Introduction: Design Systems Need More Than Design
A design system isn’t just a collection of components—it’s a living product with stakeholders, version control, maintenance, and roadmaps. Without clear governance, even the best system becomes outdated, inconsistent, or ignored.
In this guide, we explore how to set up governance structures that ensure your Figma-based design system stays organized, relevant, and truly collaborative.
1. What Is Design System Governance?
Design system governance refers to:
- Ownership: Who’s in charge of creating, maintaining, and evolving the system?
- Process: How updates are proposed, approved, and released
- Rules: Standards for naming, structure, accessibility, and contribution
- Communication: How you document, announce, and educate users
Governance helps your system scale without chaos.
2. Define Roles and Responsibilities
Avoid the “everyone owns it = no one owns it” trap.
Typical governance roles include:
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Design System Lead | Oversees quality, roadmap, and strategic direction |
| Component Maintainers | Update, review, and test components across teams |
| Contributors | Propose new patterns or improvements |
| Consumers | Use and provide feedback on components (designers/devs) |
🧠 Pro Tip: Make roles visible in the system documentation. Show who to contact for what.
3. Set Up a Contribution Workflow
Let your team contribute—but with structure.
Suggested Contribution Flow:
- Branch the library file (Figma Branching)
- Propose new or updated components
- Review by maintainers or governance team
- Test across themes, breakpoints, Dev Mode
- Merge and Publish to the main library
- Document usage and announce the update
✅ Tools like Figma branching, version history, and sticky notes make this possible inside Figma.
4. Define Naming and Organizational Standards
Keep your system clean by enforcing:
- ✅ Component naming:
Button/Primary/Large - ✅ Variable structure:
Color/Surface/Alt - ✅ Page order:
Foundations,Components,Templates - ✅ Frame labeling: Clear, consistent, searchable
🧩 This helps consumers find what they need—and keeps the library intuitive as it grows.
5. Use Tags, Status, and Version Labels
Track what’s stable, experimental, or deprecated.
Component Tags to Consider:
✅ Ready🔧 In Progress⚠️ Deprecated🧪 Experimental
You can use:
- Frame labels
- Section headers
- Color-coded backgrounds
- Figma’s Variables to support component status (e.g., hide deprecated variants)
6. Create a Release and Communication Plan
When changes go live:
- Post in Slack/Teams: “New dropdown variants now available 🎉”
- Update documentation pages in Figma
- Maintain a Changelog page inside your system file
- Record Loom walkthroughs for new features
📢 Communication builds trust—and adoption.
7. Review and Audit Regularly
Governance isn’t just setup—it’s ongoing.
Every quarter, audit:
- Which components are used (or not used)?
- What’s duplicated across files?
- Are tokens consistent across light/dark/brands?
- Do dev teams trust the specs?
Use analytics tools, surveys, and interviews to adjust governance as needed.
8. Build a Governance Charter or Playbook
Summarize your structure in a single doc:
- Who owns what
- How to propose changes
- Naming and style rules
- How to report bugs or inconsistencies
- What to expect from quarterly reviews
🗂 This document becomes the rulebook for your system’s health.
Conclusion: Governance Makes Scaling Possible
A design system without governance is just a component graveyard. But with clear ownership, contribution workflows, and ongoing review, your system becomes a trusted asset that grows with your team.
Whether you’re managing a small design team or an enterprise platform, governance ensures that what you build in Figma actually lasts.
Designilo 