design-system-management

Design System Management

Help build, maintain, and evolve design systems.

Components of a Design System

Design Tokens

Atomic values that define the visual language:

• Colors (brand, semantic, neutral)
• Typography (scale, weights, line heights)
• Spacing (scale, component padding)
• Borders (radius, width)
• Shadows (elevation levels)
• Motion (durations, easings)

Components

Reusable UI elements with defined:

• Variants (primary, secondary, ghost)
• States (default, hover, active, disabled, loading, error)
• Sizes (sm, md, lg)
• Behavior (interactions, animations)
• Accessibility (ARIA, keyboard)

Patterns

Common UI solutions combining components:

• Forms (input groups, validation, submission)
• Navigation (sidebar, tabs, breadcrumbs)
• Data display (tables, cards, lists)
• Feedback (toasts, modals, inline messages)

Principles

1. Consistency over creativity — The system exists so teams don't reinvent the wheel
2. Flexibility within constraints — Components should be composable, not rigid
3. Document everything — If it's not documented, it doesn't exist
4. Version and migrate — Breaking changes need migration paths