Accessibility built into the foundation of every component, not added as an afterthought.
Components should behave predictably across different contexts, following established interaction patterns and user expectations.
Establishing clear processes for contributions, reviews, and decision-making to ensure quality and consistency.
Building complex interfaces through composition of smaller, focused components rather than configuring monolithic ones.
Comprehensive, accessible documentation that serves as the primary way teams discover and use design system components.
Tracking metrics that demonstrate the value and effectiveness of the design system on product quality and team efficiency.
Design systems must grow with the organization, supporting new teams, products, and use cases without breaking existing implementations.
Separating meaning from appearance allows components to be flexible, reusable, and maintainable across different contexts.
A centralized repository where all design decisions live, ensuring consistency across all platforms and tools.
Maintaining stable APIs while evolving the system, with clear versioning strategies and migration paths.