Open Design System

Introduction

SPEC is exploring accelerating sustainability and social justice focused initiatives by developing an open-source design system that provides primitives for building radically transparent, inclusive, and accessible products and services. SPEC's Open Design System (ODS) coherently organizes design patterns and best practices to support design and development of user interfaces that are accessible, inclusive, and ergonomic. ODS will provide pattern libraries, design languages, style guides, coded components, brand languages, and supporting documentation. It will serve as a reference or source of truth that help SPEC and other developers/organizations design and build digital products.

ODS is actively under development. Check out the Github repository for more information about technical progress.

GitHub - specollective/open-design-system: Code repository for SPEC's Open Design System. Details can be found in the README.md and at the link below.GitHub

Research

We are currently investigating the existing literature about design systems development. Below is a collection of resources related

The case for an open design system

The third of a three-part series that takes a deep dive through Workday’s experience of developing, productizing, and eventually releasing their design system out into the open.[1]

The case for an open design systemDesignSystems.com

Design Systems Repo

A collection of design system examples, articles, tools and talks.[2]

Design Systems RepoDesign Systems Repo

Stencil

A compiler that generates web components and builds high performance web apps. Stencil combines the best concepts of the most popular frameworks into a simple build-time tool.[3]

Stencil - A Compiler for Web Components | Stencilstenciljs.com

Project Plan

SPEC plans on developing the project open source with a focus on create opportunities for new developers, especially individuals from underrepresented groups and underserved communities. We will focus on making the design system lightweight, inclusive, and accessible.

Next Steps

We are currently hiring research associates and contributors. Checkout our call for researchers to learn more about opportunities currently available at SPEC.

Call for Researchers

References

1. https://www.designsystems.com/the-case-for-an-open-design-system/

2. https://designsystemsrepo.com

3. https://stenciljs.com/docs/introduction