UNDERSTANDING STYLE GUIDE,PATTERN LIBRARY AND DESIGN SYSTEM; their importance, difference and use cases.

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INTRODUCTION:

In a bid to communicate brand values into a brand’s product design, designers are implementing style guides, pattern library and some other deliverable to form a typical design system. This is done with the aim of facilitating the product design process, coding process and also to deliver high end products with appropriate documentation.

LET'S DIVE IN

So what is a style guide? A style guide can be referred to as a collection of ui elements that visually defines the product’s interface. Style guides answer the question of “HOW’ ui elements should look and where these elements are applied.
These visual elements are as follows:

• Typography
• Icons
• Illustrations
• Color

an example of a style guide from shopify

A style guide is represented by its name, will focus on graphics styles (colors, fonts, illustrations…) and their usage

Some of the importance of style guides are:

• Promotes consistency throughout the design
• Promotes shared languages
• Assists team on-boarding
• Ensures code standardization.

Pattern library

Pattern libraries defines the ui components such as buttons, menus and accordions that will be contained in designing a brand’s product. Pattern Library answers the question of “WHAT” these ui components are (what define them) and “HOW” they should behave when used. Pattern library integrates functional components and their usage.
Pattern library consists of :

• Buttons
• Menus
• Grids

an example of a pattern library from Another level

Best practices for creating a UI pattern library

Here are a few tips and pointers that you can follow to make sure that your UI pattern library is adopted, used and advocated for.

Get familiar with the UI pattern

Before you create your own pattern library, it’s worth looking at the wide selection of pre-existing pattern libraries.

Styleguides.io has a list of 233 real life pattern libraries of all different shapes and sizes. Some are more geared towards developers, others to designers.

The selection will give you a clear idea of what exactly goes into a UI pattern library.

By looking at pre-existing libraries, you can determine what yours should include. You’ll come to understand which patterns are used more frequently and which ones are avoided.

Other websites, like UI Patterns or Pattern Tap, have an array of user interface design patterns which can act as a reference point as you create your own library.

Mesmerize your developers

Getting buy-in from developers is critical. Developers aren’t code monkeys and they care about the product as much as you. They’re going to be the ones who deal with creating these patterns in the back-end.

By empathizing with them and understanding the work they have to do, you’ll be able to reduce any disagreements or frustrations that might arise.

Having their input is valuable because you can set expectations on what is possible and what is impossible. By involving your developer and getting their buy-in, you can secure their motivation for the project. Plus, this process will give you practice for when you have to get buy-in from more senior stakeholders.

Why pattern library? Pattern library are essential to product because it:

• Helps build engaging experiences on the brand’s product platform
• Provides more time to build new features and pages when there are existing pattern library.
• Helps create consistent designs that are easy to maintain.

DESIGN SYSTEM
I understood the design system as a set of deliverable which consists of both the style guide, the pattern library and all other deliverable, documented to facilitate the product design process. The design system answers the question of “WHY” which is the purpose of the chosen ui components and details of the design decision.

IBM design system overview.

The design system contains the following:

• Purpose and shared values
• Design principles
• Style guides
• Components and patterns
• Best practices

Design system are important in areas like:

• Stating a brand’s purpose and shared values
• Helps the team to make meaningful design decision
• Promotes the use of brand identity and language across all design implementations.
• Helps deliver a consistent use of component and patterns.

According to Gjenisichege, a Norwegian insurance company, their company’s best practice’s for building a design system are as follows:

1. Put time and effort into working with the design system, and collaborate across functions and departments.
2. Find inspiration from others, but make a design system that suits you.
3. Start modestly, with a design system that is easy to build and can be used by many people in different settings.
4. Create a road-map, telling you where you want to be in six months, and what you have to do to get there.
5. Ensure a multidisciplinary ownership to the design system in the entire design and developer environment.

In conclusion

The major difference between a style guide and a pattern library is in the terms of reusability and interactivity. While ui components in style guides are not interactive nor are they reusable , the ui components in pattern library can be reused and also interactive.

Now that we have understood these three deliverable, it also important to note their differences in mode of design and implementation.

A brand can decide to start off their product design documentation with just the style guide or pattern library and then implement a complete design system with time, whichever comes first,the design system is a more elaborate approach to documenting a brand’s design guide.

RESOURCES:

https://uxdesign.cc/everything-you-need-to-know-about-design-systems-54b109851969

https://uxdesign.cc/everything-you-need-to-know-about-design-systems-54b109851969