Design System Strategy

Day one: the vast ocean of orientation docs

When joining an organization, there’s a buttload of orientation to cut through. Some organizations space it out over several quarters, some attempt to front-load an employee’s experience with countless doc reading and video watching. I tend to appreciate the latter; get it done first so I can focus on the work I’m here to do. Here’s my timeline for getting started at your company:

Week one

  • Primary: Consume orientation documentation

  • Secondary: Meeting leadership and peers

  • Tertiary: Learn brand and evaluate products

Week two

  • Primary: Consume orientation documentation

  • Secondary: Begin meeting design system customers and collaborators

  • Tertiary: Start to locate/gather existing documentation and tooling for the design system

Week three

  • Primary: Consume orientation documentation

  • Secondary: Continue meeting design system customers and collaborators

  • Tertiary: Attend design and development meetings

Week four

  • Primary: Treavor’s introduction presentation

  • Secondary: Wrap up orientation, initial meetings

  • Tertiary: Begin

strategy for Design system program and system

1. Hitting the ground running & Making Initial Impact Upon Hire

Goal: Build credibility by quickly improving the existing system before introducing major changes.

  • Audit the Current State

    • Conduct a design system health check (e.g., heuristic evaluation, UI audits, token structure review).

    • Identify component gaps, inconsistencies, and governance issues (who owns what?).

    • Gather feedback from designers, engineers, and product teams on pain points.

  • Stabilize & Improve the Existing System

    • Prioritize high-value fixes (e.g., accessibility issues, performance optimizations).

    • Improve documentation and contribution processes if they’re weak.

    • If adoption is low, create "quick win" initiatives like component migration guides or Figma component improvements.

  • Stakeholder Alignment

    • Meet with engineering leadership to align on priorities (e.g., design tokens, framework changes).

    • Set expectations with executives—define what success looks like for the system.

    • If a new system is needed, advocate for an incremental approach (vs. a big-bang relaunch).

2. Laying a New Foundation

Goal: Lay the foundation for a scalable, future-proof system while keeping the current system usable.

  • Align with Branding & Product Vision

    • If the company is experimenting with a new brand direction, ensure the foundations (color, typography, motion, icons, spacing, etc.) reflect it.

    • Ensure the design system supports dark mode, accessibility, and localization needs early on.

  • Token-First Thinking

    • Introduce design tokens as the backbone (color, spacing, typography, elevation, motion).

    • Scale token systems so they work across themes, platforms, and frameworks.

  • Governance & Contribution Model

    • Define who owns what—will this be a centralized, federated, or hybrid model?

    • Set up design reviews, documentation standards, and a contribution process to ensure teams don’t introduce unnecessary one-off components.

  • Start a Parallel Build for a New System (if needed)

    • If a new system is required, start by testing it with a single product team before full migration.

    • Create a transition plan—avoid disrupting active product development with a premature system rollout.

3. Driving Adoption & Long-Term Growth

Goal: Make the system an indispensable part of product development.

  • Measure & Market the System

    • Track adoption rates, component usage, and engineering efficiency gains (e.g., fewer custom components).

    • Evangelize the system—run workshops, create case studies, and showcase success stories.

  • Build a Culture of Contribution

    • Empower teams to contribute back via clear guidelines and governance.

    • Recognize and reward contributions to encourage participation.

  • Improve Developer & Designer Experience

    • Ensure seamless developer handoff (e.g., Storybook, code snippets, Figma-to-code workflows).

    • Provide design education—guidelines should be easy to follow, with examples of best practices.

  • Continuous Evolution

    • Regularly update patterns, documentation, and tooling based on user feedback.

    • Align with company-wide initiatives (e.g., AI integration, accessibility improvements).