Design System Roles

Design system roles define responsibilities for different types of work within design system teams. Clear roles prevent gaps and overlaps while enabling people to develop expertise in their areas of focus.

What Are Design System Roles

Roles specify what different team members do. Common roles include engineers who build components, designers who create visual and interaction design, product managers who set direction, and technical writers who create documentation. Roles may be dedicated or combined depending on team size.

Role clarity helps teams function effectively. When everyone understands their responsibilities and how they relate to others, work flows smoothly. Unclear roles create confusion about who does what and may result in dropped work or conflict.

How Roles Work in Design Systems

Engineering roles focus on component implementation. This includes writing component code, ensuring accessibility, writing tests, optimizing performance, and managing releases. Engineering may include multiple specializations: front-end frameworks, build tooling, or infrastructure.

Design roles focus on visual and interaction design. This includes creating component designs, maintaining design tools and libraries, defining design patterns, and ensuring consistency. Design roles bridge between brand/product design and technical implementation.

Product roles focus on strategy and prioritization. This includes understanding user needs, setting roadmap direction, defining success metrics, and managing stakeholder relationships. Product thinking ensures the design system serves organizational needs.

Documentation roles focus on creating content that helps users succeed. This includes writing guides, creating examples, maintaining documentation systems, and ensuring content stays current.

Support roles focus on helping users with questions and issues. This includes responding to inquiries, diagnosing problems, and connecting users with resources.

Key Considerations

• Small teams combine roles; one person may fill several functions
• Role boundaries should enable collaboration, not create silos
• Specialized roles require sufficient team size to be practical
• Roles should be documented so expectations are clear
• Roles may evolve as team composition and needs change

Common Questions

How should roles be distributed in small teams?

Small teams necessarily combine roles. A two-person team might have one engineer-focused and one design-focused person, each covering product, documentation, and support within their areas. As teams grow, specialization becomes possible. The key is ensuring all necessary functions receive attention even if dedicated roles do not exist.

How do design system roles differ from product team roles?

Design system roles often span broader scope than product team equivalents. Design system engineers may need expertise across multiple frameworks. Design system designers must consider diverse use cases rather than single products. The audience (other developers and designers) differs from end-user focus. These differences make design system work a specialization within broader disciplines.

Summary

Design system roles define responsibilities for different work types including engineering, design, product, documentation, and support. Clear roles enable effective collaboration and ensure necessary functions receive attention. Role configuration depends on team size and composition; small teams combine roles while larger teams may specialize.