Design Language System — Why You Need It?

Design language system — there is a lot of noise around this word. You may have come across a large group of articles on design language system. Now the simple question is — What is Design Language System (DLS)?

Design language system is a framework that combines the set of reusable components, standards and documentation. It provides consistency in the products, streamlines the process of design and development, and improves productivity. The design language system provides a standard for brand communication between teams.

Principles of Design Language System:

1. Efficiency — Design language system facilitates the design and development team to reuse the components thereby avoiding building similar components every time. This certainly improves the efficiency of the products.

2. Consistency — DLS shares a set of rules and principles to build components. This makes it easy to maintain consistency in experiences across various platforms.

3. Scale — Due to improved efficiency and consistency, an organization can 1. develop faster products at scale.

Why you need DLS?

DLS is needed as much as the efficiency, scale and consistency in design is needed. It combines tools and systematic processes to develop digital products with a modular approach. DLS shares one design language due to which everyone in the design and development team is on the same page. DLS creates visual harmony, minimizes blockages and improves the user experience.

Let’s see the benefits of design language system:

1. Regonizability

DLS designs a personality for a product that has its own character and other peculiarities. These give the product its own identity and allows it to be identified among the wide range of products in the market.

2. Consistency

DLS allows user to interact with a set of components that are consistent and interactive. This helps to create and specify the brand perception. A well-crafted DLS understands the subtleties of consistency, based on context changes the components and interactions.

3. User experience

A great design language system gives ease of use and enjoyment to users, which is what we call user experience, right? DLS enables users to interact with consistent and easy to use application. This is where the user’s experience is heightened and becomes pleasurable as well as enjoyable.

4. Increased productivity

A good DLS has an updated design repository and extensive documentation, which improves collaboration among team members. Everyone in the team is in the same loop, which increases productivity.

5. Better and healthier business

DLS allows the team to deliver finished product as per users’ needs and expectations. It reduces the time spent on design and development, which results in better and healthier business.

6. Efficiency

A well-crafted DLS enables the design and development team to develop, redevelop, changes product quickly and cost-effectively. The developers could focus on developing feature logic rather than view code.

7. Stability and Flexibility

DLS guides everyone in the ecosystem to align development in the future with the set standards. This brings in stability and flexibility that evolves with time and context.

8. Innovation

A great DLS implemented in the product gives opportunities to improve the product’s user experience. These opportunities lead to innovations that will ultimately benefit the business.

9. Bring newcomers on the same page

A well-implemented DLS is a precious tool for newcomers since it helps them in grasping on the brand identity, voice and tone. It helps them in comprehending the similar design language thereby enabling them to work independently.

10. Eliminate knowledge silos

Design language system eliminates knowledge silos and develops transparency. If only one person in a team has all the knowledge, which is not or cannot be shared, its quite frustrating. Some times, knowledge silos may result in product failure and here, DLS comes as a saviour.

Closing Thoughts

The benefits of design language system are innumerable, which will convince you why you need DLS. DLS helps designers and developers to tackle problems that arrive while designing and developing a product. Every one in the team should adapt to the set DLS in order to take appropriate decisions. If a design language system is managed properly, it provides successful outcomes.