Why Study Other Design Systems?
Building a design system from scratch is one of the most complex challenges a designer or team can take on. Fortunately, some of the world's most sophisticated organizations have made their design systems publicly available. Studying them — not to copy, but to understand the thinking behind decisions — is one of the fastest ways to level up your own system-building skills.
1. Google Material Design
What it is: Google's comprehensive design language, originally launched in 2014 and now on its third major iteration (Material 3 / Material You).
What to learn: Material Design excels at adaptive theming — the system is built to flex across diverse products while maintaining coherence. Study how they handle elevation, motion principles, and dynamic color generation. The documentation depth is also unmatched — a master class in how to write design system guidance.
2. IBM Carbon Design System
What it is: IBM's open-source design system used across enterprise software and digital products.
What to learn: Carbon is exceptional at designing for complex, data-dense interfaces. If you work on dashboards, analytics tools, or enterprise applications, the way Carbon handles data tables, grids, and information hierarchy is instructive. Their accessibility documentation is particularly thorough.
3. Atlassian Design System
What it is: The design system powering Jira, Confluence, Trello, and other Atlassian products.
What to learn: Atlassian's system does an excellent job documenting the reasoning behind design decisions — not just what to do, but why. Their token architecture (design tokens for color, spacing, and typography) is a strong reference for teams building token-first systems.
4. Shopify Polaris
What it is: Shopify's design system for building apps and experiences within the Shopify ecosystem.
What to learn: Polaris demonstrates how a design system can serve a platform ecosystem — third-party developers building on Shopify need to create experiences that feel native. Study how they balance flexibility for developers with consistency for merchants. Their content guidelines (writing standards) are also some of the best publicly available.
5. Apple Human Interface Guidelines (HIG)
What it is: Apple's foundational design philosophy and component guidance for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and more.
What to learn: The HIG is a masterclass in platform-native thinking. Apple articulates why certain patterns exist and how they connect to user expectations built over decades. Even if you don't design for Apple platforms, reading the HIG sharpens your thinking about intentionality in design decisions.
6. GOV.UK Design System
What it is: The UK government's design system for public-facing digital services.
What to learn: Perhaps the most underrated design system on this list. GOV.UK prioritizes clarity, accessibility, and inclusivity above all else — because their users span the entire population, including people with low digital literacy or disabilities. Their research-backed component decisions and plain-language writing guidance are invaluable regardless of what you're building.
How to Actually Learn From Them
- Read the documentation, not just the UI. The thinking behind a component is often more valuable than the component itself.
- Look for what's missing. Every system has tradeoffs. Understanding what a system doesn't cover reveals the hard decisions its makers made.
- Compare how they solve the same problem. Pick one pattern — like a notification system or a form error state — and see how each system handles it differently.
- Note their governance models. How are changes proposed, reviewed, and shipped? Good design systems are as much about process as they are about pixels.
Final Thought
The best design systems are never finished — they're living products that evolve with the teams and users they serve. Studying these six examples gives you a vocabulary and a set of mental models that will inform every design system decision you make going forward.