A component library is a collection of reusable UI elements (like buttons, forms, and navigation bars) that ensures consistency in design and speeds up development. Here’s why it matters and how to get started:
Why You Need a Scalable Component Library
- Save Time: Reuse components instead of creating them from scratch.
- Consistency: Maintain a unified look across apps, websites, and dashboards.
- Scalability: Adapt quickly to new features and growth.
- Accessibility: Ensure your designs work for all users.
Steps to Build Your Library
- Start Small: Focus on frequently used components first.
- Use Atomic Design: Break designs into atoms (small elements), molecules (groups of elements), and organisms (complex components).
- Balance Reuse and Customization: Create flexible components that are easy to adapt.
- Choose the Right Tools: Tools like Storybook help with development, testing, and documentation.
- Document Everything: Include clear usage guidelines, examples, and code snippets.
- Maintain and Scale: Use version control, regular updates, and performance audits to keep your library effective.
Pro Tip: Learn from companies like Airbnb and Shopify, whose design systems help them scale efficiently.
If you’re ready to streamline your workflow and improve collaboration between designers and developers, a scalable component library is the way to go.
Build a React UI Library from scratch – TypeScript, Storybook, Jest & Rollup
Building Your Foundation
The success of a component library lies in the groundwork you establish. Without thoughtful planning and structure, even the best intentions can lead to a messy collection of mismatched components. A strong foundation ensures consistency and sets the stage for future growth. To achieve this, focus on adopting a clear methodology, finding the right balance between flexibility and structure, and selecting the tools that fit seamlessly into your workflow.
Using Atomic Design Principles
Atomic design offers a fresh way to think about building interfaces by breaking them down into their most basic elements. Introduced by Brad Frost, this methodology organizes interfaces into five levels: atoms (basic HTML elements like labels, inputs, and buttons), molecules (small groups of elements such as search forms), organisms (larger, more complex components like headers), templates, and pages [3]. This structure treats UI elements as building blocks, making them reusable, scalable, and consistent. It also fosters better collaboration across teams [4].
"Design Tokens are the visual atoms of the design system – specifically, they are named entities that store visual design attributes. We use them in place of hard–coded values in order to maintain a scalable and consistent visual system."
- Jina, Salesforce [6]
To put atomic design into practice, start with the smallest elements (atoms) and work your way up to more complex components. Use clear naming conventions and logical organization to keep your system flexible and easy to manage [4][5]. Keep in mind, atomic design isn’t a step-by-step process but rather a mindset that views UIs as both complete systems and collections of individual parts. With this approach in place, the next challenge is finding the right balance between reusing components and allowing for customization.
Balancing Reuse and Customization
Achieving the right mix of reusability and customization is essential for a successful component library. Reusable components save time, reduce repetitive work, and improve reliability [7]. But too much rigidity can make it difficult to meet unique project needs. The key is to design components that are versatile enough to work in various scenarios while still allowing for configuration.
For example, components should function well without requiring major modifications. Following the single responsibility principle, keep components focused and manageable, using props to adjust their behavior and appearance [8][9]. Start with simple, primitive components to maintain consistency, and then layer on customization options as needed [10]. A hybrid approach often works best – using reusable components for common tasks and custom modules for specialized features [7]. As your project evolves, revisit this balance to ensure it still aligns with your goals [7].
Choosing Your Tools
Once you’ve established flexibility in your components, it’s time to equip your team with the right tools to streamline development and documentation. The tools you choose can significantly impact how effectively your team collaborates and maintains the library. Look for tools that support every aspect of the process, from design to development to documentation.
For development, tools like Storybook allow you to build and test individual components in isolation, making refinement easier [11]. For example, PayPal saw an eightfold increase in project speed after upgrading their tooling, and TeamPassword improved prototype development by syncing their custom Material-UI component library with advanced tools [11].
