The Ultimate System Design Cheat Sheet for UI/UX Designers

We hear “system design” and think scalability, backend architecture, maybe even FAANG interview prep.
But in a design context, system design is something else entirely:
It’s how we structure interfaces, behaviors, and rules to work together — at scale.

This is your system design cheat sheet — not a glossary, not a crash course, but a set of prompts and reminders for building better systems, one thoughtful decision at a time.

🧱 What Is System Design in UI/UX?

System design in UI/UX isn’t just components in a Figma file. It’s:

• The relationships between elements

• The rules that govern behavior

• The patterns that create clarity, predictability, and cohesion

When done well, system design disappears. It just feels natural.

That’s why we obsessively documented this philosophy inside the Sigma Design System — clarity, not control, is the goal.

🛠 The Cheat Sheet (That Actually Helps)

Here’s a quick-access guide when designing or auditing a system:

1. Start with Tokens, Not Components

Colors, spacing, typography — if these aren’t defined, your components won’t scale.

🔹 Ask: Are these decisions reusable? Are they consistent?

2. Build for Patterns, Not Pages

Think in flows, templates, and UI states. Don’t just design for screens — design for relationships.

🔹 Ask: What happens if this pattern repeats 10x? 100x?

3. Name Things with Purpose

“Card Variant 2” means nothing in six months.
Use names that reflect function, not style.

🔹 Ask: Will someone new to the project understand this label?

4. Make Rules Visible

Write them down. Design is fragile without documentation.
(That’s why beautifully structured docs are core to Sigma.)

🔹 Ask: Can others design without asking you?

5. Handle Edge Cases Up Front

Default, hover, empty, error, loading — good systems don’t just cover the happy path.

🔹 Ask: Have we stress-tested the component in real-world use?

6. Version Intentionally

Avoid breaking everything for the sake of tidiness. Design systems evolve — they don’t restart.

🔹 Ask: What’s the cost of change across the ecosystem?

✍️ A Mental Model to Borrow

Design systems are like languages.
Tokens are your alphabet. Components are words. Templates are sentences.

The more consistent your grammar, the easier it is to communicate clearly at scale.

This metaphor helped shape how we built User Psychology 3 — especially when applying behavior principles in modular design.

💡 Final Thought

A system isn’t something you build once and forget.
It’s something you tend — like a garden. Left alone, it grows messy. With care, it grows powerful.

So the next time you're deep in Figma, wondering if this button should be its own thing — or if that layout should be a variant — pause.

Open this cheat sheet.
Ask better questions.
Design with system-level intent.