May 20, 2023

When to launch...

Why am I bringing up this question now? Why not at the end?

We’re about to dive into the nuts and bolts of building a design system, but the question of when to launch is probably even more important than how.

Adding a design system late in the game for an organization that already has one (or many) is really difficult. You’re fighting against momentum. You risk becoming just one more competing standard.

Obligatory XKCD:

XCKD, https://xkcd.com/927/

But if you try to create a fully fleshed out design system too early, you risk premature optimization, which I warned about earlier.

There’s a real sweet spot when you have enough digital products and teams to warrant a design system, but no one has has built anything resembling a design system yet.

It’s a pretty rare scenario. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it in the wild before, which is why I recommend the discount approach in the previous email.

To give your DS work a fighting chance, keep these things in mind when setting a release date for your design systems work:

• A new design system often means changes in tools, processes, and systems… and change means risk. Piggyback off existing work if you can; but be very careful about disrupting work. Design systems should solve problems for your company’s teams, not cause problems for your company’s users.
• Communicate, coordinate, communicate! If a design system launches in the org and no one is around, does it really make an impact? Plan enough time to make sure everyone knows how and why to use it.
• Include time in your project plan to train teams and get them up to speed with your new tools, components, principles, etc. Much of design systems work is educational.
• Is there time criticality to your design systems work? Sometimes there is so much inefficiency that even a little design systems work can create tremendous enablement. If the business value is high compared to the effort required, it might make sense to fast track the work.
• I’ll say it again: whenever you can, break up your design system work into phases or iterations. Much easier to schedule around other initiatives and has all the added benefits we mentioned yesterday: soft launch, constant learnings, and incremental improvements.

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Cheers,

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