Design systems that survive contact with reality
Most design systems die of neglect within a year. What separates the ones that last from the ones that become a graveyard of unused components.
A design system isn't a Figma file or a component library. It's an agreement between design and engineering about how the product is built, and like any agreement, it only holds if both sides keep it.
The systems that survive are the ones treated as products, with owners, versioning, and a feedback loop from the teams that use them. The ones that die are the ones handed over and forgotten.
Start smaller than feels comfortable. A dozen well-made, genuinely reused components beat a hundred speculative ones. Every component you add is a maintenance commitment, not a free asset.
And measure adoption honestly. If teams are working around your system, that's data, not disobedience. The system serves the product, never the other way around.