A design system is not just a collection of UI components but it’s a structured framework that ensures consistency, scalability, and efficiency across digital products. An efficient design system helps you build faster and makes sure your app’s Ul is consistent with your brand. It also improves collaboration between teams.
However, a design system is not just a one time effort as maintaining a design system requires ongoing work such as ongoing routine of checkup, updates, proper use of design system metrics and collaboration with designers, developers and stakeholders. Without consistency and efficiency, the design system can become outdated, less efficient and not valued by stakeholders leading to decreased team productivity, motivation and slower development process. Do you know that 75% of websites fail because of poor design? One major reason behind this failure is an inefficient design system that do not meet user needs
How can you ensure that your design system stays effective and doesn’t become outdated, inefficient, or ignored by your team? Let’s explore this article, as it highlights key challenges while maintaining a design system and discusses the most effective solutions.
6 Common challanges in maintaining a design system
Building a design system doesn’t mean the work is finished but keeping it relevant and effective is the main challenge. Without proper maintenance, the design system can get outdated, inefficient and difficult for teams to use as old parts might not meet new needs. Inconsistencies can also increase which can lead to a slower development process and less chances of growth.
It’s crucial for design teams to understand the challenges of maintaining a design system to avoid inconsistencies, inefficiencies and decline in adoption.
1. Lack of Collaboration:
A major challenge in maintaining a design system is the communication gap between design and development teams. Designers and developers while working towards the same product goals often have different priorities and ways of working such as designers focus on aesthetics, user experience, and visual consistency, while developers prioritize functionality, technical feasibility, and code efficiency which leads to misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and ultimately a breakdown in the design system’s implementation. Studies also show that nearly 45% of team misunderstandings stem from communication breakdowns between designers and developers when terms and expectations aren’t aligned.
Therefore when maintaining a design system, it’s essential to make a collaborative and transparent environment as the purpose of a design system is to ensure consistency, efficiency, and seamless user experiences across products. Designers and developers must communicate with each other to ensure technical feasibility and to maintain design integrity. It’s also important for all the teams such as design, development, product management and marketing teams to work together as when everyone’s working from the same foundations, there’s less back and forth, fewer misunderstandings, and a lot less wasted effort.
2. Accessibility Challenge:
Many design systems contain accessibility barriers like complex navigation, flashing content and small buttons that makes it difficult for some users to engage fully which negatively impacts the user experience, engagement and even search engine ranking.
A missing or improper ARIA role means an element lacks the correct role attribute which can confuse assistive technologies like screen readers as a result users may not understand the element’s purpose or how to interact with it which can lead to frustration and poor user experience. While buttons and links that are too small to see and tap through fingers are also a great problem for anyone especially people with motor skill issues as they may get difficulty with precise movements, hand tremors or limited coordination. Additionally, Blinking and flashing content is usually used for grabbing users attention but designers don’t know that continuous blinking can irritate users and makes it hard for them to focus on important content and they leave the website as it can cause eye fatigue, discomfort or even a headache.
By properly implementing ARIA in design, designers can create more accessible and user-friendly design for everyone. ARIA-enabled websites have a 20% higher user engagement rate compared to non-ARIA-enabled websites. They also need to ensure that buttons and links are large enough to be easily clicked or tapped and also avoid placing buttons and links too close together to prevent accidental clicks and errors. Designers can also conduct accessibility testing to ensure products are usable for people with disabilities, comply with WCAG standards, and deliver a better user experience.
3. Adoption Challenge:
One of the biggest hurdles design system teams face is the adoption challenge as developers are comfortable with their existing workflows and tools so switching to a shared system can feel restrictive and if components in design tools don’t match what’s available in code so they may stop trusting the system. It also takes effort for the design system team to reach multiple teams and departments. However, without buy-in, collaboration, and continuous support, even the most amazing design system is useless.
To overcome these adoption challenges, design system teams can focus on several key strategies. First and foremost, organisations should provide training and support as they are critical components of successful adoption. Providing resources such as workshops, documentation, and ongoing assistance can empower team members to embrace the new system confidently. Encouraging a culture of understanding rather than judgment is also crucial. This can lead to increased satisfaction and more effective problem solving as when team members feel safe and comfortable they are more likely to share ideas and contribute which can build trust and encourage consistent use.
4. Poor Documentation:
Poor documentation like missing or outdated content, unclear language, improper guidelines and lack of examples can leave team members frustrated as a result they may struggle to understand how and when to use components correctly, leading to misuse, inconsistent designs or teams creating their own solutions outside the system. Poorly structured documentation also wastes time and over time, this can reduce trust in the design system and lower adoption across teams.
Strong documentation bridges the gap between design and development, improves workflows, and ensures consistent user experiences. But for this, documentation should be clear, accessible, and regularly updated, covering component usage, do’s and don’ts, accessibility guidelines, and design–development alignment. A McKinsey study found companies with mature design systems can save 20–30% in design and development costs annually by reducing redundancy and improving workflows.
5. Keeping Components Up to Date:
Maintaining a design system is not a one time task. Design trends evolve and user behaviours change so a component that was perfect yesterday might not cut it today. If you don’t update them, you risk using outdated styles and functionality which can lead to inconsistencies, accessibility issues, and missed chances. Imagine building a website with outdated elements, it’s like working with a foundation that no longer fits. Regularly updating components ensures that the design system remains cohesive and effective. It also keeps your team in sync with the latest best practices. This way, you can build better products and maintain a consistent user experience.
6. Limitation of Design Tools:
Design tools, while incredibly helpful, aren’t without their limitations. Even the best tools may not fully support complex workflows, version control, or real-time collaboration which can make managing and updating components difficult. For example, tools like Figma and Sketch are image‑based so they don’t automatically sync design components with coded UI components which means designers and developers often manage two separate libraries that increases the risk of mismatches and outdated elements.
To address these limitations, consider strategies that bridge the gap between design and development. Implementing a design system with a single source of truth for components can significantly streamline the process. Tools that offer robust version control and real-time collaboration features are crucial for managing and updating components efficiently. Furthermore, exploring tools that integrate design components with coded UI components can eliminate mismatches and ensure that both designers and developers are working with the latest versions.
Conclusion:
Inconsistency in design can lead to confusion and frustration for users, impacting the overall user experience. While the challenges of maintaining a design system may seem daunting, the good news is that the solutions exist. By addressing these challenges, designers can create a design system that is truly scalable, consistent, and accessible.
Investing in the ongoing health of your design system not only enhances productivity but also ensures that every piece of design work aligns with the overarching goals of the organization. Teams that use mature design systems, often speed UI development and release new features 47% faster, reducing redundant work and accelerating delivery. However, it requires continuous updates, collaboration, and careful management.
Learn how to measure the impact of your design system in Design System Metrics: How to Prove ROI and Improve Performance.
