The 15 Design Systems That Make Big Tech UIs Unbeatable (And Why Yours Isn’t)

Level up you design skill using these design systems

Most people don’t think twice about the interfaces they use every day. Gmail just works. Instagram feels natural. Microsoft Teams, for better or worse, looks like everything else inside Microsoft. But behind that apparent simplicity is something deceptively complex: design systems.

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For most companies, a design system is little more than a shared Figma file and a component library. But for companies like Google, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, a design system isn’t a side project — it’s infrastructure. It’s a carefully engineered foundation that lets thousands of designers and engineers ship consistent, accessible, and scalable products at breathtaking speed.

While smaller teams debate over color palettes and button radii, these tech giants operate at a completely different level. Their design systems aren’t just about design — they’re about business. They reduce friction, minimize inconsistencies, ensure accessibility compliance, and enable rapid product iteration across vast product portfolios that serve billions of users.

Here’s a closer look at 15 of the most important design systems driving the software…