Custom app development, top-rated website designs, and digital experiences galore: they are all built on the backs of an effective design system.

We know that design systems can make it easier for product teams to achieve their goals, but how do we create and manage those systems? The answer to all your questions: Design System tools and technologies.

A Little Recap

A design system is a guide or “blueprint” utilized to maintain visual consistency, increase collaboration, and maintain high quality in product development. It is a broader overview than a brand guide or a style guide. The design system may include reusable UI components, guidelines, typography, color schemes, and more. The goal is to create a cohesive user experience across all products, platforms, and devices.

Design Systems feature an extensive number and variety of parts and to create and manage them effectively, teams will often use tools like Figma, Sketch, or Storybook. Each tool and technology has its own list of pros and cons as well as team needs that they particularly cater to. To make the decision that is best for your team to utilize, it is important to evaluate your needs, your budget, and each of your options for design system tools. 

Popular Tools

Figma

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Figma is far and away the most popular tool for design system management. However, it has great utility for smaller tasks if that is the extent of your needs. If you are looking to simply create a small graphic or OpenGraph image, you can utilize the free version of Figma to edit and manage a few small aspects. 

As a more expansive design system tool, Figma allows you to share components through libraries, implement design tokens, map components with Figma to code, track usage analytics, and use Figma’s REST API to create and manage large amounts of variables. Figma prides itself on being able to create design systems that scale quickly and easily with themes and variable modes.

There is nothing overly complicated about Figma. It works well for startups and other organizations alike. Multiple team members can work on one project at once making this object ideal for fostering collaboration. One of its excellent features is that Figma does not need to work alone. Figma integrates and syncs well with other design system tools like Storybook. This is great for a team that wants the best of both worlds between multiple tools.

Designers will find no shortage of resources and material on Figma online. It is user-friendly and laid out with designers in mind. Being user-friendly means, that non-designers and project managers can easily use Figma as well. That being said, if you are going into this process with no knowledge of design systems, Figma Learn has a free course that you can use to get up to speed.  

Budget

The first thing to consider when thinking about Figma is your team's budget. To use Figma to effectively meet your design system needs, you’ll need to pay $15 to $75 a month (tiers: professional team, organization, and enterprise) depending on the features that you are seeking. The free version of Figma only offers 3 collaborative design files which won’t cut it for your needs. Fortunately, Figma does offer demos that your team can take advantage of to decide whether or not the product is a good fit before committing to that cost. 

Sketch

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In Sketch you can create, test, prototype, and build libraries. Sketch can integrate with a large ecosystem of apps and plug-ins so you can easily utilize your design system, document, and more. 

A great advantage to Sketch is the variety of learning materials that they offer for free on their site. These will take you through how to create and manage design systems with their tool. The articles are a great reference point that will save you time while trying to learn the product.

A major con to immediately address is that Sketch is only available to Mac users. While Mac has been the industry standard for designers for decades, if this is not the norm at your company, Sketch is certainly not for you. Another disadvantage to Sketch is that you cannot collaborate with your team members in real time. Other tools are much better options if you are looking to foster collaboration and work in tandem as a team. 

Budget

Like Figma, Sketch uses a subscription pricing model. The cost is $10 or $20 a month depending on the tier that you select. Sketch has something for every size of organization, even single designers. While this tier level may not be advantageous for teams, they also offer a yearly license for Mac users at a cost of $120 a month for a single user. 

Storybook

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Storybook is an industry leader used by thousands of teams all over the world, Storybook is a sandbox workshop for UI development. A sandbox environment makes it perfect for rapid iteration and testing. Collaboration is no sweat. Developers can demo the product to other team members with ease. Storybook can also be used for, UI component development, documentation, integration with existing tools, and more. In Storybook, developers can browse a component library, view different states, and interactively develop components in isolation. 

Storybook’s strength is in its flexibility. It easily integrates with other tools and add-ons, enhancing your experience. Storybook is primarily aimed at developers but can be a great tool for organizations of all levels, individuals, and teams. A downside is that Storybook has a learning curve and initial set-up can be time-consuming.

Budget

Storybook is free! There are no subscriptions, and it costs you nothing to use. Storybook is open-source which means you will find a great deal of learning materials and assistance for the tool from the community. 

Pattern Lab

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PatternLab is a front-end sandbox environment that allows you to build and test your UI components. As the name suggests, PatternLab is pattern-focused. PatternLab uses atomic design methodology, which categorizes UI aspects using concepts from chemistry like atoms, molecules, etc. If you are utilizing the atomic design philosophy, this tool would be a great fit for you. Each reusable component builds upon the other. Pattern lab allows you to build, test, and extensively document UI components. Patternlab allows calls itself “Framework Agnostic” meaning it works with any development stack.

Budget

Like Storybook, PatternLab is open-source and free! While it is open-source, the community and contributions are much smaller than that of Storybook. If that is something you value, you may want to consider another tool. In addition, PatternLab does support some integrations but doesn’t integrate as well as some of the other products like Storybook and Figma.

What’s the Takeaway?

A Design System is a beautiful thing. It grants you the power to create beautiful experiences that set you and your brand apart with efficiency. But every good thing could use a little support. These tools celebrate the key desires of design systems: consistency, efficiency, and scalability all while making your life a whole lot easier. Your team can use these tools to make your design system into something greater. 

Not sure what tools to use or need help maintaining your system? There’s no harm in reaching out to the experts. The team at Camber Creative is experienced in creating and maintaining exciting digital experiences catered to your specific needs. The consultation is free, so reach out and hear how your design can be taken to the next level.