When selecting tools, prioritize those that support design tokens, which are critical for creating scalable, cross-platform libraries. Open-source, themeable component libraries that are actively maintained can also be a great choice [11]. Documentation is equally important. As Andrico Karoulla explains:
"A component library is a set of reusable components that are cohesive in their utility, or appearance (or both). A great component library will help developers achieve their UI needs efficiently, while offering an exemplary experience for the end user." [12]
Make sure every component includes detailed documentation with overviews, usage guidelines, visual examples, and code snippets [11]. This bridges the gap between your design vision and its implementation, ensuring your team is aligned. With these foundational steps in place, you’ll be ready to start organizing and building components for a scalable design system.
Organizing and Building Components
Once your groundwork is in place, it’s time to organize your component library for long-term growth. A well-structured library minimizes confusion and ensures your team can work efficiently. How you structure, name, and document components will decide whether your library becomes a reliable tool or a source of frustration. Good organization sets the stage for scaling your design system smoothly.
Component Organization Methods
A solid component library begins with a clear structure and consistent naming. The goal is to create a system that’s intuitive for both current team members and anyone who joins later. One way to achieve this is by using Atomic Design principles to categorize components into logical levels [14].
Group related elements together – form elements in one section, navigation elements in another. This modular approach makes it easy for developers to find what they need quickly [14]. Naming conventions are equally important. Avoid vague labels like "Component1." Instead, use descriptive names that reflect both the function and context, such as "PrimaryActionButton" or "NavigationDropdown." As your library grows, this clarity will become essential.
Take your team’s structure into account when planning your library. For example, the way your product and design teams collaborate can influence how you organize core UI components [13]. Additionally, keep foundational elements – like design tokens, color palettes, and typography – separate from UI components. This separation allows you to update core elements without disrupting the entire system, simplifying maintenance [13].
Building Accessible and Responsive Components
After organizing your components, focus on making them accessible and responsive. Accessibility ensures your components work for all users, including those with disabilities. With 97% of websites still inaccessible to many users [15], creating accessible components is not just a best practice – it’s essential.
Follow WCAG guidelines to make your components perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust [15]. Use semantic HTML for better screen reader compatibility, ensure keyboard navigation works seamlessly, and include alt text for images. Maintain a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for regular text and 3:1 for larger text [15].
"My new rubric for a design requires me to not only make something that looks beautiful and suits the intended purpose, but is as accessible as possible. If it isn’t accessible, I haven’t done my job."
Design components with motor disabilities in mind by ensuring touch targets are at least 44×44 CSS pixels [15]. Don’t rely solely on color to convey meaning – use icons, text, or other visual cues alongside color changes [16].
Responsive design is equally crucial. Start with a mobile-first approach, designing for smaller screens first, then scaling up for larger devices [17]. Use media queries to adapt layouts across different screen sizes, and rely on flexible units like percentages and ems for better adaptability [18].
Accessibility also makes good business sense. Globally, people with disabilities control $13 trillion in disposable income [15]. As Maxwell Ivey of AudioEye notes:
"The cheapest form of advertising is word of mouth, and people with disabilities can have some of the loudest voices when we find people willing to make the effort." [15]
Version Control and Documentation
Once your components are organized and accessible, maintain their quality with strong version control and detailed documentation. These practices build trust and ensure consistency across your design system. Version control helps teams stay aligned, while documentation serves as the go-to resource for both designers and developers [1][21].
Use Semantic Versioning to communicate updates clearly: major versions for breaking changes, minor versions for new features, and patch versions for bug fixes [21][23]. For instance, in April 2025, Axiom adopted Changesets, a tool for managing multi-package repositories. This shift encouraged a documentation-first mindset, where updates were explained before implementation. Their automated release pipeline balanced automation with manual oversight through a two-step process: feature development followed by a "Version Packages" pull request [23].
High-quality documentation is essential for ensuring components are widely adopted. As Nathan Curtis, a Design Systems Consultant, puts it:
"High-quality component documentation is a hallmark of an effective library." [19]
Each component should include detailed usage guidelines, complete with visual examples, code snippets, and clear instructions on when and how to use it. Tools like Storybook, which sees over 8 million installs per month [22], are excellent for creating interactive documentation that allows developers to view components in isolation.
Establish a governance model where experienced team members review new components to ensure proper documentation and adherence to quality standards [2]. This process helps maintain consistency and prevents poorly documented components from being added.
