Design Systems at Scale: Governance, Adoption, and Evolution

As product ecosystems grow, design teams are increasingly faced with a dilemma, how to maintain consistency without stifling creativity.

In large organisations, where many products, squads, and markets overlap, design systems aren’t just style guides, they are critical infrastructure. They help ensure quality, speed, and alignment across teams that may never meet, but must speak the same visual language.

Elizabeth Ndefo, a senior product designer with experience leading cross-functional design initiatives, has spent the past few years shaping design systems that don’t just scale, they evolve. Her work spans fintech platforms, enterprise tools, and consumer apps, where the stakes for speed and clarity are high.

“Design systems aren’t static,” she says. “They’re living products. And like any product, they need ownership, iteration, and real adoption.”

Governance, she notes, is the backbone of scalable systems. Without versioning rules of engagement, naming conventions, contribution workflows even the most beautiful component library is destined for shelfware. Elizabeth’s approach prioritizes flexibility within structure: cross-functional teams (design, engineering, and product) co-own the system, with processes for feedback, escalation, and rollouts established.

Figma and Storybook are the hub of her workflow. Figma allows for rapid iteration and transparency for design teams, and Storybook serves as the single source of truth for developers so that what is designed is exactly what will be developed. Design tokens convert visual choices into code and allow for themes, accessibility, and brand responsiveness at scale.

But the real work isn’t just in building, it’s in getting people to use the system.

Elizabeth stresses that adoption isn’t about enforcement. “You don’t get people to use a system by forcing it on them. You get buy-in by solving their problems,” she explains. Her team embeds with product squads to understand their needs, integrate components seamlessly, and document use cases with clarity. Regular training, system health audits, and public roadmaps help keep the system visible and evolving.

Still, there’s one balance every design system must strike: consistency vs. creativity.

Elizabeth believes that a good system doesn’t restrict innovation, it enables it. “The system should handle the repetitive decisions so designers can focus on solving the real problems,” she says. “It’s a creative floor, not a ceiling.”

As more companies scale their products and teams, the role of design systems will only grow in importance. The systems that thrive won’t just be technically sound, they’ll be human-centered, collaborative, and adaptive to change.

Elizabeth Ndefo’s work reveals that a strong design system isn’t about having everything figured out on day one, it’s about building the right structures to grow and evolve as the product (and team) matures.