The 3 Essential Parts: Assets, Documentation, and Processes

Each layer of a design system must incorporate three essential parts to stay viable over the long term:

• Assets: The tangible resources used daily—Figma component libraries, React/Vue coded packages, icon SVGs, and automated token transformation tooling.
• Documentation: The written rationale explaining why decisions were made, how to use elements correctly, accessibility requirements (WCAG contrast, focus indicators), and responsive behaviors.
• Processes: The operational governance workflows defining contribution models, versioning (SemVer), code review standards, and cross-squad alignment.

Without documentation and processes, even the most polished component library deteriorates into abandoned code and UI drift.