The Hidden Users of Your Design System and How to Support Them

Design systems are often discussed as tools for designers and engineers. While these two groups are the primary builders, the system’s impact reaches far deeper into the enterprise ecosystem. High-performing organizations recognize that a design system is a shared language for everyone involved in the product lifecycle. When you support the hidden users, product managers, marketing teams, and quality assurance specialists, you unlock the true scale of your digital operations.

Identify the unique needs of cross-functional stakeholders

Each department interacts with a design system through a different lens. To drive adoption, you must understand the specific value the system provides to these often-overlooked groups.

Product managers and strategic roadmapping

Product managers use the design system to estimate effort and plan roadmaps. For them, the system represents predictability. By using established components, they can reduce the time spent on "discovery" for common UI patterns and focus on solving core user problems.

Marketing and brand consistency

Marketing teams need to ensure that the brand voice and visual identity remain cohesive from the first ad click to the final in-product experience. Adobe created the Consonant design system specifically to bridge the gap between product design and marketing content. This allows marketers to use standardized templates that match the product's look and feel without needing to learn complex design tools.

Quality assurance and precision

QA engineers use the design system as a source of truth for "Design QA." Instead of guessing if a spacing value is correct, they reference the system’s documentation to verify that the implementation matches the spec. This reduces the back-and-forth between developers and testers and ensures a polished final product.

Solve common challenges for non-technical users

Even when the value is clear, hidden users often face significant barriers when trying to use a design system. Identifying and removing these friction points is essential for long-term success.

Technical jargon and tool silos

Many design systems are documented in ways that require deep technical knowledge. Product managers might find themselves lost in React props, while marketers might struggle with Figma's complex layering. High-performing teams solve this by creating documentation that is accessible to everyone. Shopify does this effectively with Polaris, which provides clear "why" and "how" guidelines written in plain language.

The feeling of restricted creativity

Creative teams outside of product design often fear that a design system will act as a "straitjacket." Booking.com addressed this by moving from fixed templates to flexible frameworks. Their approach allows local teams to innovate within guardrails, ensuring that the system empowers rather than restricts creative energy.

Implement strategies for an inclusive ecosystem

To make your design system truly inclusive, you must move the documentation out of specialized silos and into the workspaces where these hidden users actually live.

Integrate with the marketing tech stack

A design system should connect directly to the tools marketing teams use daily, such as Content Management Systems (CMS). By syncing design tokens and components with tools like Webflow or Adobe Experience Manager, you allow marketers to build on-brand pages without manual design handoffs.

Create non-developer documentation views

Use a platform that allows you to customize the documentation experience for different roles. Through the Supernova Portal, you can create dedicated views that hide technical code snippets for product managers while highlighting the functional guidelines they need for roadmapping. You can see how SoFi uses this approach to foster excitement in the SoFi case study.

Establish a Design QA process

Formalize the role of QA in the design system workflow. Provide QA teams with specific checklists and access to component "playgrounds" where they can interact with the latest versions of the UI. This ensures that quality is baked into the process from the start, as seen in the Mews case study, where rigorous documentation rigor leads to better onboarding and implementation.

Measure the impact of hidden user adoption

The success of a design system should be measured by how well it serves the entire organization, not just the core design team. Tracking metrics related to hidden users provides a more complete picture of your system's ROI.

Cycle time and efficiency

Track the reduction in "discovery time" for product managers and "brand audit" time for marketing.

Support ticket volume

Monitor the number of questions coming from non-technical teams. A drop in Slack or Jira tickets related to "Where is the latest logo?" or "What color is this button?" is a strong indicator that your documentation is serving its hidden users effectively.

Stakeholder satisfaction

Conduct regular surveys to gauge how helpful the system is for marketing, QA, and product management. High satisfaction scores from these groups often correlate with higher overall adoption and a more cohesive brand experience.

The true power of an enterprise design system lies in its ability to act as a bridge between diverse teams. When you support your hidden users, you turn your design system into a universal operating system for your entire product organization.

One final piece of advice

Host a "Design System for Everyone" workshop once a quarter. Invite a product manager, a marketer, and a QA lead to demonstrate how they use the system in their specific workflows. This cross-pollination of ideas is the fastest way to build a truly inclusive community around your system.

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