The role of the spec is to have alignment throughout proprietary and open source toolchains, from design tools to CI build scripts to UI frameworks, so everyone working on an experience can speak the same language, have high fidelity end to end, and reusable automations.
The idea that this can be solved through accountability doesn't scale in my experience. So much of this work is maniacal and low-value, there's very little incentive for teams to prioritize it... But in aggregate, UI inconsistencies bring death by a thousand papercuts.
Companies with design infrastructure teams and mature design cultures have automations in place. The goal is to bring such power even to those without design infra teams and early on their design maturity journey.
Correct, I'm fact I've advised a few teams to only introduce layers of abstraction they needed and could actively document & support.
It's very tempting to copy fortune 500 companies because they're the ones with design & engineering who'll have written the most about this... but most folks just need a pretty simple token setup.
The idea that this can be solved through accountability doesn't scale in my experience. So much of this work is maniacal and low-value, there's very little incentive for teams to prioritize it... But in aggregate, UI inconsistencies bring death by a thousand papercuts.
Companies with design infrastructure teams and mature design cultures have automations in place. The goal is to bring such power even to those without design infra teams and early on their design maturity journey.