Automate documentation updates to keep them aligned with your codebase [21]. Outdated documentation can frustrate developers, so consider decoupling documentation updates from component releases for greater flexibility [23]. Regular maintenance is also key – schedule UX audits to refine or remove outdated components [2]. Treat your library as a living project that evolves to meet new requirements, fix bugs, and improve performance [2].
At its core, building a component library is about fostering collaboration between designers and developers [2]. When both teams have access to well-organized, accessible, and thoroughly documented components, the entire product development process becomes more efficient and cohesive.
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Growing and Maintaining Your Library
As your library expands, keeping it organized and up-to-date becomes increasingly tricky. Without a structured approach, it can easily spiral into chaos. By building on the organizational strategies already discussed, you can manage updates and deprecations effectively while ensuring your library stays scalable and efficient.
Managing Component Lifecycles
Once your library’s structure is in place, managing the lifecycle of its components becomes key. Each component goes through predictable stages: creation, updates, and eventual deprecation. A clear process for handling these stages ensures your library avoids outdated or conflicting components.
Versioning plays a central role in lifecycle management. Using a major.minor.patch system helps communicate changes effectively:
- Major versions signal breaking changes.
- Minor versions introduce new features.
- Patch versions address bug fixes.
For example, moving from version 2.1.3 to 3.0.0 indicates breaking changes that could disrupt existing implementations.
When deciding on a versioning strategy, you have two main options: single-package versioning or individual component versioning. Single-package versioning is simpler and works well for smaller teams. On the other hand, individual component versioning offers more control, making it a better fit for larger organizations with multiple teams working on different products [20].
Handling breaking changes requires careful planning. Establish clear protocols for major updates, and when deprecating a component, ensure communication is thorough. Notify teams through multiple channels – code comments, documentation, design tools, and announcements [23]. Set a predictable deprecation timeline so teams have adequate time to adapt.
A systematic deprecation process can make all the difference:
- Announce the deprecation early.
- Provide clear timelines.
- Update all related documentation.
- Eventually, remove the outdated component.
This approach minimizes surprises and allows everyone to prepare.
"We’ll audit product code to find instances where it’s used. If used broadly, then we’ll communicate with those teams prior to making a decision to deprecate."
- Rowan Manning, Financial Times [23]
In enterprise settings, longer deprecation timelines may be necessary. Brandon Ferrua from Salesforce Lightning explains:
"On our platform, teams build huge solutions costing millions of dollars and walk away. If we change and they don’t know, then they get really upset. Our message? We’ll give you 18 months to react." [23]
Team Collaboration Methods
With your components well-documented and organized, the next challenge is fostering collaboration between design and development teams. Without proper coordination, common issues emerge – like designers using components that don’t exist in code or developers missing updates to design tokens.
Maintaining a strong relationship between the creators and users of your design system is essential [24]. As Jina Bolton from Salesforce puts it:
"The Design System informs our Product Design. Our Product Design informs the Design System." [24]
To streamline communication:
- Set up dedicated channels, such as a Slack workspace for design system questions.
- Host regular office hours to address issues and provide guidance.
- Encourage informal conversations to resolve minor concerns before they escalate.
Regular review meetings are another cornerstone of effective collaboration. These meetings bring together designers, developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to discuss pain points, upcoming changes, and the overall direction of the system [24].
Assigning clear roles across disciplines is crucial. Instead of leaving decisions to a single team, form a group with representatives from design, development, and product management to guide the library’s evolution.
Neglect is the biggest risk to any design system. Alex Schleifer from Airbnb emphasizes this:
"The biggest existential threat to any system is neglect." [24]
Improving Performance
As your library grows, maintaining its performance is just as important as keeping it organized. Users expect fast-loading interfaces, and bloated components can slow down your application. By identifying bottlenecks early and optimizing your library, you can keep things running smoothly.
Start by using tools like Chrome DevTools to profile your application and find performance issues [25]. Network monitoring tools such as GTmetrix and WebPageTest can help analyze resource loading times, while Google’s PageSpeed Insights pinpoints slow-loading components.
