Every new screen should be faster than the last one.
A design system is a documented library of tokens, components and patterns that keeps a product's interface consistent as the team grows. Haryes builds these in Figma with clear usage rules and developer hand-off notes.
Without a system, the product drifts.
One designer makes a button. Another makes a slightly different button. A developer builds a third because neither file was findable. Two years later the product has eleven buttons, six blues and no two forms that behave alike.
The cost is not aesthetic. It is speed.
- Every new screen redesigned from scratch because nothing is reusable.
- Developers guessing at spacing and colour because the handoff is a screenshot.
- Accessibility decided per screen, which means decided inconsistently.
- A rebrand that becomes a six-month project because nothing is tokenised.
How a system is built
From what you have, not from a blank file.
Audit what exists
Every component, colour, type size and spacing value currently in use, collected and counted. The count is usually the convincing part.
The real inventory.
Define the tokens
Colour, type, spacing, radius and elevation as named values rather than hard-coded numbers.
One source of truth.
Build the components
The components you actually use, with their states, variants and accessibility behaviour defined.
A library, not a style guide.
Write the rules
When to use which component, and what not to do. The part that is always skipped and always needed.
Decisions already made.
Hand over to developers
Naming, structure and behaviour documented so the code library matches the design library.
One system, two places.
What a system actually buys you
Four returns, and they compound.
Speed
New screens assembled from existing parts rather than designed from nothing each time.
The main return.
Consistency without policing
The right thing becomes the easy thing, so consistency stops being a review conversation.
Fewer arguments.
Accessibility by default
Contrast, focus and keyboard behaviour solved once in the component rather than per screen.
Built in, not bolted on.
Cheap rebrands
Tokenised values mean a visual refresh is a token change, not a rebuild.
Future work gets cheaper.
What you get
Delivered as Figma files with documentation, for teams with their own developers.
Token set
Named, not hard-coded.
- Colour, type, spacing, radius, elevation
- Light and dark where you need it
- Structured for code as well as design
Component library
In Figma, with variants.
- Every state defined
- Accessibility behaviour specified
- Only the components you use
Usage documentation
Rules, and the reasoning.
- When to use which component
- What not to do
- Content and tone guidance where relevant
Developer hand-off
So the code matches.
- Naming and structure aligned
- Behaviour documented
- A walkthrough with the engineering team
Questions clients ask before they commit
How big does a team need to be?
Two designers or three developers is usually the point where it pays for itself. Below that, a documented set of tokens and a handful of components is enough and a full system is overkill.
Do you build the code library too?
We hand over design and documentation structured so your developers can build it, and we work alongside them while they do. Where we also build the product, the two are built together.
Can you work with what we already have?
Almost always, and it is the better path. We start by auditing what exists, keep what is working, and consolidate the rest rather than replacing everything.
How long does it take?
Typically four to eight weeks depending on how many components you genuinely use. The audit at the start usually finds fewer real patterns than anyone expected.
Growing team, or growing mess?
More people are touching the product than before.
A system now is far cheaper than consolidating in two years.
Scope my design systemInconsistency is slowing everyone down.
We audit what exists and consolidate rather than start again.
See the UX auditA design system is a set of decisions you only have to make once. That is the whole value.
