After building design systems for over 40 clients, we've learned that the difference between a system that thrives and one that gets abandoned comes down to three things: clear governance, flexible tokens, and team buy-in from day one.
Most agencies treat design systems as a deliverable—a Figma file with components. But a design system is a living product. It needs maintenance, documentation, and someone who owns it. Without that, it becomes outdated within months.
We start every design system project by auditing what already exists. You'd be surprised how many organizations already have the raw materials for a system—they just need structure. We catalog every color, typeface, spacing value, and component pattern currently in use.
Tokens are the foundation. We use a three-tier token architecture: global tokens (raw values), alias tokens (semantic meanings), and component tokens (specific overrides). This structure lets you rebrand an entire product by changing a single layer.
Component architecture follows atomic design principles, but we've evolved the approach. Instead of atoms, molecules, and organisms, we think in terms of primitives, composites, and patterns. This language resonates better with development teams and reduces the translation gap between design and code.
The biggest lesson? Start small. Ship a system with 10 solid components rather than 100 mediocre ones. Teams adopt systems that solve immediate problems, not theoretical ones. Build what's needed now, document it well, and expand based on real usage data.