Here are some practical optimization techniques to consider:
- Code splitting and lazy loading: Break your library into smaller chunks that load only when needed. This reduces initial load times significantly, especially for applications that use only a subset of your components.
- Lazy loading for React: Use libraries like
react-lazyloadto delay loading images or components until they’re visible on the screen. - Memoization: Prevent unnecessary re-renders in React by using
React.memo()for components that don’t need to update frequently. TheuseMemo()anduseCallback()hooks can also cache expensive computations and functions [26]. - Virtualization: For large datasets, libraries like
react-virtualizedrender only the visible portions of lists or tables, improving performance for components handling hundreds or thousands of items. - Throttling and debouncing: Limit how often event handlers execute for actions like scrolling or typing. This reduces the strain on your application.
- Web Workers: Offload heavy computations to background threads using Web Workers. React’s
useTransitionhook also helps by prioritizing important updates while deferring less critical ones.
Regular performance audits should be part of your library’s maintenance routine. Set performance benchmarks for your components and monitor them as your library grows. Techniques that worked for a small library may need adjustments as you scale to hundreds of components.
Connecting to Your Design System
Your component library is more than just a collection of reusable parts – it’s a critical piece of a larger design ecosystem. This ecosystem includes brand guidelines, documentation, and consistent experiences across platforms. By connecting these elements, your library evolves into a system that ensures uniformity across your organization. Let’s dive into how you can automate updates and measure the impact of your design system.
Aligning with Brand Guidelines
A component library works alongside a broader design system, which includes elements like color schemes, typography, and voice guidelines [27]. While the library focuses on technical implementation, the design system ensures everyone – from designers to developers – is aligned. This alignment reduces miscommunication and fosters consistency [27]. When your library reflects brand guidelines, it not only strengthens the user experience but also simplifies code maintenance.
To achieve this, document design tokens and use consistent, clear naming conventions. Inconsistent naming can lead to confusion and inefficiencies across teams [14][28]. A well-structured naming system supports both design uniformity and the broader goals of your organization.
At Paragon Group, this alignment is especially important when working with startups and agencies. Each client comes with a distinct brand identity, and the component library must balance reflecting these unique traits while maintaining technical consistency. A practical tip? Match the file structures in tools like Storybook and Figma, so designers and developers operate with shared context [28].
Automating Updates and Versions
Manual updates across design and development teams can slow progress and introduce errors. To counter this, tools like semantic-release simplify versioning and automatically generate changelogs [29]. For teams managing multiple packages, semantic-release-monorepo can assign changes to specific packages, streamlining the process [29].
Automating updates through CI/CD pipelines is another game changer. These pipelines can handle building, testing, and deploying updates automatically whenever changes are merged [30]. This approach ensures updates flow seamlessly from development to production. Synchronizing version control across development and design assets further strengthens this process, laying the foundation for consistent, reliable updates.
Measuring and Improving Components
Tracking adoption and performance is key to understanding the impact of your design system. Metrics help you identify which components are widely used and which are overlooked. For example, ProductBoard analyzes code repositories to track component usage [31], while Pinterest’s Gestalt team compares Figma analytics with production UI data to uncover usage patterns [31].
Twilio provides another example. By using Octokit to monitor package.json files and Node.js code, they track import statements and file usage. Over the course of a year, Twilio expanded their design system adoption from 7 organizations and 11 repositories to 19 organizations and 60 repositories [33].
The results can be striking. For instance, REA reported saving 300,000 hours by leveraging their design system – a clear return on investment [31]. Additionally, tools like Google Analytics can track how teams interact with your documentation, helping you refine resources to better meet user needs [31]. Some teams even use visual tools to highlight design system inconsistencies, such as by analyzing the usage of color tokens [33].
"Metrics are not mere numbers; they are the storytellers of our design system’s journey. They validate our efforts, guide our improvements, and align our creative endeavors with the larger goals of the organization."
- Madison Mathieu [32]
Key Takeaways
Scalable design isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a necessity for creating component libraries that can grow with your organization. Striking a balance between addressing immediate needs and planning for the future is the key to success. This guide has outlined principles that can help you build systems capable of supporting your organization for years to come.
