When you hear “design system”, what comes to mind?
At InVision, we’re big believers that design systems are more than UI toolkits. Pattern libraries in design tools are not a design system. Neither are style guides or point solutions that only focus on things like the developer handoff.
A true design system connects visual assets to code, plus houses brand and UX components, coded elements, detailed documentation, and more. More importantly, a design system should be built with multiple teams in mind, not just design.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce the next generation of InVision DSM.
Now cross-functional teams can unite around a shared language and ship quality products faster — enabling designers and developers to focus on creating best-in-class experiences for their customers. Teams can re-use, rather than reinvent, what has already been created and aligned with the brand, freeing up time to spend on higher value work. This improves efficiency, productivity, and time to market.
The explosion of creative tools and front-end technologies makes it challenging to build a design system that works for cross-functional teams. With so many tools and technologies to manage, design systems have become tedious and prone to error. Whether you’re a designer or developer, you’ve likely encountered the pain of working in silos, speed bumps from unnecessary rework, and inconsistencies in the product experience.
Since launching DSM, we at InVision have been tracking these design system trends and listening to our customers. From here, we identified common expectations for a modern design system—and set out to redesign InVision DSM to exceed them.
Build a design system for everyone on your team
The new InVision DSM brings designers, developers, and collaborators into a shared workflow. Standing up a design system is a team effort, and the success of the design system counts on active co-creation and adoption. By the same token, contributions to a design system should be collaborative and valued equally. New DSM seamlessly works with the tools you already use, like Sketch Libraries—something designers are happy about—and Inspect and Storybook—which developers love.
Scale your system as your team grows and matures
With the new DSM, you can build a design system that meets you and your team wherever you are on your journey. A budding design system can benefit from aligning teams around a shared vision and collaborating together to invest in a strong foundation. For companies that are higher up on the design maturity spectrum, a design system could improve over time to scale alongside growth in the team, business, and platforms.
Get what you need, when you need it, with Sketch and more
Our new updates double down on making design data more accessible, so you can build a single source of truth for the whole team:
- With our new Sketch plugin, your team can distribute and version Sketch Libraries as a part of a complete design system
- Richer, more flexible documentation on the web makes it easy to reference and update design principles, live components, accessibility standards, and more
- Revamped Sketch and web onboarding experience with in-platform tips and tutorials guide makers and users towards early “aha” moments
The new DSM is purpose-built to empower teams like yours with a unified design system. And we’re just getting started — so stay tuned.
by Micky Teng
Micky is the director of product marketing for InVision Design System Manager. She is a native New Yorker with a penchant for biking and bold graphic design.
