What should a design system include?

A complete design system typically includes:

  • Reusable UI components – Buttons, inputs, modals, nav bars, and more, ready for both design and code use.

  • Style foundations – Defined color palette, typography, spacing, grid, and iconography for consistent visuals.

  • Design tokens – Named values for things like colors or spacing that sync design and development.

  • Documentation – Guidelines for usage, examples, and dos/don’ts, often hosted on a system portal or site.

Together, these elements create a single source of truth that improves consistency, speeds up workflows, and helps teams implement designs correctly across products.

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