[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":585},["ShallowReactive",2],{"docs-navigation":3,"docs-\u002Fbuilding\u002Fchoosing-a-design-system":254,"surround-\u002Fbuilding\u002Fchoosing-a-design-system":582},[4,33,86,114,173,212,231],{"title":5,"path":6,"stem":7,"children":8},"Start","\u002Fstart","1.start",[9,13,18,23,28],{"title":10,"path":6,"stem":11,"description":12},"Start here","1.start\u002Findex","What Desifex is, and how to get an application of your own running.",{"title":14,"path":15,"stem":16,"description":17},"What Desifex is","\u002Fstart\u002Fwhat-desifex-is","1.start\u002F1.what-desifex-is","An application factory where conversation is the interface — and the handful of things it deliberately will not do.",{"title":19,"path":20,"stem":21,"description":22},"Your first application","\u002Fstart\u002Fyour-first-application","1.start\u002F2.your-first-application","From a sentence to something running, in about twenty minutes, with nothing to install.",{"title":24,"path":25,"stem":26,"description":27},"The workbench","\u002Fstart\u002Fthe-workbench","1.start\u002F3.the-workbench","A tour of the screen you will spend your time on — the conversation, the six tabs, and the menu.",{"title":29,"path":30,"stem":31,"description":32},"What to expect","\u002Fstart\u002Fwhat-to-expect","1.start\u002F4.what-to-expect","How long things take, what a good working rhythm looks like, and the parts that genuinely go wrong.",{"title":34,"path":35,"stem":36,"children":37},"Building","\u002Fbuilding","2.building",[38,41,46,51,56,61,66,71,76,81],{"title":34,"path":35,"stem":39,"description":40},"2.building\u002Findex","Getting what you actually wanted out of the conversation.",{"title":42,"path":43,"stem":44,"description":45},"Describing what you need","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fdescribing-what-you-need","2.building\u002F1.describing-what-you-need","How to phrase a request so that what comes back is what you meant.",{"title":47,"path":48,"stem":49,"description":50},"Watching a build","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fwatching-a-build","2.building\u002F2.watching-a-build","What the steps mean, what is happening underneath, and why you are not shown a log.",{"title":52,"path":53,"stem":54,"description":55},"Changing your mind","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fchanging-your-mind","2.building\u002F3.changing-your-mind","Interrupting a build, correcting a misunderstanding, and undoing something you asked for.",{"title":57,"path":58,"stem":59,"description":60},"When a build fails","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fwhen-a-build-fails","2.building\u002F4.when-a-build-fails","What a failure actually means, what to try, and when to ask us.",{"title":62,"path":63,"stem":64,"description":65},"Showing it a file","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fshowing-it-files","2.building\u002F5.showing-it-files","Attaching a screenshot, a spreadsheet or a document to the conversation — often faster than describing it.",{"title":67,"path":68,"stem":69,"description":70},"Choosing a design system","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fchoosing-a-design-system","2.building\u002F6.choosing-a-design-system","What a design system decides, how to pick one, and what changing it later does.",{"title":72,"path":73,"stem":74,"description":75},"Asking for settings","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fasking-for-settings","2.building\u002F7.asking-for-settings","The conversation reaches the whole platform — addresses, icons, redirects, users, integrations and shipping. If you do not know where a setting is, ask.",{"title":77,"path":78,"stem":79,"description":80},"When it asks you","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fwhen-it-asks-you","2.building\u002F8.when-it-asks-you","Some decisions arrive as a screen rather than a message — a table to correct, a list to choose from — and the build waits for your