10 Inspiring Design System Examples to Elevate Your Projects
Explore 10 of the best design system examples, from Google Material Design to Shopify Polaris. Learn how design systems streamline workflows, maintain brand consistency, and create cohesive user experiences for digital products.
What is a Design System?
A design system is a comprehensive set of reusable components, design patterns, documentation, and guidelines used by teams to build websites, apps, and other digital products. A design system consists of various elements such as reusable tools, coding languages, visual elements, and design patterns that guide UX and UI designers.
In addition to these core elements, a design system often includes design tokens, which are the smallest pieces of a design system and serve as the foundation for maintaining a consistent design across various platforms. These tokens can encompass colors, typography, spacing, and other design attributes that ensure uniformity in the visual language of a product.
Design systems also incorporate detailed usage guidelines and code examples that provide designers and developers with the necessary resources to create cohesive user interfaces. By offering a comprehensive toolkit, design systems enable teams to deliver high-quality digital products that are both visually appealing and functionally robust.
Core elements of a design system include:
Reusable components: Buttons, icons, and navigation elements.
Design guidelines: Best practices for typography, color schemes, and visual hierarchies.
Code snippets: Pre-built, production-ready code for developers.
Why are design systems important? They streamline collaboration between design and development teams, ensuring consistency across products while allowing teams to scale efficiently. Furthermore, design systems act as a single source of truth, reducing redundancy and speeding up the design and development process. This efficiency not only saves time and resources but also allows teams to focus on innovation and creativity, ultimately enhancing the overall quality of digital products.
Design systems also play a crucial role in fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. By regularly updating and refining the design system, teams can stay ahead of industry trends and ensure that their digital products remain cutting-edge and user-centric. This proactive approach not only enhances the overall quality of digital experiences but also positions the organization for long-term success in the dynamic digital landscape.
Benefits of Design Systems
Enhanced Collaboration: Designers and developers share the same language and tools, reducing miscommunication. This alignment fosters a more cohesive workflow, allowing teams to work in tandem and achieve their goals more efficiently. By having a unified platform, team members can easily access and contribute to the design system, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and minimizing the risk of errors.
Consistency Across Platforms: Unified design patterns create a cohesive user experience across web apps, mobile apps, and more. This consistency is crucial for maintaining brand identity and providing users with a seamless experience, regardless of the platform they use. By adhering to standardized design patterns, teams can ensure that all digital products reflect the brand's core values and visual identity, enhancing user satisfaction and loyalty.
Scalability: As businesses grow, design systems make it easier to maintain and expand visual and functional elements. A scalable design system allows organizations to quickly adapt to new technologies and market demands, ensuring that their digital products remain relevant and competitive. By providing a flexible framework, design systems enable teams to efficiently incorporate new features and updates, supporting the organization's growth and evolution.
Improved Efficiency: Design systems act as a single source of truth, enabling reusable components that reduce redundancy and speed up the design and development process. This efficiency not only saves time and resources but also allows teams to focus on innovation and creativity. By streamlining the design and development process, design systems empower teams to deliver high-quality digital products that meet user expectations and drive business success.
In addition to these benefits, design systems also play a crucial role in fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. By regularly updating and refining the design system, teams can stay ahead of industry trends and ensure that their digital products remain cutting-edge and user-centric. This proactive approach not only enhances the overall quality of digital experiences but also positions the organization for long-term success in the dynamic digital landscape.
Overcoming Challenges in Design Systems
Creating and maintaining a design system can be complex. Common challenges include:
Maintaining consistency: Keeping all elements aligned as the system evolves, ensuring that design principles are adhered to across various projects and teams. This requires continuous monitoring and updating of the design system to reflect any changes in branding, technology, or user expectations.
Cross-team alignment: Ensuring buy-in from designers, developers, and stakeholders is crucial for the successful implementation of a design system. This involves fostering a culture of collaboration and open communication, where all team members understand the value and purpose of the design system. Regular workshops, feedback sessions, and training can help in aligning different teams with the design system's objectives.
