Re:Design Token-Based UI Architecture
by whoisstan on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @11:54AM
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It has to be useful for large organizations like for example IBM who need to maintain consistency on various domains, displays and media types. But I suspect it also can stiffle innovation.
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It also helps small teams build faster. A shared language around color, spacing, typography makes design/engineering collaboration way smoother, and reduces rework.
A good first step is to have your color palette in your design tool of choice consistent with the variable names used in CSS.
> But I suspect it also can stiffle innovation.
Like any system: it can both be empowering or the opposite.
It's a tough balancing act. Let's say you're Adobe, and you want Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign to feel like a single family of products across web/iOS/iPadOS/Windows: where do you want to let feature teams innovate, and where must they adhere to the system so users can navigate seamlessly across these products and platforms?