answer.",{"title":82,"path":83,"stem":84,"description":85},"Starting from what you have","\u002Fbuilding\u002Fstarting-from-what-you-have","2.building\u002F9.starting-from-what-you-have","A spreadsheet, a document, a picture or a page of your own site — attached, read, and built from.",{"title":87,"path":88,"stem":89,"children":90},"Shipping","\u002Fshipping","3.shipping",[91,94,99,104,109],{"title":87,"path":88,"stem":92,"description":93},"3.shipping\u002Findex","Getting what you built in front of people, and getting back to an earlier version.",{"title":95,"path":96,"stem":97,"description":98},"Versions","\u002Fshipping\u002Fversions","3.shipping\u002F1.versions","Every build is kept, named after what was asked for, and can be compared and restored.",{"title":100,"path":101,"stem":102,"description":103},"Environments","\u002Fshipping\u002Fenvironments","3.shipping\u002F2.environments","Preview, test and live — what each one is, who can reach it, and why their data is separate.",{"title":105,"path":106,"stem":107,"description":108},"Deploying","\u002Fshipping\u002Fdeploying","3.shipping\u002F3.deploying","Putting a version into test or live, what happens while it deploys, and what happens if it fails.",{"title":110,"path":111,"stem":112,"description":113},"Going back","\u002Fshipping\u002Fgoing-back","3.shipping\u002F4.going-back","Restoring an earlier version when a change turned out to be wrong.",{"title":115,"path":116,"stem":117,"children":118},"Running","\u002Frunning","4.running",[119,123,128,133,138,143,148,153,158,163,168],{"title":120,"path":116,"stem":121,"description":122},"Running it","4.running\u002Findex","Everything in Settings — addresses, access, people, files, integrations and what crawlers are told.",{"title":124,"path":125,"stem":126,"description":127},"Addresses and domains","\u002Frunning\u002Faddresses-and-domains","4.running\u002F01.addresses-and-domains","The address an application gets, and how to put it on a domain you own.",{"title":129,"path":130,"stem":131,"description":132},"Who can reach it","\u002Frunning\u002Fwho-can-reach-it","4.running\u002F02.who-can-reach-it","Open, behind one shared password, or accounts — and why the choice is enforced in front of the application.",{"title":134,"path":135,"stem":136,"description":137},"People who sign in","\u002Frunning\u002Fpeople-who-sign-in","4.running\u002F03.people-who-sign-in","The workspace's user directory — adding the people who use your applications, which ones each may open, what you can keep about them, and two-step sign-in.",{"title":139,"path":140,"stem":141,"description":142},"Published files","\u002Frunning\u002Fpublished-files","4.running\u002F04.published-files","Documents your application hands to its users — a price list, a brochure, a form — with a stable address and no build to change them.",{"title":144,"path":145,"stem":146,"description":147},"Integrations","\u002Frunning\u002Fintegrations","4.running\u002F05.integrations","Email, SMS and Google — connected once, used by the application without it ever holding a credential.",{"title":149,"path":150,"stem":151,"description":152},"Appearance","\u002Frunning\u002Fappearance","4.running\u002F06.appearance","The browser tab, the icon, what a link looks like when somebody pastes it, and adding it to a phone's home screen.",{"title":154,"path":155,"stem":156,"description":157},"Redirects and search engines","\u002Frunning\u002Fredirects-and-search-engines","4.running\u002F07.redirects-and-search-engines","Old addresses that still get visited, and what crawlers are told about each environment.",{"title":159,"path":160,"stem":161,"description":162},"Configuration values","\u002Frunning\u002Fconfiguration-values","4.running\u002F08.configuration-values","Named values the application needs but must not contain — API keys, account numbers, thresholds.",{"title":164,"path":165,"stem":166,"description":167},"Your data","\u002Frunning\u002Fyour-data","4.running\u002F09.your-data","The Data tab — reading, correcting, adding to and clearing out what your