How is your design system really doing?
Every year we ask the folks who build and run design systems how it’s going, from team size and tooling to budgets and adoption. This is the sixth edition, and for the first time we’re also asking what AI is doing with your components. It closes at 11:59pm PT on Wednesday 16 December.
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It takes about 15–20 minutes and saves as you go (we only publish totals, never anyone’s individual answers).
Why should I fill this survey in?
Get data about what you do day-to-day
When the report’s out, you’ll see how your team size, tools, adoption and funding compare with everyone else’s (handy the next time someone asks why you need another engineer). Tick the box at the end and we’ll send it to you first.
Help other teams work out what normal looks like
For five years, the Design Systems Report (formerly How We Document) has tracked how design system work is changing. Your answers tell other teams whether what they’re doing is the norm, or whether they’re out on their own.
In-depth analysis built up over five years
The same team at zeroheight has analyzed the results every year, so we can call out what’s actually changing, backed up by the thousands of teams we talk to each year.
Last year, 147 people told us...
- 3 in 5 design system teams didn’t have enough people to meet their goals.
- 32% were satisfied with how well their organization secures buy-in, down from 42% the year before.
- 1 in 10 had built AI into their design system processes, though nearly half were experimenting with it.
What we’ll ask about
The survey skips anything that doesn’t apply to you, and every open-text box is optional. Open a section to see what’s in it.
Your role, your organization and where you’re based, so we can compare like with like.
You’ll be asked things like
- What’s your primary discipline?
- Which one best describes your work environment?
- What is the size of your company?
- What industry best describes the company of the primary design system you work on?
- 8 questions
How your design system is set up and the team behind it: its model, size, roles, and whether it has enough people.
You’ll be asked things like
- How are design systems structured at your company?
- How old is the design system at your company?
- What is your design system team model?
- Has your design system model changed in the last 12 months?
- Up to 10 questions, 6 only if they apply to you
What your design system includes, how satisfied you are with each part, how stable it is and how many brands or themes it serves.
You’ll be asked things like
- What’s included in the design system?
- How satisfied are you with each of these areas?
- How stable would you consider the design system?
- How many brands or themes does your design system serve?
- Up to 5 questions, 1 only if they apply to you, 1 new this year
Whether you use design tokens, how they’re automated and layered, how you theme with them, and how happy you are with the setup.
You’ll be asked things like
- Which of the following do you have in regards to design tokens?
- Do you have your variables and tokens automated across your workflow?
- Do you alias tokens across multiple design systems, for example a global system and child systems?
- Which of these layers do you have in your design tokens?
- Up to 7 questions, 6 only if they apply to you
Where your documentation lives, what gets documented, who writes it and when, and how current it stays.
You’ll be asked things like
- What do you currently use to document your design system?
- Which of those is the primary home for your documentation?
- How satisfied are you with your documentation tools?
- What is actually documented?
- Up to 8 questions, 7 only if they apply to you, 6 new this year
How widely the system is used, what helps and hinders adoption, how much people trust it, and how changes are communicated.
You’ll be asked things like
- How widely is the design system adopted throughout your company?
- What do you think are the three key factors contributing to how well adopted your system is?
- What do you think are the three key factors holding adoption back?
- How has the design system impacted collaboration between design and development teams?
- Up to 13 questions, 7 only if they apply to you, 1 new this year
Who can contribute and how that feels, plus the governance, versioning and deprecation practices you have in place.
You’ll be asked things like
- Who can contribute to the design system?
- How many designers outside the core team contribute to the design side?
- How many developers outside the core team contribute to the code side?
- How satisfied are you with the contribution process?
- Up to 10 questions, 3 only if they apply to you, 2 new this year
How you measure success, whether you’ve put a number on the system’s value, how it’s funded and who sponsors it.
You’ll be asked things like
- What metrics do you use to track the success of the design system?
- What tools do you use to measure your design system?
- Roughly what share of your product UI is built from the design system?
- Have you ever put a financial figure on the design system’s value?
- Up to 8 questions, 1 only if they apply to you, 4 new this year
The design tools, platforms, frameworks, accessibility tools and plugins you use, and where the gaps are.
You’ll be asked things like
- What do you currently use to create the design assets for your design system?
- How satisfied are you with your design tools?
- What platforms does your design system currently support on the code side?
- What platforms or frameworks do you currently use to build for the web?
- Up to 12 questions, 6 only if they apply to you
How much of your design system work is automated, and what you wish was.
You’ll be asked things like
- How much automation is integrated into your design system processes?
- How automated is each of these areas?
- How satisfied are you with the automation in your design system overall?
- Up to 5 questions, 2 only if they apply to you
Whether your team uses AI in its design system work, where, and how well it’s living up to the promise.
You’ll be asked things like
- Do you currently use AI with your design system?
- How long have you been using AI in your design system?
- In what areas do you use AI in your design system?
- How well is AI living up to the promise for your design system?
- Up to 8 questions, 3 only if they apply to you
New this year: whether AI tools build product UI with your design system, and how often they get it right.
You’ll be asked things like
- Do AI coding tools at your company generate product UI using your design system?
- Which AI tools are used to build product UI at your company?
- Have you done anything to make your design system readable by AI tools?
- What do you use your design system’s MCP server for?
- Up to 8 questions, 5 only if they apply to you
New this year: how your budget and headcount have changed, and whether AI has come into those decisions.
You’ll be asked things like
- Has your design system budget or headcount changed in the last 12 months?
- In the last 12 months, has your design system team been restructured, reduced or absorbed?
- Has AI been cited in decisions about the size or scope of your design system team?
- Up to 4 questions, 3 only if they apply to you
Whether you’d like the report and are happy for us to get in touch. Contact details are optional.
You’ll be asked things like
- 0 questions
The small print
- Who should take it?
- Anyone who works on or with a design system, in-house or at an agency. Designers, engineers, content designers, DesignOps, PMs and the folks who lead them all count.
- How long does it take?
- About 15–20 minutes for most people. It skips questions that don’t apply to you, so it depends on your answers (and on how much you write in the open-text boxes, which are all optional).
- When does it close?
- At 11:59pm PT on Wednesday 16 December 2026. That’s 7:59am on Thursday 17 December in London.
- Can I stop and come back later?
- Yes. Your answers save in this browser as you go, and this page will show a ‘Continue’ button when you come back. Come back on the same device and browser to pick up where you left off.
- Are my answers anonymous?
- Yes. We only publish totals. If you leave your name and email at the end, we keep them separate from your answers when we analyze the data, and only use them for what you opt into.
- I work on more than one design system. Can I answer twice?
- Yes, once per design system. When you finish, you’ll see an option to start a new response.
- What happens to my data?
- We store it securely and use it to write the Design Systems Report. Read the zeroheight privacy policy, or email community@zeroheight.com if you’d like us to delete your response.