# How to run a design system pilot

## 👋 Introduction

In order to test how a design system will support the product in the long term, a pilot is run a product or a feature. 

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## 1️⃣ Choose a design system pilot

To find the right pilot, review products or features you went through during the discovery phase. After the review, score these against the following 8 factors (on a scale of 0, unlikely, to 10, likely) for selecting the best pilot:

1. **Potential for common components:** Does this pilot have many components that can be reused in other products?
2. **Potential for common patterns:** Does this pilot have many patterns that can be reused in other products?
3. **High-value elements:** Even if uncommon, is there a component or pattern with high-business value that is the heart of this project? Elements that are integral to a flow or audience that has unusually high value for the organisation.
4. **Technical feasibility:** How simple is a technical implementation of the design system? Is a large refactor required?
5. **Available champion:** Will someone working on this product see it through and celebrate/evangelise using the design system (and even contributing back to it)?
6. **Scope:** Is this work accomplishable in our pilot timeframe of \[3–4 weeks] (insert your timing here)?
7. **Technical independence:** Is the work decoupled enough from other legacy design and code that there are clear start and end points?
8. **Marketing potential:** Will this work excite others to use the design system?

Work with the team (include product, engg and design) to score these features as accurately as possible. 

<figure><img src="https://1713760500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5WvjZe1MeyuSKcswT743%2Fuploads%2Fm5Jguaig2mi7POysQpmy%2Fpilot1.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=15c585dc-ee11-458f-b618-5959bb14c7d0" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
Dan Mall has written about design system pilots and this scorecard [here](https://danmall.com/posts/design-systems-pilots-scorecards/).&#x20;
{% endhint %}

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## 2️⃣ Identify components from pilot feature/product

Once you have identified a solid pilot candidate, reach out to the team that owns it and start scheduling time to walk through feature/product with them. Keep track of who you’ve talked to already and their general reception to working together.

Ask the pilot team to:

* Walk you through what they’ve been working on and what’s coming up soon on their roadmaps.
* Share their screens and take you through all the user flows/journeys.

As they’re showing you their screens, **make a list of every component** you see on screen. Look out for anything that could be a modular piece of design or code element.

<figure><img src="https://1713760500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5WvjZe1MeyuSKcswT743%2Fuploads%2FfrHufLL1FLOc0fya4Fqo%2Fpilot2.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=ef414e6b-842c-4a5c-bfc3-5af5890ba9aa" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

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## 3️⃣ Identify Initial Components to Pilot

1. In the interface inventory list you generated before, **highlight the components that appear** **three or more times.**
2. Find the overlap between the component list & components seen in pilot walkthrough to identify the **first set of design system components.**

<figure><img src="https://1713760500-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5WvjZe1MeyuSKcswT743%2Fuploads%2FolfX2QAJrzmkeR2cqH2o%2Fpilot3.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=560fc40d-bae3-430f-988e-76b2e6417aa0" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
This also becomes the initial guideline for which components go into the design system: **if three or more teams need this component right now, it goes in the design system.**
{% endhint %}

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## 4️⃣ Outcome

You would have identified a pilot that includes components that will be used in other features or products also. This will help showcase the value of the design system quickly and also excite stakeholders.