What is a design system?
In short, a design system is a library of design elements and relevant guidance. It acts as a central repository for all the styles, assets, and branding that designers and developers need to create dynamic web content and ensure a consistent and scalable digital experience. Think of it like a living product that grows and adapts alongside your business, allowing you to create and manage your content faster.
Optimizing design workflows by using a design system means that businesses can ultimately improve efficiency throughout the entire product development process. Different systems may vary in complexity or size depending on each business’s unique needs and goals, but they all share a common purpose: to make design efforts easier and more efficient.
AgencyQ helps companies achieve their design goals through Sitecore, a digital experience platform (DXP) with limitless options around customer experience and optimal personalization. Its security and version control capabilities ensure reliable delivery across diverse projects while also facilitating seamless updates and adaptation of emerging design trends and technologies. Implementing your design system with Sitecore will enhance the consistency and scalability of projects, ultimately leading to an improvement in user experience and a reduction in development costs.
The power of component-based design
A component-based design system is a fast and easy way to streamline your digital content. Components are reusable, modular assets and styles that are pre-designed and pre-built in the design system. Using a component-based design approach enables designers to reduce the time needed to create new designs while simultaneously accelerating the development phase, as developers can use existing assets to assemble content and don't have to build the designs from scratch. The result? A faster turn-around time from conception to launch.
Additionally, updating a component-based design system comes with its own safety net: any updates or changes made to components will automatically cascade to the design files where they exist. This helps keep design debt to a minimum and alleviates the stress of manually updating past designs.
How will a design system empower my business?
The popularity of design systems has grown tremendously over the last few years thanks to the wide range of advantages they offer. Here are 10 key benefits to using a design system solution:
Consistency across designs: Design systems act as a reference point for all approved design decisions, which means a cohesive look and feel across content and a stronger adherence to brand identity. Using a design system helps users recognize and become familiar with a business’s presence and understand how to interact with it across all its digital touchpoints.
Speed and efficiency: Design systems help streamline workflows by leveraging reusable components and styles. Content creators can leverage these pre-built elements to create new content, without needing developers to bring ideas to fruition. Additionally, a design system built with reusable components needs less time and fewer resources to maintain, which saves businesses both time and money when taking on larger projects at the same time.
Seamless brand experiences: Your brand’s look and feel should always align across all devices and provide a smooth, meaningful experience. Leveraging the design system for all approved design decisions helps businesses ensure a cohesive experience every time.
Scalability: As businesses grow, the need for more features or experiences within their digital presence also grows, and it’s important that businesses have a sustainable way to adapt their workflows to this demand. Design systems offer an efficient way to manage design decisions, update UI when needed and cascade any changes to existing designs where they occur.
Futureproofing: Design systems are created with flexibility and future considerations in mind. They can adapt to changes in design trends, technologies and user expectations over time. A modular design system and its style guide ensure that future components will be consistent and easily integrated—and that current components are easy to adjust. Design systems can be built to allow different skins to be applied to meet the needs of sub brands, microsites or future needs while still ensuring a consistent brand and user experience.
Focus on accessibility: Designing for accessibility means that products and services are built with all end users in mind, including users experiencing a product or service with assistive technology. Proactively addressing the challenges that various audiences may face when using a product helps ensure a seamless experience for all users and build trust.
Maintenance: A well-maintained design system minimizes the amount of overhead maintenance needed. When design assets to be updated, any updates to the central design system will cascade to all projects using the system, without the need to manually update past projects.
Cost reduction: Design systems help minimize inefficiencies in product development, which means fewer people resources are needed to take a design from ideation to production, even as businesses grow and need to produce more content.
Enhanced product quality: Designing with an approved and trusted design system means that teams won’t waste resources on re-coding or re-factoring repetitive design elements. This means designers and developers have more bandwidth to do their best work and teams overall can focus on value-adding work that improves the quality of their digital experiences.
Improved collaboration: Design systems facilitate strong collaboration among designers, developers, and content creators. Different teams are not always in sync (or may be siloed completely), which can negatively impact product development. Design systems help create a unified language around designs and their elements, which helps promote better productivity and collaboration within organizations.
Experience the AgencyQ difference
A design system is a valuable investment in supporting your business’s goals and delivering a better user experience. With its intuitive user interface and its powerful personalization features, Sitecore empowers cross-functional teams to contribute collaboratively to the design system’s evolution. AgencyQ and Sitecore offer a synergy that goes beyond the conventional approach, combining AgencyQ’s expertise in strategic design with Sitecore’s robust capabilities to unlock new achievements in creativity and customer engagement.