Enterprise Design System
2026
Design System 2.0
Moving seven products from hand-typed values and copied components to one shared system, built on a foundation of named tokens.
Overview
From seven islands to one shared system
Seven products were each styled on their own. Colour, spacing and type values were typed by hand, and teams rebuilt the same components again and again. v2 replaces that with named tokens, rebuilt components and written rules.
Problem
No shared foundation, and the rework it caused
The root problem was the missing foundation. The cost people felt was cognitive load: every redo, relearned pattern or extra decision adds mental effort.
Research
What the teams said, and what the code showed
Four groups use the system every day. Each described the same root issue from a different angle, and a code review tested it.
Ideation
Fixing the foundation before the surface
If the same issue appears in many components, it's a foundation problem, not another exception. I weighed three ways to respond to the audit.
Designs
Components that only accept valid choices
Components only use named tokens. Each part below answers one of the six themes.
Future Scope
What changed, and what is still open
