a comprehensive platform that supports the full product organization as opposed to tooling for individual teams (e.g. design or engineering) or point solutions (e.g. documentation or code playgrounds).
Knapsack is used by entire product teams (design, engineering, content, QA, stakeholders, etc.) within these organizations to accelerate product delivery and unlock innovation at scale.
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Knapsack is the only design system platform on the market that provides the comprehensive set of tooling that enterprise product organizations need to operate systematically at scale. Our platform integrates seamlessly with both design (Figma, Xd, Framer) and technical (Git, CI/CD, testing, IDEs) infrastructure to ensure each implementation is tailored to the unique needs and requirements of each customer. We also know that no tool or platform - no matter how powerful - is enough to make a company successful, so we provide critical guidance to ensure each customer has not only the infrastructure they need to achieve their goals, but a clear and confident plan that gets them to demonstrable value in a matter of weeks.
Knapsack brings product managers, designers, engineers, copywriters, QA analysts and all other stakeholders together in a single platform, helping to unify workflows and create visibility and clarity across teams. Our platform helps cross-functional teams identify disconnects between design and code earlier in the product development process, saving valuable time and avoiding complications and delays that often arise during QA. Our collaboration features like token management allow work that traditionally required dedicated engineering time to be performed by non-technical users, helping create tighter alignment across teams and helping the organization realize design system ROI faster than possible otherwise.
Knapsack enables cross-functional collaboration and contributions, democratizing design system operations at scale by providing a centralized, shared platform around which cross-functional workflows can be based. From experience planning to hand-off to project ticketing, Knapsack can serve as a source of truth for all teams and functions. Our system allows non-technical team members to contribute to tasks that have historically required engineering expertise, all within a managed process that engineering teams are comfortable with.
Building a successful design system requires careful consideration of processes and strategies for long-term effectiveness and scalability. As an enterprise client, you’ll receive premium support with access to seasoned design system managers, designers, and engineers to guide you in building a scalable, flexible, and durable design system operation. Our support offerings also include customized implementation, establishing processes, ensuring successful adoption, and strategy.
Knapsack’s platform is extremely flexible and each implementation is unique to meet the needs of our customers’ technical and workflow requirements. We strongly believe that a design system platform should support the governance model that works for your organization rather than impose restrictions or dictate a governance model based on its functionality.
Knapsack supports a 'systems of systems' mentality for building effective and scalable design systems for large organizations. Enterprises can create an unlimited number of interconnected design systems that promote consistency, flexibility, and scalability. While design systems aim to minimize fragmentation, intentional fragmentation at the appropriate level can provide a personalized and customized experience within specific product groups. By utilizing a nested model of design system governance, organizations can streamline the process and establish a clear direction for their teams.
To ensure successful implementation, a design system platform needs to integrate seamlessly with an organization's product development process and technology stack. Knapsack is a highly flexible platform that can be customized, unlike out of the box tooling that are able to offer free trials. As a true end-to-end design system platform, Knapsack prioritizes strategic support for large organizations and a collaborative approach to implementation. Our Sales and Solution teams work closely with customers through guided workshops to validate technical and business requirements, enabling confident decisions about moving forward with Knapsack.
Knapsack documentation allows users to create by static (text and image) documentation as well as dynamic documentation that updates as your design and engineering teams iterate on your system elements, ensuring every team member is aware of the current (or in-progress) state of the system as it evolves. Producing documentation as part of the same workflow that delivers components allows you to build your workflow around what your end users see and provide the clarity that cross-functional teams need throughout the product lifecycle to avoid costly delays and disconnects often experienced with more disconnected tool stacks.
Looking for more on managing documentation with Knapsack? Visit our help docs.
We understand that large enterprises are very specific about where their data is stored, how it's managed, and how it's transported. Knapsack prioritizes enterprise-grade security, as evident by our SOC2 Type II certification.
Knapsack has easy integrations of design tokens into various workflows, including GitHub implementation with semantic versioning and private npm package publishing. This ensures that your design tokens (CSS, SCSS, XML, Swift, etc.) can go end-to-end on day one, allowing engineers to focus on product building. With Knapsack, designers create tokens that translate seamlessly into code for engineers building trust, and allowing leaders to focus on the design system's impact instead of implementation.
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