Maintaining and improving the Fluxys design system.

We created a suite of applications for Fluxys, the company in Belgium that manages the gas transportation infrastructure. In particular, we developed a design system to ensure consistency across platforms and make efficient the development process. Additionally, we established internal processes and rituals for effectively managing and evolving the design system over time.

Team

2 UX designer, 1 UI designer

Industry

Energy distribution

Language

English

Year

2024/2025

My role

As a Design System Lead, my role is to oversee the creation, maintenance, and continuous evolution of the design system within the organization. I ensure that the system supports design consistency and enables efficient product development across teams.

Methodology

To ensure the continuous improvement of the design system, I have developed a structured methodology for requesting changes, updates, and new feature submissions. This process is key to systematizing everything, including design rationale crucial in the long term.

I have implemented a clear framework where team members can formally request changes or suggest updates to the design system. Each request goes through a review process to assess its feasibility and alignment with existing principles.

We hold weekly meetings with the design team focused on UX to review ongoing requests, evaluate potential updates, and address any emerging issues. Additionally, we organize ad-hoc review sessions with both users and developers. This allows us to gather feedback from a broader perspective and ensure that updates are aligned with user needs and technical requirements.

To promote the design system’s adoption across the organization, I organize workshops. These workshops serve multiple purposes: to sponsor and promote the adoption of the design system, to explain how to effectively use it, and to help teams navigate through the system.

Deliverables

Design System Documentation

Overview & Principles: A high-level explanation of the design system’s purpose, vision, and guiding principles.
Design Rationale: Clear documentation explaining the reasoning behind key design decisions, helping new team members or external collaborators understand why certain choices were made.
Usage Guidelines: Instructions on how to use the components, patterns, and elements in the system, ensuring consistency in application.
Component: Components library organized according to the principles of atomic design.
Backlog: record all request changes and debate within the design team per component.

Documentation overview of a filter component

☞ What I learn

👉🏼 Sometimes, small changes can have a far greater impact than big ones. For example, adjusting the naming system to better align with developers’ logic can lead to a fast adoption of the system, making the overall process more easy to manage.

👉🏼 Never assume stakeholders will automatically adopt and use the design system. Just like any other project, it requires continuous promotion, communication, and education to ensure its success and widespread adoption. Often, this crucial aspect is overlooked or underestimated, and as a result, a significant investment can become ineffective.

👉🏼 Documenting the rationale is crucial, yet often underestimated. If designers don’t record the reasoning behind decisions for every single component, it will be difficult to manage team turnover and maintain the design system in the long run.