Your design system strategy on one page
Less work, more impact
A design system isn't just documentation and components. It's a strategic business asset. But it is like a band's repertoire. You need to learn the standards first, then improvise. 2025 is your chance to start building it. Start with two questions:
How many hours did your team spend recreating UI components last year?
What if that time went to solving real problems instead?
Want more questions? I gathered key questions to start and improve your design system here ->
Product teams that invested in design systems discovered measurable impact:
"Participants completed their objective 34% faster with access to a design system." – Figma
"Development velocity increased by 47%." – Spotify
"Saved $17.5 million in design costs." – IBM Carbon
“Reduced engineering time required to build features by 30%” - Airbnb
“Decreased the average time to implement new components from 40 hours to 2.5 hours".” - Uber
"Reduced redundant design work by 34%." – Forrester Study
"Reduced tech costs by 30–35%." – Crédit Agricole
"Maintenance effort decreased with a 65% smaller codebase and 20% less ongoing maintenance." – Alibaba
"$3.5 million cost savings across the projects after design system implementation" - Lloyds Bank
"Consistency can help increase revenue by up to 23%." – Forbes
That’s why I always return to the Design System Strategy Map. It's brilliant because it forces clarity. Either you have a plan that makes sense, or you don't. You just need to add answers about what you're doing and why.
Design System Strategy Map
What is it?
Just a simple one-page document that shows everyone what your design system is trying to do and why. Think of it as the "if someone asks what we're doing with our design system, show them this" page.
First, collect the facts.
Before you write anything, grab info from:
What your stakeholders are saying (surveys + interviews)
What's working/broken in your current design system
How people are using the designs/design system
What the business folks need
Any valuable insights from your team
Write it in simple words. No corporate fluff. Link to the detailed docs.
🔗 Get the Design System Strategy Map (Google Docs)
🔗 Get the Design System Strategy Map (Figma)
🔄 This is a living document. Send it to people who ask questions. Update it when things change.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Good luck. 🤝
🙋♀️🙋🏽♂️ Questions from the community
If you have any questions, email me or add them to the comment below.
💎 Community Gems
Prioritizing Design Systems Framework
by Alexander Fanden
🔗 Link
Into Design Systems Conference 2025 / Early bird offer 🔥
🔗 Early Bird Live Conference Tickets
Why you’re not seeing Holistic Impact from your Design System
by Ben Callahan
🔗 Link
The state of AI in design systems from Supernova
🔗 Link
Tailwind 4.0 beta
Framework now natively supports styling within web components.
❤️ People to follow
This week, I would like to introduce you to Pranath Peri who is leading the design of v0 at Vercel. If you are interested in AI + design, you will enjoy this podcast with her. She shared a lot of interesting points for finding a job, taking two steps forward, building AI software, etc.
The values mentioned in the post are interesting, but they lack source citations to verify their accuracy. Consulting the original studies or reports from the mentioned companies would enhance credibility and provide deeper insights into the results and their context.