application has stored, one environment at a time.",{"title":169,"path":170,"stem":171,"description":172},"Visitors","\u002Frunning\u002Fvisitors","4.running\u002F10.visitors","Who is using the application, counted without identifying anybody and with nothing to set up.",{"title":174,"path":175,"stem":176,"children":177},"Workspace","\u002Fworkspace","5.workspace",[178,182,187,192,197,202,207],{"title":179,"path":175,"stem":180,"description":181},"Your workspace","5.workspace\u002Findex","What every application in it shares — the domain, the design systems, the people, the user directory and, if you want it, one set of records — and how to be in more than one.",{"title":183,"path":184,"stem":185,"description":186},"People and roles","\u002Fworkspace\u002Fpeople-and-roles","5.workspace\u002F1.people-and-roles","Three roles, what each can do, how they apply to the builder as well as to the buttons, and why they belong to a workspace rather than to an account.",{"title":188,"path":189,"stem":190,"description":191},"More than one workspace","\u002Fworkspace\u002Fmore-than-one-workspace","5.workspace\u002F2.more-than-one-workspace","Belonging to several, switching between them, the role you hold in each, and why nothing crosses over.",{"title":193,"path":194,"stem":195,"description":196},"Organising applications","\u002Fworkspace\u002Ffolders-and-organising","5.workspace\u002F3.folders-and-organising","Folders on the dashboard, and how to keep a growing list navigable.",{"title":198,"path":199,"stem":200,"description":201},"Your own design systems","\u002Fworkspace\u002Fyour-own-design-systems","5.workspace\u002F4.your-own-design-systems","Authoring a design system for your brand, or a client's, by importing guidelines, a website or a Figma library.",{"title":203,"path":204,"stem":205,"description":206},"Your profile","\u002Fworkspace\u002Fyour-profile","5.workspace\u002F5.your-profile","Your name, your password, your picture, and the theme.",{"title":208,"path":209,"stem":210,"description":211},"Where records live","\u002Fworkspace\u002Fwhere-records-live","5.workspace\u002F6.where-records-live","One store per environment, one across an application's environments, or one the whole workspace shares — what each costs you, and how to change it.",{"title":213,"path":214,"stem":215,"children":216},"Developers","\u002Fdevelopers","6.developers",[217,221,226],{"title":218,"path":214,"stem":219,"description":220},"For developers","6.developers\u002Findex","What is actually generated, and what to do when you inherit one.",{"title":222,"path":223,"stem":224,"description":225},"What gets built","\u002Fdevelopers\u002Fwhat-gets-built","6.developers\u002F1.what-gets-built","The stack, the shape of the repository, and the parts the platform provides rather than the application.",{"title":227,"path":228,"stem":229,"description":230},"Taking one over","\u002Fdevelopers\u002Ftaking-it-over","6.developers\u002F2.taking-it-over","For the developer who has just been handed an application built here.",{"title":232,"path":233,"stem":234,"children":235},"Reference","\u002Freference","7.reference",[236,239,244,249],{"title":232,"path":233,"stem":237,"description":238},"7.reference\u002Findex","Terms, limits, and what to do when something specific has gone wrong.",{"title":240,"path":241,"stem":242,"description":243},"Glossary","\u002Freference\u002Fglossary","7.reference\u002F1.glossary","Every term this documentation uses, in one place.",{"title":245,"path":246,"stem":247,"description":248},"Limits","\u002Freference\u002Flimits","7.reference\u002F2.limits","The boundaries that are real, so you do not discover them at an inconvenient moment.",{"title":250,"path":251,"stem":252,"description":253},"Troubleshooting","\u002Freference\u002Ftroubleshooting","7.reference\u002F3.troubleshooting","Specific symptoms, and what each one usually