Many design systems end up as beautiful Figma files that production code quietly ignores. The fix is to treat the system as a product with its own users.
Tokens first
Colours, spacing, radii, typography and shadows should be defined once as design tokens and consumed by both Figma and code. When a brand colour changes, it should change everywhere with one commit.
:root {
--color-primary: #1F6BFF;
--radius-card: 14px;
--space-4: 16px;
}Components that match reality
Build components from real screens, not from an abstract inventory. If three screens need a data table with filters, that is your next component.
Document decisions, not just usage
Good documentation explains when not to use a component. That prevents the slow drift into ten slightly different buttons.
Measure adoption
Track how many screens use system components versus one-offs. Adoption is the metric that tells you whether the system is working.
