Design System Workflow

Report · Dec 13, 2021

Hello,
i am trying to create a design system file that will display all my assets in one place, so they would be categorized orderly, and be the base of all versions of my app. i have started with a basic design of the app itself, as one is supposed to do and as explained in official adobe tutorials. now that i want to manage the library from the design system file, i have many setbacks.
everything is linked to the first file, and there is no way the add components or edit the document library from the design system file.also, you cant even ungroup more than one component at once (i thought of recreating the library)
i want to manage all my components in the Design System document, not in my basic version app file.

so what am i suppose to do now?
am i meant to go over each component, ungroup it, reset as component, upload again as a new library? it doesn't make sense...
what was your intention with the design system workflow?

{I'll explain the work process i conducted:

i have designed an app on XD with dozens of screens, as an basic version. Now I want to create a design system document out of the components in that basic version, in order to use in all future versions. So saved fonts, colours and components to the document library, uploaded it. created a new document, made a grid of all the colors and their tokens, fonts as well, dropped all components into to categorised artbords... and now I'm stuck...}

Report · Dec 13, 2021

Hi Neria,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your workflow. Before sharing the resolution, I'd like to summarize what I understood.
You have created a Basic design app = Design system file A with published library. Then you created 2nd version of the app with linked components from file A= File B. Now you are trying to make design system file B. However, you are unable to publish library B)

If this is the case, then ungrouping the components and resetting them again is not the solution. Instead, you must select all the linked components from "Assets panel > Documents Assets" and make them a local component, as shown in the image below.

Once you convert the linked components to local components, you may publish the design system file B library.

I hope this solves your problem, and I'd be happy to answer any follow-up questions.

Thanks,

Atul_Saini

Report · Dec 13, 2021

Hi Atul,
thank you for the quick reply.
yes, you understand correctly the work I've been doing (except for file A is not a design system document).
your solution does makes things easier by making all components local in the design system document,
then publish it as a new library and use assets from there in the new version.

But it still doesn't answer the more important question:
what was Adobe's intention with the design system workflow?

design system is never the first stage. there will always be some actual design before starting one.
making all components local in the design system document does not enable you to manage all assets from it (to affect file A, you can affect only new versions you design from scratch), and creates 2 libraries for the same app.

Report · Dec 13, 2021

also:
making all components local does not make them primary, so it's still forcing the user to go one by one,
press "edit main component" and replace it on the artboard with the other one.

Report · Dec 14, 2021

Let me check if there's any other way to get this done efficiently for you. Meanwhile, you may submit your feedback here https://adobexd.uservoice.com/forums/353007-adobe-xd-feature-requests. I'll be happy to share your feedback with the product team.

The intentions behind creating a design system with libraries always are to provide robust and reusable design patterns that unite multi-disciplinary product teams (designers, developers, and stakeholders) around a common visual language. However, I understand that there's room for improvement, and trust me on this, our product team is invested in making this a seamless experience.

Post away!

Atul_Saini