Design Systems in the Wild

A design system is a product, not a deliverable. This session looks at what keeps cross-functional teams aligned once the components are shipped: the rituals, handoff frameworks, and tooling that make the system feel owned by everyone rather than guarded by a few.

We will walk through decision logs, contribution models, and governance patterns that scale with an organisation — and, just as importantly, the communication habits that keep a system from becoming a bottleneck.

Key Takeaways

• Collaboration rituals that survive real shipping pressure
• Shared documentation and contribution templates
• Feedback loops between design and engineering
• Governance models that scale without bureaucracy