Getting started

What is a design system?

The design system provides guidelines and code to help quickly create trustworthy, accessible, and consistent digital library services.

The design system takes a content-first approach. When developing web assets, the design reflects the needs of the content to be understood well. Design is important but supplemental for the University Libraries’ web presence.

The design system is thusly presented in the order the Libraries’ considers and develops web assets: based on the principles, content is developed then fine tuned for design requirements before it’s coded into accessible formats and standardized page patterns. Developing consistent language and patterns in code and page layouts improves people’s ability to navigate and complete tasks.