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The existential challenge of design system team morale

What the hell do I know?

Not much to be honest. I’ve been working in this industry for a long while now and I still don’t have a damned clue. But, as the years go by, I don’t think many people do either. Meaning most of us are all just figuring this out together.

I don’t have answers, but I do have experiences. That’s all I can share. These experiences are not profound. They’re not new. There’s no guarantee they’ll work for anyone else.

But I’m sharing them anyway. Because they may be useful for someone. Someone like you.

Our industry is not in a good place

Welcome to 2025. Layoffs are happening every other day. Companies are shifting values with shifting administrations. The future seems more opaque than ever.

People are frustrated. To say the least. Which means morale is more fragile than ever. This is no longer something we can “take seriously” in the air quotes kind of way. It’s become existential.

Design systeming is really hard

And to make matters worse, the role of a system designer is just really challenging. Common issues include:

And much more! But you get the gist.

Burnout has become a rite of passage. It’s (sadly) become a problem to manage versus avoid. Every design system team I’ve worked on had these challenges. And I know my experience is not the exception. We’re all in good company. Or, maybe, bad company.

Design systems are hard. Because the work of design systems is hard. But guess what? So is every other discipline of design and engineering. Just hard in different ways. It’s important to remember everyone is going through challenges.

Avoid the “us” versus “them” mindset. Trust me, that’s not a healthy place to go.

Morale is a hefty topic that can fill a book

And all I have is this blog…

This post won’t cover everything–because it can’t. So much of morale is squishy and hyper situational. My personal experiences aren’t going to be useful to someone’s specific situations. People write whole books on this topic. I have not, nor never will, write a book. Especially about this.

But if there’s one thing my experiences have taught me, it’s that morale can’t grow on a shaky foundation. I might be able to help with that.

It’s called work for a reason

I don’t think work is supposed to be fun. I think parts of it can be. But a lot of work is, well, work. And other parts can be downright misery. Compliance training isn’t fun. Corporate jargon isn’t fun. Mandatory fun isn’t fun.

When I think of morale, I don’t think fun. I think morale is made up of more subtle emotions. Things like fulfillment, security, trust, stability, hope. They’re less in your face. They’re fragile. They’re important.

Those are what I’m aiming for when building morale.

Boring is good

I think our industry undervalues boring things. But my goal as a manager is to make people’s day to day as boring as humanly possible. Not “boring” as in mundane. Not soul-crushing. But “boring” as in obvious, consistent, and predictable.

We’re living in an “exciting” age. Nothing about today’s world is boring. Everything is changing. Yesterday’s assumptions are today’s uncertainties. We’re waking up to something new everyday. And many, many of us want off the fucking ride.

That level of unpredictability makes life (and work) difficult. I can say with increasing confidence there’s a growing consensus yearning for more boring in their life.

Design systems are boring

I think a little boring is good for every team, but I think it’s essential for design system teams. Because I think good design systems are boring by nature. They just work. They’re reliable. No surprises. No excitement.

Design systems are institutions. They’re your local utility. Think of about the last time you turned on your water faucet. You didn’t ponder what would happen. You just expected clean, running water. A surprise would’ve been a failure.

And that’s one of the many values design systems can bring. Like many other institutions, they can establish stability. But it’s hard for a design system to establish stability when its team isn’t…

Discipline, focus and patience as the foundation for morale

Strong team morale is built on being able to work effectively. I don’t think you can disconnect impact and team sentiment. So, I don’t.

My focus to maintain healthy morale is to maintain a healthy team working model. And the three things I’ve found to be most important are:

None of those things are giving off the fun vibes. I know. But they create structure to avoid the typical pitfalls of design systems. They help avoid reactivity. They reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. They give people the space to do great work.

And doing great work is pretty damned fun.

Discipline to follow process

I don’t know how a functioning design system team works without discipline. There’s simply so many ways to get distracted and too many jingling keys to stare at. If there’s one thing I’ve seen gut a design system team it’s a lack of discipline.

