Design system adoption: the importance of stakeholder buy-in
Design systems have now become ubiquitous with digital design. We’ve all read about the challenges of defining, designing and implementing a design system.
One of the biggest challenges is incorporating the design system process in the day-to-day workings of product teams when it is seen as an additional overhead.
This is an understandable perception when each of our 30+ product teams at John Lewis are working hard to deliver on their OKRs and there is seemingly never enough hours in the day to get things done.
How can you make your internal design teams realise that this effort will be worth it?
Short term pain for long term gain
In order to change this perception, it is vital to get buy-in from stakeholders to advocate for having a design system and the benefits it provides.
As a design system team we’ve been looking at ways to communicate the benefits that resonate with our stakeholders.
These are just some of the messages we’ve lead with when we want to help our teams understand the value
Cost saving
Auditing existing components across teams identified duplication of effort. By using pre-built components and design patterns, designers can create new products more quickly and efficiently, which can ultimately save the organisation money in development costs.
Consistency
Using reusable components across teams make it easier to maintain and update the brand identity by providing a shared language and understanding of design principles.
Scalability
A design system can help when scaling digital products and platforms more efficiently by providing a standardised framework for design and development.
Accessibility
By incorporating accessibility guidelines and best practices into the design system we can ensure that the organisation’s digital products and platforms are accessible to all users.
Innovation
A design system can provide designers with a solid foundation from which to experiment and create, rather than reinventing the wheel with each new project.
Collaboration
Design systems promote collaboration and communication among team members by providing a shared language and understanding of design principles. This can help break down silos and work more efficiently as a team.
Taking our first steps on a long path
As a design system team we’ve been very focussed on creating all the supporting processes and documentation for how the design system works, but we’re very aware that more needs to be done to communicate the benefits and bring more stakeholders on board.
The first design system OKR has been created requiring product teams to stay up-to-date with the latest design system versions, as a first step to help more product teams easily access the benefits of the new components available.
This may seem like a very small step, but we’re in this for the long term and all progress forward is a win!
