Improving the UX of your Design System
As part of his work at Zeroheight, contributing UX Booth writer Luke Murphy has been talking to teams across the world about what makes good documentation sites, from small 2-3 designer companies through to large enterprises corporations. The common thread across the successful design systems is that the team managing the design system are treating their system as if it’s a product, complete with KPIs and ways to measure, a full product design process and enough resource to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that anyone can provide a standard template for how to build an effective Design System, as the problems, needs and measures of success for any single design system will be different. However, there are some standard processes and common wins that can help.
The Era of UI Unification
Back in the early days of the Web, a lot of UI decisions were made on the fly, often having completely different sources of inspiration. There were few boundaries set: no pattern libraries, no widely-used design systems, pixelated raster graphics, and distracting Flash-based animations. Design unification is a sign of progress – the Web has become more accessible, friendly, and structured. A set of standardized patterns makes it possible to pay more attention to tasks instead of reinventing the wheel. At the same time, when every product and experience looks the same, we risk making them bland and uninteresting. Design is about communication and impact, and there’s less impact when everything is the same.
The Era of UI Unification
Back in the early days of the Web, a lot of UI decisions were made on the fly, often having completely different sources of inspiration. There were few boundaries set: no pattern libraries, no widely-used design systems, pixelated raster graphics, and distracting Flash-based animations. Design unification is a sign of progress – the Web has become more accessible, friendly, and structured. A set of standardized patterns makes it possible to pay more attention to tasks instead of reinventing the wheel. At the same time, when every product and experience looks the same, we risk making them bland and uninteresting. Design is about communication and impact, and there’s less impact when everything is the same.