Summary
We built Adobe’s design language, Spectrum, to work on a huge and varied product ecosystem. Adobe’s offering includes dozens of connected desktop, web, and mobile experiences with millions of worldwide users. Some of our products are brand new and some have been in the market for decades. Hear from two of Spectrum’s designers as they give an overview of the design system and answer your questions about building and scaling a design system!
Key Insights
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Adobe's Spectrum supports a vast portfolio of over 130 products across multiple business units and platforms.
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The design system began organically and was formalized in 2015, allowing for improved structure and teamwork.
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Key challenges include naming components effectively to accommodate diverse user mental models and frameworks.
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Spectrum prioritizes documentation to capture design decisions and provides transparency on component health and evolution.
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Accessibility is a core commitment, with tools like Leonardo ensuring color contrast ratios meet standards for inclusivity.
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The system allows for flexible theme support, ensuring usability across various platforms while respecting their conventions.
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Spectrum encourages community engagement through town halls and office hours, fostering collaboration and feedback.
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The team employs a decentralized approach to implementation, working closely with various product teams to ensure design fidelity.
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Regular iterations and updates to components are part of Spectrum's living system, adapting to changing user needs and technologies.
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Continuous evolution is needed to address gaps in functionality and enhance user experiences across Adobe's offerings.
Notable Quotes
"Spectrum is a living and breathing thing that will evolve over time."
"Naming things is the hardest part of managing a design system."
"We had to learn to work smarter, not just harder, to support Spectrum."
"Our team does not actually build the components consumed by product teams."
"We document every design decision and capture open issues related to components."
"Using design tokens helps us avoid duplication and customization errors across products."
"We've established a strong working relationship with implementation teams to better define and improve our libraries."
"We now have over 110 components in spectrum contributions, which increases visibility and feedback."
"Our priority is placing customer needs first in every aspect of our design."
"Spectrum makes it a priority to support multiple themes while ensuring accessibility and inclusivity."
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