There are 13 common challenges that design and engineering teams may encounter.

1. Initial Time Investment

Creating a complete design system requires a considerable amount of effort and time. To enjoy its advantages, teams need to invest resources in creating guidelines, components, and documentation. Design and engineering teams usually begin by adopting an existing solution such as MUI or Tailwind UI to save time and avoid starting from scratch.

2. Maintaining and Updating

As software and branding evolve, the design system also requires updates to stay relevant. Neglecting to maintain it can lead to it becoming outdated rather swiftly. While developing new product features is typically the top priority, investing in the design system is often put on the back burner.

3. Flexibility Concerns

Occasionally, rigidity can pose a problem for teams. They may discover that the components only cater to specific requirements, resulting in workarounds that could potentially undermine the design system’s integrity.

4. Overhead for Small Projects

If you are working on small projects or startups that require quick iterations, you might think that a design system is unnecessary and could slow you down. Having a complete design system can be too much for teams to handle in terms of implementation and could hinder innovation.

5. Difficult Implementation

Integrating a new design system into an already established project can be difficult since it might entail a major revamp of the current user interface.

6. Resistance to Change

Some members of the team may be hesitant to adopt the design system, particularly if they feel it limits their creativity or adds unnecessary complexity.

7. Standardization vs. Innovation

Strict adherence to a design system may hinder creativity and limit designers from exploring new and innovative design solutions. Standardization could potentially stifle innovation.

8. Complexity

As a design system expands, it can become more intricate and difficult to grasp, especially for those who are new to it.

9. Training and Onboarding

It may be more challenging for new team members to get accustomed to the design system, resulting in a potentially steeper learning curve.

10. Potential Over-reliance

Teams might rely too much on the design system and occasionally need to pay more attention to the need to re-evaluate the overall user experience.

11. Versioning Issues

If there are multiple versions of the design system being used across different projects, it can lead to consistency.

12. Cross-functional Alignment

It can be difficult to get everyone on the same page and working together when you have multiple teams (such as design, development, and product management) involved.

13. Diverse User Needs

It’s important to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach when designing systems for diverse user groups. The design should be inclusive and meet the accessibility needs of all users.