by Tega AkuruliWhy Design Systems Fall at Scale
Design systems are being hailed as the holy grail of consistency, efficiency, and scalability for digital product development. When they work best, design systems enable design and development teams to work together in lockstep, remove redundancies, and provide brand consistency across platforms. Yet, as companies grow, most design systems begin to break down under the stresses of scale, complexity, and organizational politics. Why do these once-promising systems fail? Let’s take a closer look at the key reasons.
1. Lack of Governance and Ownership
At scale, design systems require proper governance and ownership mechanisms to be in place to continue maturing. In their absence, they remain unmaintained, fragmented, and outdated.
Why it Happens:
- Teams assume others are doing it.
- There is no team that owns maintaining and further developing the system.
- Governance models are not defined from the beginning.
Consequences:
- Inconsistent adoption by teams.
- Deprecated components linger in codebases.
- New design patterns are created outside of the system, and fragmentation happens.
2. Poor Documentation and Onboarding
Design systems live and die by documentation. If documentation doesn’t exist, is out of date, or is hard to understand, teams will work around the system altogether.
Why it Happens:
- Documentation is second priority to shipping components.
- Documentation lags code.
- Inadequate training or support is provided to new team members.
Consequences:
- Components used incorrectly.
- Reinventing the wheel due to lack of visibility.
- Onboarding time and friction rise.
3. Rigid or Overly Opinionated Design Systems
When a design system is too prescriptive, teams find it difficult to adapt to special needs. When it’s too loose, it negates the benefit of standardization.
Why it Happens:
- Systems are built around the needs of a core product, with no consideration for edge cases.
- Insufficient flexibility for experimentation or specialized use cases.
- Infrequent updates to support evolving UX trends.
Consequences:
- Teams build bespoke components outside the system.
- Frustration with limited design potential.
- A widening gap between user needs and system capabilities.
4. Scaling Without Refactoring
As product lines, platforms, and users grow, so does the complexity of the system. Without regular refactoring, design systems bloat, become redundant, and hard to maintain.
Why it Happens:
- Teams focus on short-term delivery over long-term scalability.
- Technical debt is postponed indefinitely.
- No versioning or deprecation of legacy components.
Consequences:
- Apps’ performance problems.
- Component usage conflicts.
- System becomes unmanageable and loses trust.
5. Insufficient Developer Buy-in
Regardless of the excellence of a design system, without developer buy-in, it is a failure. If they find the system to be holding them back or lacking essential components, they will ignore it.
Why it Happens:
- Design and engineering teams do not work together.
- Components are not mapped to actual dev workflows in a real world.
- There is no feedback and contribution process for developers.
Consequences:
- Shadow design systems emerge within teams.
- Implementation inconsistencies increase.
- System loses authority and adoption.
6. Disconnected Design and Code
Some organizations utilize design systems as Figma-only libraries, without bridging the coded and visual divide.
Why it Happens:
- Teams treat design tokens and components as design-only deliverables.
- No syncing between design tooling and codebases.
- Code and design libraries evolve separately.
Consequences:
- Design spec and production UI mismatch.
- Uncertainty regarding what’s canonical.
- Inefficiency in product delivery.
7. Organizational Silos and Politics
Design systems are cross-functional, yet large companies operate in silos. Politics, territorialism, and miscommunication can stop system momentum in its tracks.
Why it Happens:
- Teams are only rewarded to optimize for their territory, not the system.
- Executive buy-in or strategic alignment doesn’t exist.
- Cross-functional collaboration is under-valued or under-managed.
Consequences:
- Fragmentation between teams or business units.
- Competing design systems emerge.
- System stagnates from lack of holistic support.
8. Not Thinking About Accessibility and Internationalization
As companies go global, accessibility and localization are crucial. If a design system does not provide these out of the box, it does not scale.
Why it Happens:
- Accessibility gets sidelines when the system is being built.
- Components are not versatile for RTL languages or for various cultural contexts.
- International teams resort to hacking or dropping the system.
Consequences:
- Legal risk for accessibility noncompliance.
- Poor user experience for international users.
- Increased complexity in maintenance.
9. Lack of Metrics and KPIs
If you can’t quantify the impact of a design system, you can’t justify its expansion or maintenance.
Why it Happens:
- No metric of component adoption, performance, or usability.
- Design system impact not tied to business outcomes.
- No feedback loops for continuous learning.
Consequences:
- System doesn’t get long-term investment.
- Hard to justify resources for upkeep or improvements.
- System falls into disrepair.
10. Not Designed for Change
Lastly, most design systems are built with a project mindset, not a product mindset. They’re not established to grow with the demands of the company.
Why it Happens:
- One-time funding or initiative driven.
- No roadmap for growth and evolution.
- No process for incorporating community contributions or innovation.
Consequences:
- System becomes outdated.
- Teams abandon it for faster, more agile alternatives.
- Design debt grows rapidly.
Future-Proofing Your Design System
To scale, a design system must be considered a living product with ownership, regular maintenance, stakeholder investment, and room to grow. The challenging aspect is not in constructing a system, but in making it stay relevant, flexible, and aligned with the evolving needs of the company.
Recommendations:
- Commit a design system team.
- Invest in training and documentation.
- Governance and contribution models, establish them.
- Regularly audit, measure, and refactor.
- Cultivate a culture of collaboration and shared ownership.
At scale, design systems aren’t failed by being bad ideas they’re failed by being established not to grow. Treat yours like a long-term investment, and it will pay dividends in consistency, efficiency, and product quality.