Stop creating technical debt
A design system is one part of the solution to solving most debt issues you’ll find on your product and team.
Don’t leave key patterns on the table to be defined each iteration.
Keep consistent design tokens in your product and remove constant guessing and rework.
Reduce communication breakdowns with a governance model and system guides.
Inconsistent components and patterns creating additional work and maintenance.
Ready for the agents already in your codebase
Your team is already shipping with AI assistants. Those agents build from whatever your system exposes, and they work faster than code review catches. A system built only for people lets drift compound at machine speed.
We get design systems ready for both audiences. That means structured, theme-based tokens instead of values buried in design files. Figma and code in real parity, with matching names, states, and structure. Component docs that live next to the code. Usage rules moved out of review comments and into checks a machine can run. And a named owner, so drift fails automatically instead of shipping.
We do this on our own work too. Shipwright is our base design system. Re-skinning it to a client brand used to take half a day. It now takes two to four hours, because the token structure is clean enough that Claude can do most of the work.
Want the longer version? Read design systems for AI agents, then our breakdown of the five levels of an AI-ready design system.
How do we go about building a design system?
Our design system process scales according to your product size and needs. We recommend starting with a pilot project.
Deep Dive
We'll help you to gain a deep understanding of your product, team, and existing design assets to lay the foundation for an effective design system.
Onboarding session
Brand review
Full product and system walkthrough
Naming convention planning
Tooling audit and review
Governance modeling
Team interviews
Design System Iterations
Iteratively refine and expand your design system, creating a comprehensive set of reusable design elements and documentation to empower your team.
Design token definition
Reference site documentation
Figma system schema
Coded component library
Atomic design UI kit creation
Action Plan
Implement the design system through a pilot project, establish team workflows, and develop a clear roadmap for future adoption and growth.
Pilot project rollout
Team cadence and governance model review
Action plan for next adoption
"For our design team, Headway's biggest area of impact was helping with the design system and the transition to Figma. It's increased the foundational elements and lets us operate at a 5-10x velocity. That was huge."
Todd Kamps
Head of Design at Roostify
It's time to get your team a powerful design system
Our crew can work with you in three ways to get you set up with a design system.
Design System Training
Figma UI Kit
Full Design System Team
Relevant resources
Free Figma UI kit and design system
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