Process
Documentation is the deliverable
· 7 min read
The files expire. The reasoning is what your team is still using in three years.
Hand a client a folder of source files and you have given them a snapshot. Hand them the reasoning and you have given them a method they can apply to situations you never anticipated.
Our guidelines are written as decisions with justifications, not rules with examples. "Use the condensed cut below 24px, because the standard cut loses the counters at that size" is usable. "Use the condensed cut below 24px" gets ignored the first time it is inconvenient.
We also document the failures. Every system has applications where it does not work, and saying so explicitly prevents the team from forcing it and blaming the design.
The test is simple: could a designer who has never met us extend this system correctly? If not, the project is not finished, regardless of how good the artwork is.