Most teams start a design system after the third button that looks almost, but not quite, like the other two. The cost is rarely the button; it is the conversation every time someone has to choose.

A system turns those conversations into decisions made once, written down where people work.

We work in short cycles with the people who will use the result:

• Name the parts the way the team already talks about them.
• Write down when to use each one, and when not to.
• Let the build check what people forget.