Building an MVP Design System

Overview

I led the transition of the team from using Sketch App to Figma around 2018 because I saw its potential in building design systems, alongside better collaboration, and saving money from tools we used (e.g. Abstract, Zeplin). Now, our Design System in Figma connects to other Design System teams—with the aim of laying the foundation of a single Design System for the Press, wherein I was part of the CX group composed of representatives of all the design teams responsible for the high-level direction of CX across all our products and services.

I started to create an "MVP Design System" to demonstrate how quickly it will provide value to our current designs and processes by addressing the low hanging fruits so that we can show tangible outcomes to our users and stakeholders. The outputs and outcomes of this MVP Design System are still being used up to date.

As I write this case study, I will further share my thought process on building an MVP design system—from setting the design and development principles and processes, UI inventory, reducing UX debt, and many more.