Automation is the key to efficiency and consistency in scalable and modular design. Recognizing the potential of streamlining our design-to-development workflow, our team, alongside our talented front-end developer, embarked on building a comprehensive Design System (DS) repository on GitHub with integrated automation.
🔄 The Process
1. Figma Design Creation 🎨:
Our journey started in Figma, where design components were meticulously crafted, ensuring they captured our brand's essence while being functional.
2. Token Extraction & Style Asset Generation 🗂️:
Once the designs were finalized, the magic of automation began. Using the power of Style Dictionary, we extracted design tokens and generated essential
style assets seamlessly.
3. React Component Creation ⚛️:
With style assets in hand, the focus shifted to development. React components were created, encapsulating the design principles and ensuring reusability across projects.
4. Storybook Rendering & Mono Repo Integration 📚:
Before being merged into the main codebase, every component was rendered using Storybook. This step ensured visual consistency and functionality. Additionally, integrating with a mono repo setup allowed for streamlined management of our components, enhancing collaboration.
5. Unit and Regression Testing 🔍:
They underwent rigorous unit and regression tests to ensure our components' robustness and reliability. This pivotal step ensured that new additions or modifications did not inadvertently break existing functionalities.
6. Automated NPM Publishing 📦:
The final step involved automation tools pushing our components as packages to NPM, ensuring that other teams and projects could easily incorporate and benefit from our design system.
🌟 The Advantages
- Consistency Across Boards 🔄: With design tokens and automated pipelines, we've eliminated manual errors and ensured uniformity in design and code.
- Simplified Management 📋: The mono repo structure, combined with automation, means less manual oversight and more efficient component management.
- Efficient Updates 🔧: Changes or updates can be rolled out swiftly, ensuring that every application or website using our DS is always up-to-date.
- Enhanced Testing Process 🔍: With Storybook integration, real-time visualization and testing became a breeze, ensuring quality at every step.
In conclusion, Our automated DS GitHub repository is a beacon for efficiency, consistency, and collaboration in the modern design and development landscape.