Design system audit brief
Assess how well a design system works in products, where teams bypass it, and which improvements matter most.
Design systems · 45 min · Advanced · 33 questions
Inventory
Which design libraries are included in the audit?
Which code packages are included?
Which token sources are included?
Which components and patterns are included?
Which versions are still in use?
Who owns each part of the system?
Usage
Where is the design system used or bypassed?
Which teams use the current system version?
Why do teams bypass the system?
What evidence shows real production use?
Quality
Which accessibility requirements will the audit test?
Do components expose the right meaning?
Do patterns adapt across screen sizes?
Do patterns work across supported languages?
Do all supported themes work correctly?
Which system features cause performance problems?
Consistency
Where is system naming inconsistent?
Where do similar component APIs behave differently?
Where are tokens used incorrectly?
Where do similar states behave differently?
Where has the system been duplicated or forked?
Governance and documentation
How are system requests handled today?
How are contributions reviewed?
How are releases communicated?
How are old features retired?
How are exceptions recorded?
Can consumers find the guidance they need?
Priorities
Which finding has the greatest user impact?
Which finding affects the most products?
Which finding creates the greatest risk?
How much work would each fix require?
Which system fixes depend on other work?
Who will own each agreed improvement?
How to use this brief
Use this brief as a bank of questions for the conversation. Choose what is relevant, mark covered questions as you go, and skip anything that has already been answered.
Use this brief when...
Use when assessing the current health, coverage, and adoption of a design system.
Best used as: Research plan
- Category
- Design systems
- Discussion time
- 45 minutes
- Depth
- Advanced
- Last updated
- Jul 21, 2026
- Scope
- Design briefs
- Best used as
- Research plan
- Design roles
- UX researcherDesign systems designer
- Audience
- Design leadsProduct designersUX and UI designers
- Platforms
- Design toolsWebiOSAndroid
- Company type
- B2BB2CEnterprise
- Product stage
- GrowthMature product
- Tags
- design-systemsdesign-system-auditresearch-and-evaluationsystem-health-auditmaturity-review