Design System Audit

Systematically evaluate the consistency, usability, and effectiveness of a design system across digital products.

Research Classification

Research Type

Attitudinal Behavioral

Behavioral: Focuses on what people do: their actual behaviors and actions.

Data Type

Qualitative Quantitative

Qualitative: Collects non-numerical data like observations, interviews, and open-ended responses.

Requirements

Budget

medium

Moderate investment needed

Timeline

medium

2-4 weeks

Team Size

small

Works with 2-3 people

Research Goals

evaluation usability

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓ Identifies inconsistencies across products and components
  • ✓ Improves design and development efficiency
  • ✓ Ensures brand and UX consistency
  • ✓ Provides clear roadmap for system improvements
  • ✓ Reduces technical and design debt

Cons

  • × Can reveal significant organizational and process issues
  • × May uncover extensive remediation needs
  • × Requires cross-functional collaboration
  • × Benefits may not be immediately visible to end users
  • × Can be politically challenging in siloed organizations

Use Cases

Example Scenario

Auditing a company's design system to identify inconsistent component implementations across products, gaps in documentation, and accessibility issues in core components to create a prioritized improvement roadmap.

Additional Applications

  • • Component inventory and usage analysis
  • • Design token consistency evaluation
  • • Documentation completeness assessment
  • • Accessibility compliance of components
  • • Developer experience evaluation