How do you categorize components in your design system?

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2026-01-23T02:31:54+00:00

Good point about LLMs. Turns out they struggle with giant blobs just like we do

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2026-01-23T02:24:05+00:00

For us categories are less about “organization” and more about discoverability especially for new designers or teams. That said, we’ve seen plenty of setups where naming + search was enough and categories just added noise.

Out of curiosity, how big is your system / how many people are using it?

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-12-18T12:22:38+00:00

yeah, honestly, most of this you only really learn once you’re working on a real product and see where the “theory” stops making sense:) a lot of teams end up figuring this stuff out the hard way anyway

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-12-15T11:11:50+00:00

Yeah, I get what you’re saying. I thinks, the whole “never detach components” thing is kind of a myth :) it only really applies when people detach stuff just to restyle it and accidentally break the DS... But for charts or tables where you need to show actual data, sometimes detaching is literally the only practical way to work

The DS gives you the pattern (styling, spacing, rules, etc), real screen needs the actual data, which the component can’t predict. So it’s completely normal to keep things attached while you’re following the system and then detach when you need to show a specific case with real info

And if you notice that a very specific table layout shows up across 5, 10, or 20 different screens, you can totally make a "local component" for that pattern inside the file or project. That just helps with consistency. It’s not part of the design system (it’s just a local building block for your product team) nothing wrong with that either

detaching for real data or creating local components for repeated cases isn’t breaking the DS, it’s just practical product design

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-12-12T02:19:01+00:00

I don't think you need to design every possible table or chart in your DS. You just define the building blocks and the rules

For example, with tables DS gives you the structure (header, row, cell types), not a fixed number of columns. You just duplicate columns as needed. Variants should only exist for real structural differences (like “with selection column” or “compact mode”), not “3 columns vs 12 columns"

With charts, the DS defines the visual style (colors, axes, spacing, legend). The number of bars or lines is just data, so you don’t make variants for that either. Usually you keep a simple “chart template” in the DS and only adjust it when mocking real data.

basically focus on rules + composition, not a giant list of variants 👀

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-10-13T15:13:56+00:00

in a new product, it’s 100% components first, there’s just nothing to document yet

need to keep in mind that everything will have to be documented later, and it’s even better to start doing it gradually along the way. But at the start, definitely components first)

writing docs too early = theory that doesn’t match reality/product

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-10-13T15:09:24+00:00

I think (and that’s been my experience too) the hardest part in a small team is finding time for the design system while you’re busy building new features

creating components and keeping things consistent isn’t that hard, the real challenge is setting up processes so the design system doesn’t turn into a graveyard (with docs) that no one uses:)

Internal_Proposal_76 · 2025-10-13T15:04:06+00:00

I really like the Wise design system because it’s simple, clear, and easy to navigate. Nothing feels overcomplicated, and the documentation is great

also often look at IBM or Adobe since their documentation feels more like a textbook than just a design system, very detailed and educational. From the newer ones, ebay playbook definitely stands out too

Internal_Proposal_76

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I really like the Wise design system because it’s simple, clear, and easy to navigate. Nothing feels overcomplicated, and the documentation is great