> This means their UX has to be consistent between iOS, Android, TV, Web, PlayStation, Xbox, etc.
Nobody expects all of these platforms implemented to be a single codebase (though you perhaps could). The intention of a design system is for all of the UIs to be consistent, not all of the underlying code. Zero people expect a button component for the PS5 to work on the Web. And of course they wouldn't! One is clicked and tapped and one is interacted with a controller.
Stripe is a great example of this. Their design system, SAIL, runs on every web surface (internal and external) at the company. And ignoring versioning, it's essentially one design system codebase. But that doesn't mean they aren't principled about using React. Their latest major version was originally going to be multi-framework but that plan was scrapped because it meant sacrificing composability. There's exactly one way to build UIs for the web.
I’ve seen design systems that preserve flexibility primarily by restricting to html, css classes and js, so that the only thing that really matters is that the developer’s chosen framework outputs said stuff.
Yeah this is the solution I'm imagining in my head. IMO the true separation between design and dev is that designers are responsible for pixels-on-screen. They manage visual behavior, whereas developers manage functional behavior.
Nobody expects all of these platforms implemented to be a single codebase (though you perhaps could). The intention of a design system is for all of the UIs to be consistent, not all of the underlying code. Zero people expect a button component for the PS5 to work on the Web. And of course they wouldn't! One is clicked and tapped and one is interacted with a controller.
Stripe is a great example of this. Their design system, SAIL, runs on every web surface (internal and external) at the company. And ignoring versioning, it's essentially one design system codebase. But that doesn't mean they aren't principled about using React. Their latest major version was originally going to be multi-framework but that plan was scrapped because it meant sacrificing composability. There's exactly one way to build UIs for the web.