10+ Best Articles on Design Systems
The most useful articles on design systems from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Design Systems Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved on design systems by Refind users.
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds on design systems on Refind.
“What is a Design System?” an article by Dan Mall
6 different types of design systems.
«A set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time.»
Design system breakdown: checkbox & radio
Part 2 of a deep dive series on specific design system components
10 Things No One Told Me About Design Systems
This UX designer learned the hard way, but you don’t have to.
Taking The Stress Out Of Design System Management — Smashing Magazine
In this article, Masha goes over five tips that make it easier to manage a design system while increasing its effectiveness. This short guide is aimed at smaller teams.
Design Systems at Alibaba
How we built an RTL-first design system and maintained it during a major redesign
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles on design systems—all under 10 minutes.
Lost in customization
Design a flexible customization architecture for multi-brand design systems.
The “Dark Yellow Problem” in Design System Color Palettes
When defining a proper color palette for the design system I was working on, I came across the “Dark Yellow Problem”, where designers try…
Design System Canvas — Download Now!
A one page plan to help designers champion the value of design systems.
Design Tokens and Component Based Design
Stuart Robson rolls up his sleeves and begins to piece together the jigsaw puzzle that is design tokens and component based design. Starting with the corners, and working around the edges, Stu helps…
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles on design systems.
Design Systems: Useful Examples and Resources — Smashing Magazine
Everything design systems on accessibility, enterprise design systems, Figma kits, data visualization, motion design, multi-lingual design, naming, ROI calculator and UX writing.
Reimagining a Token Taxonomy
Notes from design token projects, from audits to implementation
What are the Different Layers and Parts of a Design System?
What is a successful design system made of? Learn about the four layers of a design system and the parts that make up each of these layers.
Design System Maturity Levels — Derek Boman
Building a design system is not easy. It requires coordinating across multiple teams and their needs. Taking a scrappy, grassroots approach that follows a 5-level startup adoption model can be…
Building conscious design systems by Amy Hupe, content designer.
How can we focus less on artefacts in design systems, and work consciously to build inclusive design systems that put people at their heart?
«nd GOV Design Systems Day. Here's the WDC version if you prefer to watch it. When we talk about the benefits of design systems, the 3 most common promises are: efficiency: a design syst»
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Design Systems, including:
UX Collective
Curated stories on user experience, usability, and product design. By @fabriciot and @caioab.
Smashing Magazine 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈
An online magazine for designers and web developers. Questions? We've got your back: @SmashingSupport, @SmashingConf. Curated by Iris, Vitaly and the team.
Brad Frost
Design system consultant, web designer, speaker, writer, & musician. Author of Atomic Design. Mastadon: https://mastodon.social/@brad_frost
UX Planet
http://uxplanet.org official twitter account
DEV Community 👩💻👨💻
The Twitter account that launched http://dev.to. Built on @forem 🌱 Available via toot @ThePracticalDev@Fosstodon.org
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We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor on design systems?
We monitor hundreds of sources on design systems, including UX Collective, Smashing Magazine 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈, Brad Frost, UX Planet, DEV Community 👩💻👨💻, and many more.
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