Main Best Practices
To create a component library that stands the test of time, focus on these core practices:
- Consistency and clarity: Components should share a uniform look and feel, working together seamlessly. Intuitive patterns make it easier for developers to learn and implement them effectively [35].
- Atomic design principles: This modular approach breaks systems into smaller, self-contained parts with minimal dependencies. It simplifies maintenance and updates, making the library easier to scale [34].
- Accessibility and flexibility: Prioritize accessibility from the start to ensure inclusive user experiences. Flexible APIs allow customization without compromising the system’s stability [36]. As Alyssa Holland puts it:
"Building a successful component library involves thoughtful architecture, striking a balance of restraint and flexibility, and a strong emphasis on accessibility and documentation" [36].
- Documentation and governance: Clear guidelines and documentation help teams understand how to use and maintain components effectively [34].
- Robust development practices: Techniques like automated testing, version control, and continuous integration catch errors early and prevent issues down the line, ensuring the library remains reliable [35].
Getting Started
Ready to build your component library? Here’s how to begin:
- Evaluate your current design processes: Look for repetitive patterns, inconsistencies, and common design challenges. These insights will guide you in identifying the best starting points.
- Start small: Focus on a few frequently used components first. This allows you to refine your processes and establish strong foundations before tackling more complex elements [37].
- Assign clear ownership: Make sure someone is responsible for maintaining the library. Neglect is one of the biggest risks, as Alex Schleifer from Airbnb warns:
"The biggest existential threat to any system is neglect" [24].
- Implement version control and naming conventions: From day one, use standardized naming and version control to avoid confusion. This ensures everyone works with the latest versions and understands how components relate to each other [37].
Remember, building a component library isn’t a one-time project – it’s an ongoing effort. As Nathan Curtis explains:
"A system isn’t a project with an end, it’s the origin story of a living and evolving product that’ll serve other products" [24].
FAQs
What are the benefits of using Atomic Design principles to build a scalable component library?
Building a component library using Atomic Design principles comes with several benefits that can streamline workflows and improve outcomes:
- Scalability and Consistency: Atomic Design focuses on creating reusable components, which means interfaces remain uniform and easy to scale. When you update a component, those changes automatically reflect wherever it’s used, cutting down on repetitive work.
- Faster Development: By breaking designs into smaller, modular pieces, teams can reuse components across different projects. This approach speeds up development and minimizes redundant effort.
- Better Collaboration: A clear structure and a shared vocabulary make it easier for designers and developers to stay on the same page. This fosters smoother communication and ensures everyone is aligned.
By following these principles, teams can build component libraries that are easy to manage, adaptable, and ready to support future growth.
How can I make sure my component library is accessible and works seamlessly across all devices?
To make sure your component library works well for everyone and looks great on any device, start by adhering to accessibility standards like WCAG 2.2. This means incorporating ARIA roles, ensuring proper color contrast, and designing for compatibility with screen readers. These practices help make your components functional for all users, including those with disabilities.
Take a mobile-first approach by designing with smaller screens as your starting point. Use responsive frameworks like Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS to help your components adjust effortlessly across different screen sizes and devices. Don’t forget to test your components regularly using tools like axe-core or browser developer tools. This helps you identify and resolve any accessibility or responsiveness issues early on.
By prioritizing accessibility and responsiveness, you’ll build a component library that works smoothly for everyone, regardless of the platform or device.
How can I effectively maintain and update my component library as it grows?
To keep your component library well-structured and easy to manage as it expands, focus on a few core strategies:
- Establish clear guidelines: Develop a system to assign roles for maintaining the library and ensuring updates are consistent. Provide detailed documentation for each component, covering its purpose, how to use it, and any technical specifics.
- Leverage version control: Use tools that track changes to ensure everyone is working with the most up-to-date components. A consistent naming convention and structure will make the library easier to navigate.
- Conduct regular reviews: Schedule periodic audits to spot outdated or redundant components. Update, refactor, or remove these as needed to keep the library aligned with your project’s needs.
Staying organized and ahead of potential issues will help your library remain a reliable and scalable resource for your team.
