Roadmap
A high-level summary of the work the design system team plans to focus on in the
2026-27 Fiscal Year.
The roadmap is subject to change as we gather new information. We will communicate
updates to ensure product teams can align and plan their work accordingly.
For more details on our priorities and day-to-day activities, see our
design system backlog.
Now
Focus: Drive DS 2.0 adoption momentum, protect post-launch stability, and
prove DS 2.0 helps teams move faster through prescriptive guidance and examples.
DS 2.0 adoption and satisfaction measurement
Objective: Establish reliable DS 2.0 adoption tracking and reporting, and
pair it with satisfaction signals from designers, developers, and end users to understand
whether DS 2.0 is improving service outcomes as teams upgrade.
Benefit: Enables accurate progress reporting and provides evidence that
DS 2.0 is improving usability, accessibility, and experience quality, not only adoption.
Examples: - Create a mechanism to reliably collect and report adoption rate
- Track upgrade progress against the adoption schedule
- Capture qualitative signals from teams (developer and designer feedback themes)
- Capture end-user feedback where available (citizen or worker satisfaction,
accessibility and usability feedback)
Product acceleration enablement
Objective: Provide prescriptive guidance and resources that help teams
get to screens, prototypes, and working experiences faster using DS 2.0.
Benefit: Reduces time to first screens and improves consistency by helping
teams start from proven patterns instead of building from scratch.
Examples: - Create resources that show how to quickly prototype with DS 2.0 components and
examples
- Provide contextual starting points for teams using Public form and Workspace
templates
- Pilot DS 2.0 with teams to generate strong examples to share
- Create and publish migration success stories
Design system MCP
Objective: Stand up the design system Model Context Protocol (MCP) capability
so AI tools and platforms can reliably access design system guidance, components, patterns,
and standards.
Benefit: Helps teams generate more consistent, standards-aligned front-ends
by making trusted design system context available directly in AI-assisted workflows.
Examples: - Define the initial MCP scope and supported design system resources
- Stand up the MCP server and validate the hosting and maintenance approach
- Test the MCP use in real product workflows and capture gaps to address
- Document recommended workflows for teams
Vue support decision
Objective: Explore and define the minimum work required to confidently
state DS 2.0 officially supports Vue, including scope, constraints, and support model.
Benefit: Prevents unclear commitments and reduces strategic risk by enabling
an informed investment decision aligned to organizational needs.
Examples: - Define what "official Vue support" means
- Outline the minimum supportable scope
- Identify implications for documentation, maintenance, testing, and support
Next
Focus: Improve the core Public form and Workspace experience, mature reusable
patterns and examples, reduce adoption friction through better packaging, and execute on
the chosen Vue direction.
Public form and Workspace capability improvements
Objective: Enhance key Public form and Workspace capabilities based on
adoption needs and workflow requirements.
Benefit: Improves feature sets and reduces the need for custom one-off
solutions by making common workflows easier to implement with DS 2.0.
Example: - Build the review, revise, resubmit feature
Examples and pattern maturity
Objective: Expand and refine examples and position them as adaptable reusable
patterns that teams can apply with confidence.
Benefit: Improves self-serve success and product consistency, reducing
implementation variance and support demand over time.
Examples: - Continue expanding and refining examples
- Show how components and examples combine into larger contexts and workflows
Library packaging and tech stack upgrades
Objective: Reduce friction in how design system assets are bundled and
adopted across libraries and update important tech stacks.
Benefit: Lowers setup and upgrade complexity, and keeps the design system
up to date with the latest supported versions.
Examples: - Improve how code libraries are bundled together (React, web components, tokens)
- Update to Svelte 5
Vue follow-through
Objective: Based on Vue discovery, either implement formal Vue support
or clearly position Angular and React as the recommended approach for teams using AI-assisted
workflows.
Benefit: Provides clear direction to product teams and reduces uncertainty,
enabling progress on a supported path while keeping support sustainable for the design system
team.
Examples: - Publish Vue support guidance and expectations
- Implement agreed scope if approved
- Publish recommended alternatives if Vue support is not pursued
Later
Focus: Support DS 2.0 version updates and improve documentation and communications
quality to support scaling and sustainability.
Documentation and communications improvements
Objective: Improve how teams access and understand design system guidance,
and communicate design system value areas like accessibility more clearly.
Benefit: Increases trust, improves reuse, and supports self-serve adoption
by making guidance easier to consume and share.
Examples: - Add markdown file download to website documentation
- Articulate accessibility work more clearly (what is covered and how it supports
teams)
Targeted capacity support for DS 2.0 version updates
Objective: Provide targeted design system team capacity to help remaining
DS 1.x product teams complete the DS 2.0 version update.
Benefit: Accelerates adoption progress and unblocks teams facing more difficult
migrations, supporting adoption targets while keeping support sustainable through a focus
on teams most in need.
Example: - Focus migration support on late adopters facing systemic barriers to upgrading