Design Systems

Design System Landscape Mapping

Before building a new design system, map what already exists. Design system landscape mapping inventories all components, patterns, styles, and documentation across products. Teams often waste months building "new" systems when inconsistent systems are already in place. An inventory reveals what to consolidate, not just what to create from scratch.

Duration
2 hours
Group Size
3-5
Category
Design Systems
Difficulty
Easy
The goals are to: Document existing design system artifacts. Identify redundancy and inconsistency. Assess quality and adoption. Inform strategy for consolidation or replacement.
The results are: A comprehensive inventory. Identified redundancy and inconsistency. An informed strategy for system consolidation.
Consider these points:

Hidden Systems: Formal systems are documented, but informal systems are often hidden in repos, Figma files, or team wikis. Hunt for them; they reveal actual practice vs. intended practice. Shadow systems exist because official systems failed.

Adoption Tells Truth: Low adoption means a system doesn't serve needs, regardless of its quality. A beautiful, unused system is a failure. An ugly, widely-used system is a success. Let usage data inform strategy, not aesthetics.
Here's how to conduct the exercise:

  1. Inventory All Systems (35 minutes): List every design system, component library, pattern library, and style guide that exists. Include official systems, team-specific libraries, abandoned projects, and documentation sites. Don't judge; just catalog. Most organizations have 3-5 partial systems nobody realizes exist.

  2. Document Each System (40 minutes): For each system, document what it covers, how complete it is, how current it is, who uses it, who maintains it, and what products use it. Get specifics. "Component library" is vague. "27 React components, last updated 18 months ago, used by Product A only" is useful data.

  3. Assess Quality and Adoption (30 minutes): Rate each system's quality (how well-built and documented), adoption (how widely used), and currency (how maintained). Plot on a matrix. High quality + high adoption = asset to build on. Low quality + low adoption = candidate for deprecation.

  4. Identify Patterns (15 minutes): Look across the landscape. Are components duplicated across systems? Are different systems serving different needs? Is fragmentation intentional or accidental? Patterns reveal whether you need consolidation, replacement, or both.

Unlock Step-by-Step Instructions

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

For Facilitators

  • Review participant profiles and expectations
  • Prepare all materials and supplies
  • Test technology and room setup

For Participants

  • Complete pre-session survey
  • Review background materials
  • Prepare examples or case studies

Unlock Pre-Work Requirements

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.


  • Access to all codebases and design files

  • System documentation (if it exists)

  • Usage analytics (if available)

  • Large mapping space (digital or physical)

Unlock Materials Required

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

  • Facilitator Guide (PDF)
  • Participant Workbook Template
  • Presentation Slides
  • Printable Materials

Unlock Resources & Templates

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

Discussion

0/2000
Loading comments...

Related Exercises

See all exercises

Design System Documentation Strategy

2 hours

Design system documentation turns code into a usable product. This exercise creates a strategy covering what to document, how to structure it, and how...

Design systems

Design System Governance Framework Development

2 hours

A design system needs governance to thrive. Without it, components become outdated. This exercise helps you establish rules, roles, and processes. We'...

Design systems

Design Token Exploration

2 hours

Design tokens are the core of your design system. They are colors, spacing, typography, and other values that ensure consistency. This exercise helps ...

Design systems