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.
When to Split Your System
A decision-making framework to help assess if and when a single design system should be split into multiple systems based on scale, platform differences, or business structure.
When to use it
When your system is starting to strain under the weight of multiple brands, platforms, or products and you’re unsure if a single system still makes sense.
Steps
- Map out platforms, brands, or teams using the system.
- Evaluate the overlap and divergence in component usage, tech stack, and user needs.
- Check for bottlenecks — are updates or releases slowing down due to conflicting needs?
- Assess team structure and ownership — is there capacity to maintain separate systems?
- Estimate duplication costs versus maintenance burden of a unified system.
Outcome
- Clear criteria for making a strategic decision to split or stay unified
- Alignment across teams on system direction
- Reduced risk of premature fragmentation