Documentation: Providing detailed guidance to make the system intuitive and scalable is essential. Comprehensive documentation should include not only the design guidelines and code examples but also the rationale behind design decisions. This helps new team members quickly get up to speed and ensures that everyone is working towards the same goals. Additionally, maintaining an easily accessible and user-friendly documentation platform can facilitate better utilization of the design system.
To overcome these challenges, companies must treat design systems as living documents that adapt to new technologies and user needs. A well-defined design process is crucial in addressing these challenges, as it contributes to clearer workflows, enhances collaboration, and leads to high-quality products. By regularly reviewing and updating the design system, organizations can ensure that it remains relevant and continues to meet the evolving needs of both the business and its users. Furthermore, involving cross-functional teams in the design system's development and maintenance can foster a sense of ownership and commitment, leading to more effective and innovative solutions.
Real-World Design System Examples
1. Google Material Design
Google’s Material Design system is one of the most widely recognized design systems.
Key Features:
Built on the metaphor of physical materials for a tactile experience.
Includes Material Theming, which allows brands to adapt Material Design principles to their visual identity.
Provides comprehensive resources for UI components, patterns, and design guidelines.
2. Apple Human Interface Guidelines
Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) are a cornerstone in the world of design systems, offering a comprehensive set of principles and guidelines for creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for Apple devices. The HIG covers a broad spectrum of topics, from visual and interaction design to accessibility, ensuring that every app and digital product aligns with Apple’s high standards.
Key Features:- Visual Design: Detailed guidance on color schemes, typography, and iconography to create visually appealing and consistent interfaces.
Interaction Design: Best practices for gestures, animations, and touch interactions to enhance user experience.
Accessibility: Robust guidelines to ensure apps are usable by people with disabilities, promoting inclusivity.
Platform Consistency: Ensures a seamless experience across all Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
By adhering to Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines, designers and developers can create apps that not only look great but also provide a smooth and enjoyable user experience, embodying the essence of Apple’s design philosophy.
2. Atlassian Design System
Atlassian’s design system supports tools like Jira, Confluence, and Trello.
Key Features:
Combines visual design guidelines with technical implementation details.
Includes content principles to guide messaging and tone.
Provides a unified experience across Atlassian’s suite of products.
3. Shopify Polaris Design System
Shopify’s Polaris design system is tailored for merchants and developers working on the Shopify platform.
Key Features:
Focuses on a seamless and intuitive merchant experience.
Offers detailed guidelines for typography, spacing, and accessibility.
Includes UI kits, content guidelines, and best practices for app integrations.
4. IBM Carbon Design System
Carbon is IBM’s open-source design system used across all its digital products.
Key Features:
Combines human interface guidelines with working code for components.
Emphasizes accessibility with tools and guidance for WCAG compliance.
Provides a library of reusable components, patterns, and design tokens.
5. Salesforce Lightning Design System
The Lightning Design System powers Salesforce’s enterprise applications.
Key Features:
Comprehensive guidelines for UI/UX design, including icons, typography, and spacing.
Allows designers and developers to create scalable, user-focused enterprise solutions.
Provides accessibility and customization resources.
6. Uber Design System
Uber’s design system reflects its core value of movement and simplicity.
Key Features:
Covers design elements like typography, photography, iconography, and motion.
Highly customizable, allowing teams to tailor UI components for specific use cases.
Includes detailed usage guidelines for consistency across digital platforms.
7. Pinterest Gestalt Design System
Pinterest created Gestalt to deliver a consistent and delightful user experience.
Key Features:- Includes pattern libraries, accessibility standards, and responsive design guidelines.
Empowers designers to create cohesive experiences for “Pinners.”
Focuses on simplicity, usability, and brand alignment.
8. Mailchimp Design System
Mailchimp’s system is tailored to deliver seamless, user-friendly marketing tools.
Key Features:
Detailed guidance for data visualization, typography, and tone of voice.
Provides patterns, foundations, and component libraries.
Emphasizes accessibility and usability for all users.
9. Adobe Spectrum Design System
Spectrum is Adobe’s unified design system for products like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe XD.
Key Features:
Highly detailed guidelines for creating consistent UI components.
Includes support for both light and dark mode.
Designed for use across desktop, mobile, and web apps.
