Most design systems die not from bad intentions but from friction. If doing the right thing is slower than improvising, people will improvise — and the system erodes one shortcut at a time.

Optimise for the common case

We design the defaults around the components people reach for daily, not the rare edge cases. When the ninety-percent path is fast and obvious, adoption takes care of itself.

Documentation should live where the work happens. A rule nobody can find is a rule nobody follows, so we keep guidance close to the tools instead of buried in a distant wiki.

Leave room to grow

A healthy system has clear seams for extension. It says yes to new needs gracefully rather than forcing every team to fork it in secret.