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Governance & Contribution

Creating Order from Chaos

Establish clear models for who can contribute, what the standards are, and how decisions are made. Good governance scales your design system while maintaining quality and consistency.

Governance Models

Choose the governance model that fits your organization's culture, size, and maturity level.

Centralized

Single team owns and controls the design system

Pros:

  • Fast decision making
  • Consistent vision
  • Clear accountability

Cons:

  • Limited input from consumers
  • Potential bottleneck
  • May miss edge cases
Best for: Small organizations, early-stage design systems
Federated

Multiple teams contribute with shared ownership

Pros:

  • Diverse perspectives
  • Shared responsibility
  • Better adoption

Cons:

  • Slower decisions
  • Potential conflicts
  • Coordination overhead
Best for: Medium to large organizations with multiple product teams
Democratic

Community-driven with voting mechanisms

Pros:

  • High engagement
  • Transparent process
  • Broad consensus

Cons:

  • Very slow decisions
  • Complexity
  • Potential for gridlock
Best for: Open source projects, highly collaborative cultures
Hybrid

Combines elements from multiple models

Pros:

  • Flexible approach
  • Balanced input
  • Adaptable to needs

Cons:

  • Complex to manage
  • Unclear boundaries
  • Requires maturity
Best for: Large, complex organizations with diverse needs

Contribution Guidelines

Clear guidelines ensure quality contributions while making it easy for teams to participate.

Who Can Contribute
  • Internal team members with design system training
  • External contributors with approved RFC
  • Community members for documentation and examples
  • Partner teams for specialized components
What Can Be Contributed
  • New components that solve common problems
  • Improvements to existing components
  • Documentation and usage examples
  • Bug fixes and accessibility improvements
How to Contribute
  • Start with an RFC for new components
  • Follow the established design and code standards
  • Include comprehensive documentation
  • Provide usage examples and test cases
Quality Standards
  • Meets accessibility requirements (WCAG 2.1 AA)
  • Responsive design across all breakpoints
  • Consistent with design system principles
  • Comprehensive test coverage (>90%)

Decision Framework

Standardized processes for different types of decisions ensure consistency and transparency.

New Component Addition
2-3 weeks

Process:

RFC → Design Review → Technical Review → Approval

Decision Maker:

Design System Lead

Criteria:

  • • Solves common problem
  • • Aligns with system principles
  • • Technically feasible
Breaking Changes
4-6 weeks

Process:

Impact Assessment → Stakeholder Review → Migration Plan → Approval

Decision Maker:

Design System Committee

Criteria:

  • • Significant benefit
  • • Clear migration path
  • • Stakeholder buy-in
Design Token Updates
1-2 weeks

Process:

Design Review → Impact Analysis → Gradual Rollout

Decision Maker:

Design Lead

Criteria:

  • • Brand alignment
  • • Accessibility compliance
  • • Backward compatibility
Deprecation
3-6 months

Process:

Usage Analysis → Deprecation Notice → Migration Support → Removal

Decision Maker:

Design System Lead + Engineering Lead

Criteria:

  • • Low usage
  • • Better alternative exists
  • • Maintenance burden

Roles & Responsibilities

Clear role definitions prevent confusion and ensure accountability in your governance model.

Design System Lead

Responsibilities:

  • Overall vision and strategy
  • Final decision authority
  • Stakeholder communication
  • Resource allocation

Required Skills:

Design leadership
Strategic thinking
Communication
Project management
Design System Committee

Responsibilities:

  • Major decision review
  • Cross-team representation
  • Conflict resolution
  • Priority setting

Required Skills:

Domain expertise
Collaboration
Decision making
Systems thinking
Contributors

Responsibilities:

  • Component development
  • Documentation creation
  • Testing and validation
  • Community support

Required Skills:

Design/development skills
Documentation
Quality focus
Collaboration
Building Your Governance Model

Start with a simple governance model and evolve it as your design system matures and your organization grows.

1

Assess Your Organization

Consider your size, culture, and current decision-making processes to choose the right model.

2

Define Roles Clearly

Make sure everyone knows who's responsible for what. Ambiguity leads to conflicts and delays.

3

Document Everything

Create a governance charter that outlines your model, processes, and decision-making authority.

4

Iterate and Improve

Regularly review your governance model and adjust based on what's working and what isn't.