What happens if we ditch Design Systems for internal communication?

Do design systems for internal communication and templates really streamline handoffs or are they another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy within a company?

A conversation with Randy J Hunt, Head of Design at Notion (NYC) led me to explore the role of design systems and templates for companies to communicate internally.

Every designer who works in teams greater than 3 people has probably experienced the task of creating slide decks; whether it is to present a concept, process or handoff their work. Most of the times, these slide decks follow a set of rules that fall under the company’s design system that pertain to streamlining internal communication—but what we need to consider that these decks may not always serve their intended purpose.

Currently at Notion (NYC) , presentation decks are only used for higher levels of communication. For handing off specs within design teams and cross-functionally, prototypes and demos are directly shared among teammates. This leads me wondering how efficiency can be achieved in different ways, not just through standardization.

The Case for Design Systems in Internal Communication,

If we were to eliminate design systems for internal communication or templates entirely, there will be two main issues that would arise:

1. It would force designers to produce stand-alone presentation decks for each project, which would consume more of their time and efforts.
2. As content begins to accumulate, it might be harder to document and archive work-in-progress presentations if they each presentation looks different from the other.

Over time, the lack of a consistent visual identity in presentation decks would make it harder for new team members and contractors to follow the logic and sequence of internal communications.

Another argument in favor of internal design systems or templates is that they help establish uniformity across various projects, making it easier to compile, document and retrieve information later as well. This standardization could, as a result, help soften and streamline the information overload; that teams may be met with, when there are a lot of options being presented.

If you think about it, design systems for internal communication and templates were originally invented to help designers work around the stigma that they constantly need to produce refined design work. But at the same time, most designers are interviewed based on their visual design and technical skills — highlighted through their portfolio — then how come they are not expected to produce work at that same level of proficiency once they enter their role? Visual compliance will thus takes precedence over original frameworks of thought and craft.

The Case against Design Systems in Internal Communication,

Visual compliance can actually become the fracture in the ice — a point of weakness that designers can, and do, easily exploit.

What I mean by this is, designers can get away with masking poorly developed concepts by just utilizing the visually polished presentation templates. Instead of presenting well-researched, strategic ideas, they can fill them with fluff-content, making their work appear more polished than it actually is. I speak from experience—I can think of a few times I have done this myself. As a design student, I’ve used visual hooks to distract from research gaps and relied on online templates to get the job done when I was very short on time.

This hypothetical is a classic case of the age old saying, “Never judge a book by its cover”. A well-designed template can make a presentation look more compelling than the actual content inside—becoming a visual distraction to cover for the lack of substance within the content within the presentation itself. Especially with an increase in accessibility to presentation deck templates online, it gets harder and harder to distinguish real design work from pre-made templates that can be purchased, edited and shipped in half the time, with half as much effort.

Analogy for non-creatives: GMO vs non-GMO,

The best way to explain this entire phenomenon to a non-designer would be to compare it to GMO vs non-GMO fruit at grocery stores. GMO fruits almost always trump non-GMO fruits in visual comparisons and ROI because they look more uniform and last longer on and off shelves, however, they aren’t always the best choice when it comes to long term health concerns and environmental impact. Therefore, while they might seem like the more appealing option at grocery stores, they might be doing more harm than good and are also serving as a distraction from the poor state of real or quantity (organically produced) fruits. In this case, design systems for internal communication can be compared to GMO fruits — being more polished and appearing well crafted — compared to non-GMO fruits that are not only harder and cost more to produce, but also and may be more susceptible to diseases — in the same way the lack of a design system for internal communication would force the designer to work on communicating their ideas without fluff, while simultaneously being subjected to a higher level of scrutiny and criticism once they finally get around to doing it.

Balancing standardization with creativity,

At the end of the day, efficiency will continue to remain a priority for investors and stakeholders, but this level of loss of individuality is what is slowly churning creative designers into pixel-pushers, who work towards getting the job done rather than doing a good job. Presentation templates can only communicate an idea as effectively as the designer chooses to develop that idea beforehand. Perhaps this is why Notion designers communicate their ideas without relying on slide decks — they use non-standardized yet effective methods to showcase their thinking and iterations.

To conclude, I’d like to propose some solutions to these problems we discussed;

1. Ditch templates and internal design systems for presentations: This forces designers to rely on their individual style and creativity to present ideas to their team. While this route won’t ensure depth in content inside, it definitely leaves room for to showcase craftsmanship.
2. Maintain design systems for internal communication but introduce quality control: To impose a fact-checker or some degree of scrutiny over the internal content, making sure that the quality of it is not compromised using visual distractions.
3. Explore alternative ways of presenting information: Come up with new ways of presenting information: demo videos? interactive prototypes? mock-ups?—there is a lot of untapped potential in this area, especially for those designers who excel in prototyping over presenting ideas. In this case as well, craft takes precedence over the delivery.

Final thoughts,

Depending on how a company sees its design strategy, design teams must explore ways in striking a balance between authenticity and efficiency; they are not mutually exclusive of each other. Templates and standardized design system for internal communication can definitely be a powerful tool in communicating ideas and thoughts when they do not enable visual aesthetic over substance.

The End

-Aparna Krishnan Reshmy (24 February, 2025)

(All image credits go to respective owners.)