Design Systems End to End
Tokens, components, documentation and the governance that keeps it alive
Created by Lena Fischer
What you will learn
- Define token layers that survive a rebrand
- Design component APIs that designers and engineers agree on
- Keep Figma and code in sync without manual double-entry
- Write documentation people read at the moment they need it
- Version and deprecate components without breaking every consumer
- Make the case for the system in terms leadership cares about
Course content
13 sections · 110 lectures · 17h total length
- What this course covers, and what it does notPreview04:00
- How to get the most out of itPreview04:00
- Setting up and downloading the exercise files06:00
- Why systems rotPreview05:00
- Why systems rot in detail10:00
- A closer look at why systems rot09:00
- Worked example: why systems rot13:00
- Where why systems rot goes wrong12:00
- Exercise: why systems rot04:00
- Why systems rot in practice04:00
- Two approaches to why systems rot08:00
- Why systems rot — questions from previous students07:00
- Reviewing your work on why systems rot12:00
Topics covered
Requirements
- Experience designing or building UI components
- You work with, or alongside, engineers
Description
Most design systems die of neglect rather than bad design. This course covers the build — tokens, component API design, documentation — with equal attention to the part that actually determines survival: who owns it, how changes are proposed, and how deprecation works.
Your instructor
Product designer and design-systems lead
Lena has built three design systems and thrown away two of them. She teaches the parts that survived: naming, tokens, and the unglamorous governance that keeps a system from rotting.
Learner reviews
- 5 star73%
- 4 star22%
- 3 star3%
- 2 star1%
- 1 star1%
- LMLucas M.7 June 2026
Exactly what I needed. It assumes you are an adult and does not over-explain.
- HPHugo P.31 January 2026
Concise and honest about what it does not cover, which I appreciated.
- BTBen T.3 December 2025
I have recommended this to two colleagues already. The structure makes it easy to dip back into.
- BBBen B.3 April 2026
Very practical. I applied something from module four at work the same week.
- VGViktor G.27 February 2026
Genuinely well structured. I have started three courses on this topic and this is the first one I finished.
- FFFarid F.3 May 2026
Concise and honest about what it does not cover, which I appreciated.
- NONiall O.25 June 2026
The instructor answers questions properly rather than pointing you at the documentation.
- RHRosa H.8 December 2025
Excellent. The examples are realistic rather than the usual toy versions.
- UMUrsula M.18 May 2026
Genuinely well structured. I have started three courses on this topic and this is the first one I finished.
Showing 9 of 987 reviews.
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