How to Get Product Designers to Love Using Your Design System
A product designer friend confided in me that he had difficulty adopting a design system because it didn’t meet his needs. He was most frustrated that his feedback wasn’t heard. This disconnect hinders the adoption of design systems — which are meant to help product designers, not cause frustration. As a design systems designer, I want to build a bridge and improve the connection between the design systems and product teams.
After leading two large-scale design system projects at other companies, I got the opportunity to develop the Website Experience Subsystem (WES) for Salesforce. WES is part of the family of design systems at Salesforce and is currently used by more than 10 customer-facing websites, such as Salesforce.com, Trailhead, and AppExchange.
To start, I wanted to understand WES users, their needs, and adoption obstacles. With the trust and freedom given, I began scheduling one-on-ones with all the design leads from each website to learn about them. I also started learning about relationship design. Salesforce Design developed this philosophy and practice, which harnesses the power of design to build relationships with customers, employees, and the community.
Building relationships with design leads
I continued the monthly or quarterly check-ins with the relationship design goals in mind and used a strategic structure. The design leads appreciated this approach. They commented: “This is helpful; please continue the check-ins. I don’t always have time to go to meetings or read Slack messages, and the check-in helps me fill the WES development update gaps.” I also created a spreadsheet to track their adoption progress and barriers, current and upcoming needs, stakeholder contacts, etc. The data helped me identify the patterns of adoption obstacles and informed how I designed solutions. I have learned so much about my users and their needs; it helped me shape the WES development phase.
Keeping everyone informed
Often, what’s happening behind-the-scenes with the design system can be a mystery. Progress might seem slow from the users’ perspective. I used Slack posts to share high-level updates about WES every two weeks. It included branding updates, WES design, kinetics and development, component documentation, design contributions, release planning, and other relevant news. Regular updates provided transparency about what the design system team has been working on and its development status. All the posts were copied into one document that could be accessed at any time.
Creating a safe space to communicate
Where did we post the compilation of updates? The answer is the WES Slack channel! My friend had complained that his voice was not being heard. To make sure we made space for conversation, we created a dedicated Slack channel. Any designers, product managers, engineers, or whomever interested in WES could post questions and share thoughts and designs. The engineering lead and I provided answers, solutions, and feedback through the channel within a 24-hour response window. We also could connect with our respective work and identify common obstacles. This place has been the go-to space for all WES users for any kind of help needed. I also linked the most critical resources, including documentation access, office hours sign-up, guidance on how to contribute to the design system, and more.
Sharing work and gaining feedback
We held office hours to show users how to adopt WES correctly and flexibly, and to provide a shared time for product designers to have open discussions about their work and get constructive feedback from design systems designers. I also invited all website design leads to participate during the office hours. They were encouraged to share thoughts and give feedback, so they could discover any common design issues. It was another way to share ideas and solutions. This participation built a cross-team design experience, and helped create more connections among designers personally and professionally.
Contributing to the design system
Thanks to the one-on-one check-ins, and all the collaboration work through Slack and office hours, I have a much closer relationship with the design leads and I’m able to share more systematic design knowledge. One day, a team of three designers wanted to meet, because they wanted to contribute component design back to WES. They even drafted a process to make it easier for their manager to prove dedicated working hours. For many design systems, receiving contributions usually comes late in the development stage. It’s a luxury, and it’s sometimes just a dream. I was able to use the process that the team submitted to create detailed guidance for who can contribute, and what and how they can contribute.
As the only designer for WES, I can deliver two to four components each release (4 months). For the upcoming release, I got four more component contributions, which helps accelerate WES development — though I still need to help with the planning and execution from the beginning to the design delivery. My support includes timeline planning, requirement gathering, collaboration with broader users, design reviews, etc. Each interaction depends on the contributor’s preferences: they can have full ownership of the component or collaborate with me. Most importantly, we enabled our users to own reusable components and enhanced systems thinking for component design from a broader perspective.
Creating a lasting bond
The response to WES has been enthusiastic. My colleagues have appreciated collaborating and being able to contribute their feedback and insights to the design system. This approach has increased the number of components and pattern designs, with a high adoption rate. It has created advocates for the design system and bonds between the design systems and product teams. The teams are working closer together than before. Setting the intention to build WES with a relationship-design mindset taught me that developing relationships is a bridge to many successful destinations.
Acknowledgments: Thank you to my colleagues Rebecca Yukelson, Alan Weibel, kellen mannion, Pavithra Ramamurthy for their expertise, inspiration, and guidance.
Salesforce Design is dedicated to elevating design and advocating for its power to create trusted relationships with users, customers, partners, and the community. We share knowledge and best practices that build social and business value. We call this next evolution of design Relationship Design. Join our Design Trailblazers community, become a certified UX designer, or work with us!
