Vittorio Vittori

Design System Architect / Senior UX Designer

Evolvability and Versioning

Maintain stable APIs while evolving the system, with clear versioning strategies and migration paths.

Design Systems
Maintenance

A design system that cannot evolve will eventually be replaced.

Evolvability and versioning define how a system changes over time without breaking the products that depend on it.

Change is inevitable. Unmanaged change is what causes fragmentation and loss of trust.

Design for change, not permanence

Every component and rule should be expected to evolve.

Component evolution

Assume components will need new variants and behaviors. Treat initial implementations as final. Favor extension over replacement when possible. Introduce breaking changes for convenience.
A list of tools and services related to this argument. Version control
GitHub logoGitHub
Visual regression testing
Chromatic logoChromatic Percy logoPercy
it may be outdated

Use explicit versioning strategies

Versioning communicates impact and intent.

Semantic versioning

Adopt semantic versioning for the design system. Ship breaking changes without a major version bump. Document changes clearly with release notes. Rely on informal communication for updates.
A list of tools and services related to this argument. Semantic versioning
Semver
Version management
Changeset logoChangesets
it may be outdated

Manage deprecations deliberately

Deprecation is part of a healthy system lifecycle.

Deprecation timeline

Mark deprecated components and APIs explicitly. Remove features without warning. Provide migration paths and timelines. Force immediate rewrites on consuming teams.
A list of tools and services related to this argument. Documentation platforms
Zeroheight logoZeroheight Supernova logoSupernova
Version control
GitHub logoGitHub
it may be outdated

Balance stability and progress

Not all parts of the system should evolve at the same pace.

System layers evolution

Keep foundations stable while iterating on higher layers. Change tokens and primitives frequently. Evaluate impact before introducing breaking changes. Optimize for short-term speed over long-term health.
A list of tools and services related to this argument. Semantic versioning
Semver
Visual regression testing
Chromatic logoChromatic Percy logoPercy
it may be outdated

Why this principle matters

Evolvability ensures the design system remains relevant and trusted.

Clear versioning and deprecation strategies allow teams to adopt improvements without fear of unexpected breakage.

Evolvability and Versioning