When I started at my last company 7 years ago, it was the wild wild west for our "design system". Our founding team had launched the app's initial design look and feel, which served as the rough design guidelines for new designs. As the 1st designer was hired, understandably, new designs and patterns started to make their way into the platform. By the time I was hired, you could start to see the inconsistencies in the experience and feel the inefficiencies begin to compound within the design process. We always discussed how we needed to invest in a design system, but other "more important" initiatives always took priority. A few years went by as new designs and patterns continued to enter the platform, and as there were plans to bring on more designers, we knew that we could not continue to operate so recklessly. We decided to start building our 1st Design System, and here's how we did it:

Our Plan:

1. Analyze our current design process

2. Understand our developmental capabilities and feasibilities

3. Conduct UI audit

4. Design discovery / DS comparative analysis / User Feedback

5. Define Design Principles

6. Select a DS tool / library (Storybook)

7. Create Component / Pattern Library

8. Establish a Governance Strategy

9. Define the Structure of Elements

10. Company adoption