Abstract
Design systems are foundational in the design of user experience (UX) across platforms and products. Although design systems have become pervasive in design practice, the term remains ambiguous due to multiple definitions and conceptualizations. The lack of a shared definition can lead to misunderstandings and ill-aligned uses of design systems in practice, vulnerable to the same issues of parallel activities and inconsistencies that design systems are meant to prevent. This paper reviews the concept from the term’s origin in design theory and into its current practice and proposes a new frame of reference for researchers and practitioners, focusing on improved terminological clarity and consistency. The main contribution is a conceptual framework of elements, properties, and agents as features always present in a design system. The paper discusses this framework as a resource in design research and practice.
Keywords
Design Systems, Design Methods, Pattern Language, Design Language
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1307
Citation
Nielsen, M., Vistisen, P., Inie, N., and Biskjaer, M.M. (2026) Exploring Current Understandings of ‘Design Systems’: Toward a Conceptual Framework, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1307
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Exploring Current Understandings of ‘Design Systems’: Toward a Conceptual Framework
Design systems are foundational in the design of user experience (UX) across platforms and products. Although design systems have become pervasive in design practice, the term remains ambiguous due to multiple definitions and conceptualizations. The lack of a shared definition can lead to misunderstandings and ill-aligned uses of design systems in practice, vulnerable to the same issues of parallel activities and inconsistencies that design systems are meant to prevent. This paper reviews the concept from the term’s origin in design theory and into its current practice and proposes a new frame of reference for researchers and practitioners, focusing on improved terminological clarity and consistency. The main contribution is a conceptual framework of elements, properties, and agents as features always present in a design system. The paper discusses this framework as a resource in design research and practice.