People who work on design systems love to help. It seems to be hard-wired into the personalities that gravitate towards the practice. That’s endearing, but dangerous. This is amplified for teams that feel misunderstood or unappreciated. Because helping is so validating. And the act of helping can satisfy that craving to be appreciated and validated. All at once.

That dynamic can cause a reactivity death spiral. It starts from a design system team’s craving of appreciation and validation. People over-compensate by being hyper responsive to peoples’ needs. Outside teams see that behavior and say, “Oh, that’s what design system teams do”. Expectations are reinforced that feature teams can ask and they shall receive. The team feels even more misunderstood/unappreciated. In response, they over-over-compensate…

Rinse, repeat.

De-spiraling death spirals

Ironically, design system teams are especially knee-capped in a reactive environment. So, it’s essential to have the discipline to avoid those distractions. But that doesn’t come out of thin air.

The way I try to blunt reactivity is with structure. My goal is to create just enough friction to make reacting hard. This structure looks a little different for every team. There isn’t a single formula to follow. Rather, following is the formula. Meaning sticking to the chosen process is what’s most critical. Yes, you’re always improving the process, but incrementally.

For teams I’ve been on, the good mojo comes from sprint planning. I know, boring. But this structure helps keep the team focused on what we’ve committed to work on. Requests are always welcome. But the soonest we commit to is the following sprint. Rare is the time when that is ever a real issue. That structure helps us defer those “quick wins”. And that’s important, because quick wins can be addictive. And in my experience, most “quick wins” are neither quick nor wins.

This means you’ll need to be good at saying, “No”. Ideally, you’re not literally saying “No”, but in essence you are. Yes, this can be awkward and make people sad. It certainly won’t be fun. But discipline requires “No”.

And luckily, there’s a way to make “No” easier…

Goals put you in a proactive state

I said earlier that corporate jargon isn’t fun. Things like OKRs, and KPIs are not fun. But damn can they help you approach work proactively. And proactivity makes it much easier to say no.

Nothing makes someone feel less appreciated than having to drop what they’re doing because someone “said so”. Team goals, OKRs, and KPIs can act as a shield against those asks.

That’s why I think it’s so important to rally around team KPIs–with buy in from senior leadership. These KPIs can set the tone for how performance is evaluated. And they immediately give you an out for work that doesn’t fit.

“We’d love to help you, but we’re committed to increasing adoption by X% this half and can’t risk missing that goal.” It’s not you saying no, it’s the agreed upon measure of success that’s saying it.

Design system success metrics could be a series of novels on their own. They’re a can of worms and I have a love/hate relationship with them. But troublesome as they are, they can save a team’s ass when used the wisely.

Rote through repetition

So, the team has developed the discipline to follow a process day after day, week after week…

A funny thing begins to happen over time… All that process and structure becomes second nature. Now all of the sudden people aren’t thinking about how to do the work, they’re just doing it. Because it’s become muscle memory. It’s amazing how much friction can be removed through building up healthy muscle memory.

It’s equally amazing how unhealthy muscle memory can invisibly hurt morale. And given that much of it happens without intention, it’s difficult to even notice.

Spending the time on better habits goes a long way.

Focus to execute (well) on one thing

Discipline is the gateway drug of focus. A disciplined team should be taking on less unplanned work. Which means it should have more time. That newly-acquired time gives team members the freedom to focus.

Focus drives quality

Good work requires focus. This is not breaking news. And in the world of design systems, quality is pretty damned important. I’d go as far to say it’s a requirement. One bug in a highly-used component could create tens of thousands in production. The scale of design systems do not allow the luxury of half-assery.

You need a focus to focus

Duh. It’s basic, but important. Which brings us back to team goals, KPIs and OKRs. It’s surprising how many design system teams don’t have these. Yes, they’re boring (there’s that word again). But they create a shared focus.

That focus will look different for different team members. It may be more granular and atomic for people on the junior side. It may be a strategic area for more senior folks. The more important thing is that everyone has something.

