Starting a Design System: Tools and Frameworks

Getting a design system off the ground involves more than just cataloging components. Early conversations around stakeholder expectations, team workflows, and business priorities shape the effort as much as the final pattern library does. Several practical frameworks and worksheets can help structure those conversations and move the project forward in the first 90 days.

The Design System In 90 Days Canvas

One of the most effective starting points is the Design System in 90 Days Canvas, a FigJam template by Dan Mall. It works as a roadmap for discussions covering the system's value proposition, stakeholder involvement, and the initial set of components. The canvas prompts teams to work through questions about organizational priorities, existing informal systems in design and code, and which teams have immediate or upcoming needs that the system could address.

Design System in 90 Days Canvas
Very comprehensive and helpful: Design System in 90 Days Canvas by Dan Mall.

The template is designed for both small and large companies currently building a system or planning to do so in the near future.

A Tactic-Level View of System Work

For a broader, stage-by-stage perspective, the Design System Tactics collection by Ness Grixti is a practical reference. It catalogs approaches for generating progress at every phase of system work — from agreeing on principles and discovering components to setting up office hours and consolidating systems across brands.

An overview of practical design system tactics displayed as cards
Design System Tactics, a practical overview by Ness Grixti.

Choosing What Goes Into the System

The point of a design system is not to be perfectly comprehensive or anticipate every component a team could ever need. It is to be useful enough to accelerate quality work and flexible enough to support decision-making without dictating it for the team.

Nathan Curtis's Design System Checklist worksheet helps with that balance. It is a two-page PDF that supports a 60-minute team activity focused on selecting the right parts, products, and people for the system.

Design System Parts Worksheet
Design System Worksheet, by Nathan Curtis.

Before making selection decisions, Dan Mall recommends working through a set of fundamental questions to identify where the system can deliver the most value:

  1. What is important to the organization at the highest level?
  2. Who is important to the design system effort?
  3. Which teams have immediate needs that can grow the system?
  4. What components do product or feature teams need now or soon?
  5. What end-user problems or opportunities could the system address?
  6. What is the repeatable process for working on products?
  7. What components will we start with?
  8. Where are our components currently being used or planned for?

Additional Starting Points

A few other resources are useful for structuring early-stage design system work:

  • Design System Questions To Answer In First 90 Days (Dan Mall)
  • Design System Canvas — PDF and FigJam versions by Paavan Buddhdev
  • LeanDS Framework — a Figma-based framework by Marianne Ashton-Booth
  • Useful UX Templates For Designers — Figma kits compiled by Vitaly Friedman
  • Design System Guide by Romina Kavcic

A canvas rarely provides complete answers on its own. Its real value is in surfacing topics and issues that might otherwise go unnoticed during kickoff meetings. Framing the initial discussions around the right questions helps a team move in a productive direction, turning the design system effort into a measurable success.