How to Pitch a Design System
Convince your startup that a design system is a good idea.
As the only designer at a small software startup, I had to convince my company that a design system was necessary. The company’s software was plagued with issues ranging from inconsistent UI components to redundant workflows in different areas of the software for similar features. Front-end developers were building off of drawings created by the executives (CTO and VP of Product). As a result, developers often created pages that had inconsistencies, and poor usability as that was an afterthought.
Without a framework of usage decisions and behaviors, I wanted to fill this void in the process. Like most designers, I was excited to jump into my design tool and start exploring ideas. Before going down the rabbit hole of ideating, my strategy was to get the CTO and Engineering team on board.
When introducing a fundamental change, there can be push back, fear of change, and even differences in strategy. To mitigate pushback, it’s best to engage early on to get buy in. Including others in the process goes a long way as it builds trust. Cumulatively, this will lead to the design system’s success as team members will have the opportunity to contribute.
