Build for recognition, not coverage.

A design system becomes difficult when it tries to solve every future problem. The result is a library that asks people to search, compare, and debate before they can make anything. A smaller system is not less ambitious. It is more specific about the decisions it wants to repeat.

Start with the moments that happen every week: headings, buttons, cards, spacing, image treatment, and the few interface states people actually see. Make those patterns easy to find and hard to misuse. The system earns trust when it removes hesitation from everyday work.

A useful constraint

Leave room for judgment. The goal is not to turn every page into the same page. It is to make the shared parts feel inevitable, so the rare moments that deserve invention can carry real weight.