Member-only story
Planning a Design System: Insights from Nathan Curtis’s Framework
How I planned and built my first Design System as a solo designer
Design systems are critical in ensuring consistency, efficiency, and scalability in product development. When I joined my current company 2 years ago, all there was is a library of components that followed Atomic Design methodology, gathered on one page, and stickersheet (really amazingly done!!) that had been created a few years before my era. Obviously, it was useful as I could reuse some components, but considering Figma’s rapid development and changes, there was a room for improvement, clearer organisation and simplification.
Having limited amount of time, combining my DS project with sprint work and others tasks I had to tackle, I finished my work in about 4 months. And then another 1–2 months to rebrand it, as our company changed its branding soon after my DS was finished. I did not follow Atomic Design this time — I found it a bit confusing for non-designers and it didn’t go along with the way how I perceive UI elements and components. Just my brain works differently from Brad Frost’s.
As it is my first Design System and I have been working on it alone, I needed a good structure. Lucky me — a friend shared some good materials from Nathan Curtis. Nathan Curtis, a…
