Fundamental Theses

Design systems emerged at a time when their primary purpose was to align the work of designers and developers. They described components, the rules governing their use, and the product's visual language. This model proved successful for many years and became the standard for most large digital products.

The rise of AI, however, is changing the fundamental assumptions on which today's design systems are built. AI is no longer just a tool that helps people perform individual tasks. It is becoming an active participant in product design, implementation, and governance.

As a result, a design system is no longer merely documentation for people. It is beginning to serve as a knowledge base from which autonomous systems can also make decisions.

New Answers and New Questions

Perhaps it is time to revisit some of the fundamental questions—and perhaps to challenge some of the established answers. What is a design system, really? Where does its true value lie? What knowledge must it contain? How is the role of the UX designer changing? And what will user interfaces look like when AI increasingly becomes their co-creator?

The following theses are a systematic attempt to open these topics for discussion and to explore possible answers to some of these questions. They offer a working framework for discussing how design systems, UX design, and their documentation may evolve in a world where AI becomes a natural part of designing digital products.