means.",{"id":255,"title":67,"body":256,"description":70,"extension":575,"hidden":576,"meta":577,"navTitle":578,"navigation":579,"path":68,"seo":580,"stem":69,"__hash__":581},"docs\u002F2.building\u002F6.choosing-a-design-system.md",{"type":257,"value":258,"toc":560},"minimark",[259,268,273,276,283,286,290,293,299,304,370,374,410,414,458,475,479,482,485,492,496,502,506,515,522,529,542,548,551,555],[260,261,262,263,267],"p",{},"A design system here is ",[264,265,266],"strong",{},"a brand and a brief",". The brand is the colours, the\ntype and the shapes. The brief is the instructions the builder designs from: how\ndense the screens run, whether records live in tables or cards, where navigation\nsits, how detail is revealed.",[269,270,272],"h2",{"id":271},"the-usual-answer-your-own","The usual answer: your own",[260,274,275],{},"If your workspace has a design system of its own, pick it. That is the point of\nhaving one — every application you build is in your brand, and the fifth looks\nlike it came from the same company as the first. Nobody re-specifies the\ncolours and nothing drifts because a different person asked for the next one.",[260,277,278,279,282],{},"Building for a client? Pick theirs. See\n",[280,281,198],"a",{"href":199}," for how one gets\nset up, including importing it from a website or a Figma library.",[260,284,285],{},"The thirteen below are what you start from when you do not have one yet — and\nwhat a new design system of your own is usually copied from.",[269,287,289],{"id":288},"picking-one-of-the-thirteen","Picking one of the thirteen",[260,291,292],{},"Pick the one that feels like the software the people using it already use. That\nis a better test than which one you find most attractive.",[260,294,295,298],{},[264,296,297],{},"Thirteen ship with the platform",", in three families.",[300,301,303],"h3",{"id":302},"enterprise-business-software-in-six-tempers","Enterprise — business software, in six tempers",[305,306,307,318],"table",{},[308,309,310],"thead",{},[311,312,313,316],"tr",{},[314,315],"th",{},[314,317],{},[319,320,321,330,338,346,354,362],"tbody",{},[311,322,323,327],{},[324,325,326],"td",{},"Enterprise Dense",[324,328,329],{},"A dense operational console; crisp blue, tiny corners",[311,331,332,335],{},[324,333,334],{},"Enterprise Classic",[324,336,337],{},"A formal system of record; warm, serif headings, deep red",[311,339,340,343],{},[324,341,342],{},"Enterprise Soft",[324,344,345],{},"A rounded modern workspace; friendly indigo, roomy",[311,347,348,351],{},[324,349,350],{},"Enterprise Slate",[324,352,353],{},"A monitoring board of figures and charts; colour is the data",[311,355,356,359],{},[324,357,358],{},"Enterprise Contrast",[324,360,361],{},"Legibility ahead of elegance; top tabs, large type, loud focus",[311,363,364,367],{},[324,365,366],{},"Enterprise Ledger",[324,368,369],{},"A printed statement — no chrome, ruled lines, a running balance",[300,371,373],{"id":372},"saas-the-product-company-end-of-the-shelf","SaaS — the product-company end of the shelf",[305,375,376,384],{},[308,377,378],{},[311,379,380,382],{},[314,381],{},[314,383],{},[319,385,386,394,402],{},[311,387,388,391],{},[324,389,390],{},"SaaS Aurora",[324,392,393],{},"Deep violet, soft light; a bento grid around a generated answer",[311,395,396,399],{},[324,397,398],{},"SaaS Signal",[324,400,401],{},"Pure neutrals, one electric accent; one full-bleed list, ⌘K first",[311,403,404,407],{},[324,405,406],{},"SaaS Bloom",[324,408,409],{},"Warm cream and sage, a soft serif; a centred column of prose",[300,411,413],{"id":412},"and-four-of-their-own","And four of their own",[305,415,416,424],{},[308,417,418],{},[311,419,420,422],{},[314,421],{},[314,423],{},[319,425,426,434,442,450],{},[311,427,428,431],{},[324,429,430],{},"Smooth",[324,432,433],{},"Editorial and unhurried. The default, and what this documentation is built in",[311,435,436,439],{},[324,437,438],{},"Techie",[324,440,441],{},"An instrument panel: monospaced, keyboard-first",[311,443,444,447],{},[324,445,446],{},"Modern Retro",[324,448,449],{},"Cream paper, heavy black outlines, hard offset shadows",[311,451,452,455],{},[324,453,454],{},"Jukebox",[324,456,457],{},"Mid-century