After building various design systems for clients and companies, I wanted to take what I've learned to write up a checklist that you can use to make sure you've covered all the essentials.
Working in the open.
This design library checklist is in progress, so it may have some bugs as I refine and complete it. If you have feedback or suggestions to help make it a valuable tool for your flow, please reach out.
Design Language
This is how your product “talks” to people. It’s the look, feel, and flow that makes everything feel connected. When it all works together, users don’t have to think too hard.
Brand
Your brand is more than a logo or a cool name. It’s what you stand for and how people remember you. It should guide every decision you make.
You lose, if your product feels different every time someone uses it. Clear guidelines help your team stay on the same page and create a consistent experience no matter where or how people use your product.
This is the base layer of your design system. Stuff like colors, fonts, and tokens live here. When you change something here, it ripples out through everything else... o it’s important to get it right.
Color
Color isn’t just for looks. It helps people understand what to do, what matters, and what to pay attention to. A good color system supports your brand and makes your product easier to use.
A good layout helps people make sense of what they’re looking at. Using a consistent grid and spacing makes things easier to scan and more comfortable to use.
Text is how most people get info from your product. A clear type scale with good structure helps users read faster and understand what matters. It also gives your brand a voice without saying a word.
Icons are quick visual cues that help people understand actions or content fast. When used right, they make the interface easier to use. When used randomly, they just create noise. Keep them consistent and meaningful.
Elevation is how you show that one thing sits above another in your interface. In light mode, that usually means shadows. In dark mode, it’s done with different background colors.
Motion helps guide people through your product. It can show what’s changing, what just happened, or what to focus on. Used right, it feels smooth and helpful. Used wrong, it just gets in the way.
Core components are the basic building blocks of your interface. They show up everywhere in your product, like buttons, inputs, and toggles. Reusing them helps reduce design and tech debt, keeps things consistent, and speeds up development.
These components are meant to be complete. If you split them into smaller pieces, they stop working the way they’re supposed to. Therefore this list won't include items formed by cor components such as headers, menus, etc...
Accordian (Collapse)
An accordion shows or hides content when you click or tap a trigger. It’s a simple way to keep things tidy and let users reveal info as needed.
Badges are small labels that show a status or bit of info. They can highlight something new, show a value, or mark a state—without taking up much space.
Buttons let users take action. They’re one of the most used and most important parts of any interface, so they need to be clear, consistent, and accessible.
Calendars let users pick a single date or a range of dates. They’re built as a grid of days and are used in things like forms, filters, and schedulers.
Carousels let users scroll through a group of related content, usually side to side. They’re great for saving space while still showing multiple items.
Icons are usually SVGs wrapped in a component (and sometimes fonts) to control how they look and behave. They help support content visually and should stay consistent across the product.
Links are text-based elements used to navigate around your product or site. They should be easy to spot, easy to use, and follow best practices for accessibility.
Loading indicators show that something’s happening, even if we don’t know how long it’ll take. They help set expectations and reduce confusion while users wait.
Modals are containers that sit on top of the main content. They’re used for focused tasks or important messages that need the user’s attention before going back to the rest of the page.
A progress bar, donut, and other shaped progress components show how far along a task is, especially when it takes time or happens in steps. It helps set expectations and reduce guesswork.
Tabs let users switch between different views or sections without leaving the page. They’re great for organizing content into smaller, manageable pieces.
Text fields are used for entering single lines of text—like names, emails, or search terms. They’re one of the most common form elements, so they need to be clear, consistent, and accessible.
Design systems aren’t “set it and forget it” projects. They need regular updates, clear planning, and open feedback loops. To keep things running smoothly, your team should treat the system like any other product—something you build, maintain, and improve together over time.
Documentation
Good documentation saves everyone time. It helps new folks get started, answers common questions, and keeps designers and developers aligned without needing constant check-ins.
Your design system should cover the core building blocks, but not every component in the product. Product teams will sometimes need to create their own local components to handle specific use cases. That’s expected, and totally fine, as long as there’s a shared understanding of how and when to do it.
Scaling a design system takes more than solid components, it takes smart processes. Having clear workflows helps your team stay focused, avoid repeat conversations, and build better relationships with your users.
Supporting designers and developers is key to growing your system. When people know they can ask questions, report bugs, and get help easily, they’re more likely to use the system, and help improve it. Your job is to make sharing safe, simple, and worth it.
Design systems work best when everyone has a voice. Invite product teams to contribute, give them the tools to do it right, and support them in becoming system advocates across the company.