10. Capital One Design System
Capital One uses a design system to deliver consistent, user-friendly financial solutions.
Key Features:
Emphasizes accessibility and usability in financial applications.
Provides reusable components and detailed usage guidelines.
Creates a seamless experience across customer-facing and internal tools.
Creating Your Own Design System
To build a successful design system:
Define Your Goals: Understand who will use the system (designers, developers, or both) and what they need. Clearly defining your goals will help in creating a system that not only meets the immediate requirements but also aligns with long-term business objectives.
Create Reusable Components: Start with basic building blocks like buttons, forms, and navigation. These components should be designed to be flexible and adaptable across different projects, ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout.
Document Everything: Provide detailed usage guidelines, design patterns, and code examples. Comprehensive documentation is crucial for ensuring that all team members can effectively use and contribute to the design system, promoting consistency and efficiency.
Iterate Continuously: Treat your design system as a living document that evolves with new tools, technologies, and user needs. Regular updates and revisions will help keep the system relevant and useful, allowing it to grow alongside your organization's needs.
Study Existing Systems: Learn from established design systems like Google Material Design and IBM Carbon to shape your approach. Look at each design system example to understand effective practices, guidelines, and component usage that contribute to consistency and user experience. Analyzing these systems can provide valuable insights into how to tackle common challenges and leverage opportunities for innovation.
Key Features of a Good Design System
Comprehensive Toolkit: Includes components, design tokens, and documentation. A well-rounded toolkit ensures that all necessary resources are readily available, facilitating a smoother design and development process.
Brand Consistency: Aligns with your brand’s identity and visual language. Maintaining brand consistency across all platforms and products strengthens brand recognition and trust among users.
Scalability: Adapts to new platforms, technologies, and design requirements. A scalable design system allows for easy integration of new features and technologies, ensuring that your digital products remain competitive and up-to-date.
Cross-Team Collaboration: Provides a shared framework for designers and developers. By fostering collaboration between different teams, a design system helps bridge gaps, reduce misunderstandings, and streamline the overall design and development process.
Additional Considerations for Building a Design System
User Feedback: Regularly gather feedback from users and stakeholders to ensure the design system meets their needs and expectations. This feedback can inform future updates and improvements, making the system more user-centric.
Accessibility: Ensure that your design system incorporates accessibility best practices to create inclusive digital products. Prioritizing accessibility not only broadens your audience but also enhances the overall user experience.
Performance: Consider the performance implications of your design system, ensuring that it does not compromise the speed and responsiveness of your digital products. Efficiently coded components and optimized assets can contribute to a seamless user experience.
Training and Support: Offer training sessions and support resources to help team members effectively utilize the design system. Providing ongoing education and assistance can maximize the system's potential and encourage widespread adoption.
Conclusion
A well-implemented design system is a game-changer for creating cohesive, scalable, and user-friendly digital products. By studying real-world design systems like Shopify Polaris and IBM Carbon, teams can adopt best practices and tailor their own system to meet their unique needs.
Design systems not only streamline the design and development process but also foster collaboration across teams, ensuring that everyone is aligned with the brand's vision and objectives. They act as a comprehensive toolkit that includes everything from design tokens to detailed documentation, making it easier for designers and developers to create consistent user interfaces.
Moreover, a design system can significantly enhance the scalability of digital products. As businesses grow and evolve, their design systems can adapt to new platforms and technologies, ensuring that the user experience remains seamless and intuitive. This adaptability is crucial in today's fast-paced digital landscape, where user expectations are constantly changing.
In addition to scalability, design systems also play a vital role in maintaining brand consistency. By providing a unified framework for design and development, they help ensure that every user interaction reflects the brand's identity and values. This consistency builds trust and recognition among users, contributing to a stronger brand presence.
Ultimately, creating a robust design system requires a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. By regularly gathering user feedback and staying updated with the latest design trends and technologies, teams can ensure that their design system remains relevant and effective. This proactive approach not only enhances the quality of digital products but also positions the organization for long-term success in the competitive digital marketplace.
Ready to build a robust design system? Partner with Baobun.Studio to create consistent, scalable, and user-friendly digital experiences that elevate your brand and delight your users.