Design System Tactics.
Whether you're starting fresh or maintaining a mature system, this growing collection of tactics is designed to help you make progress at every stage.
How to Split a Design System
Split your design system into separate but scalable and maintainable parts — whether by platform, brand, or product — while preserving shared foundations.
When to use it
Once you’ve decided to split your system and want to do it in a way that balances flexibility and consistency.
Steps
- Define shared foundations (e.g., tokens, icons, base components) to live in a core system.
- Set up separate libraries for each platform or brand with overrides or additions as needed.
- Establish clear governance and ownership for each system.
- Document the relationships between systems so contributors understand where to go and how things connect.
- Build with reusability in mind to reduce duplicate effort across systems.
Outcome
- Sustainable, scalable system architecture
- Clear separation of concerns with shared foundations
- Easier onboarding and contribution across multiple systems
