Some thoughts after reading A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction.

Why does design system documentation typically present the foundational small elements first and work up to larger patterns? What would happen if we moved from larger patterns to the smaller — from the ones which create structures to the ones which then embellish those structures, and then to those which embellish the embellishment?

For example, when you teach a child and language you start by identifying whole structures such as house cat then describes some of the details such as window red door, blue collar, and only then move onto foundational elements of the language such as letters, grammar specific terminology.

In Design That Scales the author, Dan Mall, encourages the reader to “Lay out your design systems like a store”`.

Highlighting components first would be like Andy’s Brick Shop putting a bin of heads at the front of the store. It would be an odd signal to send to customers, to communicate that this is just a store where you can find parts instead of a store where you can immerse yourself in universes you love and expand your ability to play to match your imagination. Of course, it is a store where you can find parts, but the context and the opportunity are much larger.

Something I like about this idea is it feels more consumer centred, rather than maintainer optimised.