A design system does not have to be a 200-component library. For most small teams, six decisions and a page of documentation will do more good than a year of tooling.
Design systems for teams that are not design teams
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Process
Everything on the site that matches your query.
Accessibility is a design decision, not a checklist
Most accessibility failures are decided in the design file, weeks before anyone writes markup. Here is where to catch them.
A performance budget you will actually keep
Speed is not a phase at the end of a project. Write three numbers into the brief and let them shape every decision that follows.
Writing website copy before the design exists
Designing around placeholder text produces layouts that only work with placeholder text. Write first, even badly.
Choosing colours that survive contact with a real site
A palette that looks beautiful on a moodboard often collapses the moment it has to render a disabled button. Build it in the order you will use it.