Using Design Systems to Accelerate Mobile Delivery

Design systems are often treated as a web-only concern. In reality, the fastest mobile teams I know treat their design system as the backbone for product velocity, quality, and experimentation.

Establish a single source of tokens

Define your color, spacing, typography, and shadow tokens once, then export them to iOS, Android, and React Native. Tools like Style Dictionary or Theo keep platform-specific files in sync. Pair tokens with usage guidelines—when should designers reach for elevation 4? Which color combinations meet accessibility targets?

Component libraries should be multi-platform, not copy-pasted

Instead of recreating components per platform, build them on top of your native primitives:

• SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose components that mirror each other conceptually.
• React Native wrappers that expose a unified API while delegating layout to native views when performance demands it.
• Storybook or ComponentKit libraries where product teams can preview states alongside accessibility notes.

Governance matters

A design system without upkeep becomes shelfware. Form a working group of design, engineering, and product reps. Give them monthly office hours, a backlog, and a mandate to evaluate contributions. If a team needs a bespoke component, they can build it—but they also commit to upstreaming it.

Measure impact, not output

Track the metrics that prove the system is working:

• Time saved prototyping or implementing new screens.
• Reduction in accessibility bugs.
• Percentage of UI built with system components.

When leadership sees the throughput gains, budget for maintenance and expansion stops being a fight.

A strategic asset

Design systems are more than component libraries. They are agreements about how your product looks, feels, and behaves. Treat them as strategic assets and your mobile teams will deliver polished experiences without trading speed for consistency.