As the design industry evolves, so do the roles and responsibilities of designers within organisations. Personally, I’m thrilled to see a clear shift toward product designers who are fully dedicated to design systems. From my perspective, the earlier a company can establish a dedicated design system team, the faster their product lifecycle will be, and the less they’ll end up spending on UI debt down the road.
What’s the difference? Aren’t they the same role?
Well, sort of… While a product designer (or UX/UI designer) typically focuses on a specific area of the user experience or product interface, a design system designer (DSD) works on a much broader scale. Rather than concentrating on just one product, DSDs are responsible for building and maintaining a cohesive design language that can be applied seamlessly across multiple products, platforms, and teams.
A key part of being a DSD is creating UI components and other design system documentation to define the foundational elements of a product’s user interface. But the role extends far beyond visual design. DSDs constantly thinking about how the components we build will be implemented in different contexts, ensuring they’re flexible enough to meet the evolving needs of various product teams. It’s not just about having a deep understanding of design—it’s about having the strategic vision to scale that design, ensuring consistency and adaptability across different environments.
A successful DSD strikes the right balance between creativity and scalability. They’re always keeping the end-user in mind while also anticipating the technical constraints and requirements of multiple product ecosystems. In essence, while product designers are busy crafting the individual pieces of the puzzle, DSDs are creating the framework that ensures all those pieces fit together harmoniously across the product suite.
Two layers of users
The role of a design system designer (DSD) involves addressing two key levels of design system users.
The first level consists of the internal users—designers, developers, and other teams who rely on the design system to build their products. These users are critical because the system needs to be intuitive, flexible, and scalable for them. A DSD must ensure that every component is well-documented, easy to implement, and integrates smoothly into their workflows. The success of the design system hinges on how effectively these internal users can adopt, understand, and utilise the components. This level focuses on making the system both usable and valuable for those who are involved in creating the products.
The second level involves the end-users of the products themselves. While product designers typically validate their designs through user testing to ensure usability, comprehension, and functionality, a DSD must consider these factors across a wider range. This often involves validating at a much higher level, and taking a much more granular approach to the detail that end users pay to components. The challenge here is to ensure that UI components maintain their usability and consistency, regardless of where they are deployed.
Testing at a High Level
While product designers usually test their designs as complete pages or user flows, DSDs need to focus on validating the components as much as possible before they reach the hands of the system’s consumers. Sometimes that means testing components in isolation from each other, and sometimes it means running tests in theoretical scenarios where the components will be used. It’s crucial to test things like:
Component interaction Information architecture Accessibility (color contrast, spacing, etc.) Transitioning from a product designer to a design system designer represents a significant shift in focus and responsibility. While both roles share a commitment to creating exceptional user experiences, the scope of a design system designer’s work is broader and more strategic.