The ROI of design systems: the what, why, who, and how

If you’ve been on a college campus in the past ten years or so, you’ve probably noticed dozens of big trucks and loud machines banging away at concrete, setting the foundation for a new dormitory building or two.

If you returned to that same campus a week later, you’d be shocked to find hundreds of brand-new housing units erect and ready for living.

You might ask yourself, How in the world did they build those so fast? And how do they all look identical?

The answer? Modularity.

Defined as “the use of individually distinct functional units, as in assembling an electronic or mechanical system”, modularity is what helps some designers and builders across many industries build apartment units in just a few days and a 57-story skyscraper in two weeks.

How, exactly? By setting up a uniform system of design artifacts and design principles — in other words, building blocks and how to use them — to rapidly increase construction and deployment times in a consistent and predictable way.In brand and experience design, we call these design systems, and they function much the same in brand communications as the modular method does in construction — using consistent, repeated brand and business communications across experiences and touchpoints.

What is a design system?

“A kit of UI components without accompanying philosophy, principles, guidelines, processes, and documentation is like dumping a bunch of IKEA components on the floor and saying “Here, build a dresser!” The guidelines and documentation accompanying the UI components serve as the instruction manual that come with the IKEA components to help the user properly and successfully build furniture.”
— Brad Frost

A design system is, beyond anything else, a way to bring a brand together. It’s the full scope of a brand’s styles and structures and a guide to how and where they’re implemented.

Because brands are essentially living, breathing organisms, design systems need to include every characteristic in a brand’s DNA — from UI widgets to photography styles to the voice and tone of its copy. If you ask me, most design systems I see today do a good…