design-system-creation

Design System Creation

Build comprehensive design systems for consistent UI development across teams.

Design System Layers

Foundation: Colors, typography, spacing, elevation
Components: Buttons, inputs, cards, navigation
Patterns: Forms, layouts, empty states

Foundation - Design Tokens

:root {
  /* Colors */
  --color-primary-50: #eff6ff;
  --color-primary-500: #3b82f6;
  --color-primary-900: #1e3a8a;

/* Semantic colors */ --color-success: #22c55e; --color-warning: #f59e0b; --color-error: #ef4444;

/* Typography */ --font-sans: 'Inter', system-ui, sans-serif; --font-mono: 'Fira Code', monospace;

/* Type scale */ --text-xs: 0.75rem; --text-sm: 0.875rem; --text-base: 1rem; --text-lg: 1.125rem; --text-xl: 1.25rem; --text-2xl: 1.5rem;

/* Spacing (4px base) */ --space-1: 0.25rem; --space-2: 0.5rem; --space-4: 1rem; --space-8: 2rem;

/* Elevation */ --shadow-sm: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.05); --shadow-md: 0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); --shadow-lg: 0 10px 15px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); }


## Component Documentation

```markdown
## Button

### Anatomy
- Container (padding, background)
- Label (text)
- Icon (optional)

### Variants
- Primary: Main actions
- Secondary: Alternative actions
- Ghost: Subtle actions

### States
- Default, Hover, Active, Disabled, Loading

### Accessibility
- Role: button
- Keyboard: Enter/Space to activate
- Focus: Visible focus ring

Component Example (React)

interface ButtonProps {
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary' | 'ghost';
  size?: 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg';
  loading?: boolean;
  disabled?: boolean;
  children: React.ReactNode;
}

function Button({ variant = 'primary', size = 'md', loading, disabled, children }: ButtonProps) {
  return (
    <button
      className={`btn btn-${variant} btn-${size}`}
      disabled={disabled || loading}
      aria-busy={loading}
    >
      {loading ? <Spinner /> : children}
    </button>
  );
}

Governance

Review Committee: Approves new components
Contribution Process: RFC → Review → Implementation
Versioning: Semantic versioning for releases
Deprecation: 3-month notice with migration guide

Best Practices

Start with foundational tokens
Document every component thoroughly
Ensure WCAG 2.1 AA compliance
Support dark mode from the start
Include usage guidelines with do/don't examples