What the tools for creating design systems will look like in the future
For quick consistency between designers, without sacrificing quality, you need a common component language and easy access to the library. Most have noticed the problem of how elements of the system get lost depending on the movement through the tools.
Designers need access to the same tools as designers. Previously, they used complex intranets, relying on a lot of irrelevant tools. Overuse of design tools is a problem for design systems management. This does not take into account their use on a day-to-day basis.
Difficulties can arise if product managers want to use the same color scheme as product designers. Limited access to software makes it difficult and slows down the process of completing a project. Developers and designers need to be in sync, understand if they are going in the right direction, and if there are parameter mismatches.
The future of design systems
Imagine a workflow for designers where they can switch between programs without having to transfer the design system. Or how in a new company you need to use the design system, but you do not remember where the file is, the passwords you need to find and synchronize all the data. To some extent in the present, this option already exists.
Specify provides functionality for any team activity, regardless of location. The application provides not only access, but also the ability to manage. A significant portion of designers in large companies resort to this system. They have a number of resources, expertise, contributing to the development of the design – system, thereby providing free access.
I seriously thought about how a simplified platform would help teams keep up to date with updates without having to open the program. This project would allow all design components (fonts, coloring, graphics) to be used without depending on the application (Excel, Slack, Google Slides, GitHub). Also, so that teams wouldn’t have to worry every time the platform was switched to a new tool. The system would be managed in one place. Work on the program began in the second half of 2019, which has been dubbed “Superb.”
The use of the application is planned by a number of specialists at Gem. The source code will be open source, allowing other users to use and improve it. Elements will be located on an AWS or GitHub server, in JSON file format. This allows developers to extract the information they need from the system.
JSON allows a wide variety of file formats to be saved by copying their Sketch and Figma. Superb performs a system file check, putting the latest copy on the user’s computer. In offline mode, dextop always contains the latest version of the resources.
The program is displayed at the top of the monitor as a status bar, which can be opened with hotkeys or by clicking on an icon. There is no need to open Figma or another application to add new color codes or edits, just drag and drop everything into the status bar.
Superb includes categories: colors, icons, font and interface (contains complex components, illustrations). Further additions are possible in the form of tabs: layout, movement, interaction. The search becomes active immediately when you start the application, performed instantly among the most various components (categories, usage recommendations, color schemes, synonyms).
It is displayed in the form of bell-like popups. Users have the ability to customize the information based on personal preferences, also the application is native. The design-systems teams will display realistic indicators of the activity performed, its significance.