Ownership at all levels

What better way to create focus than through ownership? I’m a big believer in creating domains of ownership on the team. Our team overlaps responsibility to avoid single points of failure. But there’s still an official subject-matter expert that drives the team’s thinking. This ownership gives people the freedom and expectation to go deep in their subject area.

And the people who own a subject, own it. They’re trusted to make the final decision. No micromanagement. No hovering. They’ll be supported when it’s helpful, but their hands are firmly on the wheel at all times.

As mentioned, focus/ownership is necessary for quality. But even more importantly, it gets people invested. Invested in the subject matter, in solving the problem, in success. Most importantly, it gets them invested in the team.

And in my experience, personal investment plays a major role in morale.

Patience to take one step at a time

And lastly, there’s patience…

Patience was easily the hardest skill for me to learn. My younger self always wanted everything to happen immediately. I wanted team to adopt immediately. I wanted leadership to fund immediately. I wanted results immediately.

It didn’t work–and it made me incredibly unhappy in the process. A great combo.

You can’t solve every problem

I still want to make everything happen overnight. The difference is that I know it’s just not possible. All I’ll get in return is burnout and mediocre results. Boring as it may be, I’ve learned the fastest way to get to be better place is by staying focused on one thing at a time.

Ultimately, this can only be solved by…

Playing the long game

Design systems just take time. It’s tempting to throw more resources/effort in the hopes to speed things up. Don’t bet on it. It’s not just about how fast a design system team can make a design system. It also requires designers and engineers using it. And that takes (you guessed it) time.

That makes gratification delay incredibly important. I think about progress in years, not quarters–and definitely not months.

Progress is powerful

Big bursts of productivity is alluring. But I’ll choose consistent, incremental, progress every day of the week. It’s safer, more predictable and typically leads to higher morale.

The roller coaster of big releases and big hangovers creates a roller coaster of emotions. A steady drip feed of progress creates a steadier team atmosphere. It shows that things are heading in the right direction. Plus, it helps encourage patience. It’s a lot easier to be patient when you’re seeing progress every day. It doesn’t even need to be a lot. But steady, consistent forward progress gives people hope.

Roadmaps make progress visible

Incremental progress can be incredibly hard to see. Sometimes it’s so small that it’s impossible to visualize. Roadmaps can help visualize a team’s accomplishment. Your team’s metrics will quantify accomplishment. Those two create a powerful combination.

It’s easy to say, “We’re doing great” or “We’re not doing great”. It’s also a platitude on its own. The value of having a roadmap and team metrics is that you don’t have to say anything. Because they speak for themselves.

But it doesn’t hurt to tell your team they’re doing great. Even if you don’t have it. Just saying.

No → Not yet

That fancy roadmap creates even more protection against reactivity. Simply adding someone’s ask onto a long-term roadmap can immediately diffuse tension. It represents that you’re taking their needs seriously and have a plan to address.

It instantly transforms, “No” into “Yes, but later”.

This is a foundation to build on

These are the things I focus on to create an environment for healthy morale. I can’t guarantee this alone will improve morale. For myself, it’s laid the groundwork to get there. In a way, it unblocks the ability to do all the other work. You’re still going to have to understand what motivates each person. You still need to invest time and energy into relationships. You still need to do a lot of things. But those things will be easier with a stronger foundation

None of this matters if you don’t care

If you’ve read this far, I’m admittedly shocked. I’m also assuming that you are probably disappointed because none of the things I’ve outlined are new. Or novel. Or advanced.

They’re boring. And they’re basic. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why they’re overlooked.

Ironically, many of the processes outlined are used elsewhere to disservice of morale. Creating healthy morale often comes down to caring about it. Because if you care about it, you’re going to put in the same to improve it. You’re going to keep trying things until it gets better. You’re going to come up with better ideas than what’s in this stupid blog post.

But if you don’t care, then none of what I’ve shared will help. Nor will the advice of much smarter people. In retrospect, I should have led with this and saved us all a lot of time.