Back to Home
/
/
Article

Design Systems Are Culture, Not Code

Alla Kholmatova


A short piece that reframes design systems as a social and organizational artifact first, a technical one second. The components are easy; the conventions, shared language, and trust between teams are hard. Kholmatova is good at naming things that practitioners know but rarely say out loud.

The point about governance being the most important and most neglected part of a design system has aged well. Most failed design systems I've seen failed because of people problems, not technology.

Built with PasteOpens an external resource. Mostly possible due to Simon TaggartOpens an external resource, who patiently handles my 101 Qs.

LinkedInOpens an external resource
TwitterOpens an external resource

Black Lives Matter.

No human is illegal.

Sex worker rights are labor rights.

Our liberation is bound together.