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Design Standards

What are design standards?

Design standards are documented guidelines, principles, and rules that define how design work should be done so that products stay consistent, high quality, and aligned with accessibility and brand. They can cover visual style, interaction patterns, content, and process. A design system often implements design standards in components and tokens.

Use it when: you have multiple designers, products, or teams and need a shared “how we design” so decisions are consistent and new people can onboard quickly.

Copy/paste checklist (minimum standards)

Why design standards matter

  • Keep products consistent so users aren’t confused by different patterns in different places.
  • Reduce repeated decisions so teams move faster and onboard easier.
  • Raise quality by embedding accessibility and usability in the rules.
  • Give design and dev a shared reference so handoff is clearer.

What good design standards include

Checklist

  • [ ] Written and findable – Not only in people’s heads; documented and linked from design system or wiki.
  • [ ] Practical – Examples and “do / don’t” so they’re actionable.
  • [ ] Aligned with system – If you have a design system, standards and components match.
  • [ ] Include accessibility – WCAG level, keyboard, focus, contrast.
  • [ ] Living – Updated when patterns or product change; someone owns them.

Common formats

  • Principles: Short statements (e.g. “Clear over clever”, “Accessible by default”). Use for high-level alignment.
  • Guidelines: Specific rules (e.g. “Primary button one per screen”, “Error messages explain cause and next step”). Use for day-to-day decisions.
  • Design system docs: Standards embedded in design system documentation (usage, do/don’t, accessibility notes).

Examples

Example (the realistic one)

Standards doc: “Buttons: one primary per screen; label must describe action (‘Save changes’ not ‘Submit’). Errors: state what went wrong and what to do next; use microcopy guidelines. All interactive elements: keyboard focusable, visible focus ring; meet WCAG AA. New flows: wireframe before high-fidelity; usability test before ship.” The design system implements these in components and tokens; designers and devs refer to both.

Common pitfalls

  • Too vague: “Be consistent.” → Do this instead: Give concrete rules and examples (e.g. “Use system button variants only”).
  • Not used: Document exists but nobody checks. → Do this instead: Tie to definition of done, review, or design system adoption; assign an owner.
  • No accessibility: Standards don’t mention keyboard, focus, or WCAG. → Do this instead: Add an accessibility section and reference WCAG and accessibility terms.
  • Out of date: Standards from two years ago no longer match the product. → Do this instead: Review periodically; update when you change the design system or patterns.
  • Standards vs design system: Design system is the implementation (tokens, components, code); design standards are the rules and principles. The system should reflect the standards.
  • Standards vs style guide: A style guide is often visual (brand, type, colour); design standards can include interaction, content, and process as well.
  • Standards vs guidelines: “Guidelines” is often used for the same thing; “standards” can imply something the team must follow. Use the term that fits your culture.

Next step

If you don’t have written standards, draft one page: 3–5 principles plus 5–10 concrete rules (e.g. buttons, errors, accessibility). Link it from your design system or team wiki and assign an owner to keep it current.

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