American in a modern frame; capsule shapes, a chrome lip",[459,460,462],"note",{"type":461},"tip",[260,463,464,465,467,468,471,472,474],{},"Unsure? ",[264,466,430],{}," for something people will read and think in. ",[264,469,470],{},"Enterprise\nDense"," for something people will operate all day. ",[264,473,358],{}," when\nit will be used in bad light, on a building site or a shop floor.",[269,476,478],{"id":477},"the-architecture-is-binding","The architecture is binding",[260,480,481],{},"This is the part that is easy to underestimate. Each brief states where\nnavigation lives and what the content actually is, and the builder treats that\nas binding rather than advisory.",[260,483,484],{},"Ledger has no navigation chrome at all and reads as a printed statement. Bloom\nis a centred column of prose. Signal is one full-bleed list with an overlay.\nAurora is a bento grid. None of them will draw a sidebar and a table, because\nleft to decide for itself that is what any builder draws every time.",[260,486,487,488,491],{},"So choosing a design system is choosing a ",[264,489,490],{},"shape of application",", not a\npalette. It is worth a minute's thought at creation, and it is not fatal to get\nwrong.",[269,493,495],{"id":494},"changing-it-later","Changing it later",[260,497,498,501],{},[264,499,500],{},"Change how it looks…"," in the application menu.",[269,503,505],{"id":504},"when-none-of-them-is-it","When none of them is it",[260,507,508,511,512,514],{},[264,509,510],{},"Describe it yourself",", the last tile when you are creating an application,\nand the box under the systems in ",[264,513,500],{}," afterwards.",[260,516,517,518],{},"Write what it should be like in your own words — ",[519,520,521],"em",{},"dense and quiet, like a\nspreadsheet; serif headings; no colour except for warnings; everything on one\nscreen, no wizards.",[260,523,524,525,528],{},"A design system still supplies the colours, the type and the shape of a\nscreen, because those have to come from somewhere and be consistent. What you\nwrite decides everything else, and ",[264,526,527],{},"wins wherever the two disagree",". Pick\nwhich system it starts from underneath the box.",[459,530,531],{},[260,532,533,534,537,538,541],{},"Changing the system restyles the application in seconds. Changing your words\ndoes not: they describe what gets ",[519,535,536],{},"built",", so they reach the screens the next\ntime something is built. Ask for a change, or press ",[264,539,540],{},"Restyle",".",[260,543,544,545,547],{},"Colours, type and shapes are re-rendered into the application immediately, in\nseconds, with no build spent. If the new brief implies a genuinely different\npage architecture, the workbench says the design system has moved on and offers\n",[264,546,540],{},", which runs a build to rearrange the screens while keeping the\nbehaviour and the data intact.",[260,549,550],{},"Restyling is never automatic. One person changing a shared design system should\nnot silently spend a build on every application in the workspace.",[269,552,554],{"id":553},"your-own","Your own",[260,556,557,558,541],{},"A workspace can author its own design systems, including by importing your\nbrand from your guidelines, your website or your Figma library. They are visible\nonly to your workspace. See\n",[280,559,198],{"href":199},{"title":561,"searchDepth":562,"depth":562,"links":563},"",3,[564,566,571,572,573,574],{"id":271,"depth":565,"text":272},2,{"id":288,"depth":565,"text":289,"children":567},[568,569,570],{"id":302,"depth":562,"text":303},{"id":372,"depth":562,"text":373},{"id":412,"depth":562,"text":413},{"id":477,"depth":565,"text":478},{"id":494,"depth":565,"text":495},{"id":504,"depth":565,"text":505},{"id":553,"depth":565,"text":554},"md",false,{},null,true,{"title":67,"description":70},"rxEaFfvCZWeNzJuaRb0jP051VYNd-Wh2pXFHbucCGHY",[583,584],{"title":62,"path":63,"stem":64,"description":65,"children":-1},{"title":72,"path":73,"stem":74,"description":75,"children":-1},1790202296894]