Open Design System Development

Open design system development conducts design system work publicly with community participation rather than behind closed doors. This approach borrows from open source practices, applying them to internal design systems to gain similar benefits of collaboration and transparency.

What Is Open Development

Open development makes design system work visible and participatory. Source code is accessible for review. Discussions happen in public channels. Roadmaps and decisions are shared openly. Contributions from outside the core team are welcomed and supported.

Open development contrasts with closed approaches where the design system team works privately and releases finished work. Open development provides visibility throughout the process, enabling input and collaboration before decisions are finalized.

How to Practice Open Development

Public repositories make code accessible for inspection, learning, and contribution. Even for internal design systems, making repositories visible within the organization enables broader engagement. Issues and pull requests become venues for collaboration.

Open discussion channels bring conversations out of private meetings. Slack channels, discussion forums, or issue comments where design system topics are discussed enable participation from anyone interested. Public discussion also creates searchable records.

Participatory decision-making involves users in significant choices. RFCs (Request for Comments) for major changes, design reviews with community input, and voting on priorities give users voice in direction. This participation builds ownership and improves decisions.

Contribution support helps those outside the core team contribute effectively. Contribution guidelines, mentorship for first-time contributors, and responsive review of submitted work makes contribution accessible.

Key Considerations

• Open development requires more effort for communication and coordination
• Not all decisions benefit from broad participation; some require expert judgment
• Open development may slow some decisions but often improves outcomes
• Community engagement requires cultivation; openness alone does not create participation
• Organizational culture affects whether open development can succeed

Common Questions

How does open development work for internal design systems?

Internal open development applies open source practices within organizational boundaries. The “community” is other teams and individuals in the organization. Repositories, discussions, and processes are visible within the organization even if not externally. Benefits of collaboration and transparency apply internally just as they do externally.

What should remain closed in otherwise open development?

Some matters may warrant privacy: personnel issues, security vulnerabilities before patches, strategic discussions with competitive implications, or preliminary explorations that may confuse if shared prematurely. Defaulting to openness while maintaining specific boundaries for sensitive matters balances transparency with practical needs.

Summary

Open design system development makes work visible and participatory, applying open source practices to gain collaboration and transparency benefits. Practices include public repositories, open discussion channels, participatory decision-making, and contribution support. Open development requires effort but typically improves outcomes and builds engaged user communities.