Escaping the Golden Cage of Design Systems
The Freedom of Custom Experience Pipelines #
In his article, The Broken Promises of Design Systems; Why Following the Rules Won’t Get You to Great Products, Itai Vonshak, VP of Design at Google, reveals the hard truth about design systems. Having spent years leading the Material Design team, Vonshak argues that despite their promise of efficiency and consistency, design systems have become rigid frameworks that stifle creativity and innovation.
I couldn’t agree more with Vonshak's critique. Design systems, like Material UI, indeed lock designers and developers into a pre-defined box. They may offer convenience and structure, but it’s a convenience that comes at a cost. Once you adopt these systems, you’re trapped in their ecosystem, forced to follow their updates and adapt to their changes — a golden cage, if you will. It reminds me of the dilemma faced by users who want to switch hardware but find themselves stuck with software features they cannot easily leave behind.
In my approach, I steer clear of ready-made components. Instead, I work with clients to build continuous experience pipelines — flexible, tailor-made systems designed specifically for their needs and branding (CI). These pipelines go beyond the boundaries of traditional design systems, offering a dynamic foundation that evolves with the business. We create modular components that are small and adaptable, allowing teams to innovate, reinvent, and reshape experiences freely.
Unlike rigid design systems, our continuous experience pipelines allow clients to redraw and layer their components effortlessly. This adaptability ensures that teams are not bound by limitations and can stay ahead, even as trends and technologies change.
So while I recognize the allure of design systems, I also see their limitations. If your goal is to create truly innovative and adaptable digital products, the key is to build solutions that are not only consistent but also dynamic and responsive to change.
Check my previous thoughts on experience pipelines for a deeper dive into building an effective experience pipeline.