Stop 08 · Design SystemsTopics · 6/9

Documentation for Design Systems

In short

A component without docs gets used wrongly within a week. Good documentation answers the questions people ask at 11 pm before a deadline: when do I use this, and when do I not?

Explaining when and how to use each component, its variants, and its do's and don'ts — a design system without documentation quickly becomes inconsistent as more people misuse or duplicate components.

The jaadu reads a recipe card while cooking with ingredients spread neatly on the counter.

Think of it like this

The recipe card, not just the ingredients

Giving someone dal, rice and spices isn't enough. They need the recipe: how much, in what order, and 'don't add salt twice'. Components are the ingredients. Documentation is the recipe card with the warnings written in.

Watch it happen

What a good component page includes

Button docs

When to use

Anatomy

Do and Don't

Accessibility

Code props

1/4Start with when to use it, and when to use something else, like a link instead of a button.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Show examples

A picture of a right and wrong use teaches faster than a paragraph.

Answer real questions

Collect the questions people ask in chat and turn them into doc sections.

Docs near the work

Put short notes inside Figma component descriptions too, so designers see them while working.

Keep it current

Update docs in the same release as the component. Old docs are worse than none.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Writing long essays nobody reads.

Do this instead

Use short headings, bullet rules and examples. Readers are scanning, not studying.

Oops

Documenting only what the component looks like.

Do this instead

Explain behaviour and usage too: when it appears, what it does, and what to avoid.

Your mission

Document one component

~30 min

Quick check

Which section helps most to stop people using a component in the wrong place?

Go deeper

1Write usage documentation for 2-3 components in your practice design system.
2Include a 'do' and 'don't' example for at least one component.
3Learn why documentation is what actually makes a design system scale across a growing team.