GitHub takes its collaborative culture to a new level | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

GitHub adopted Figma to make its design system more collaborative, scalable, and accessible—especially for its distributed workforce. What began as a grassroots effort to standardize design evolved into a dedicated seven-person team and a largely Figma-based workflow. Figma’s browser-based collaboration and API helped GitHub remove tooling barriers, streamline contributions, and bring designers and engineers closer together.

Building a Dedicated Design Systems Team

• In 2015, GitHub lacked staff dedicated full-time to its design system.
• Designers repeatedly recreated components, worked with outdated patterns, and lacked consistent documentation.
• A grassroots initiative began improving the process and documented workflow.
• Within six months, GitHub formed a permanent design systems team.
• By 2019, seven of the company’s 25 product designers focused on reusable, interchangeable components.

Removing Friction from the Design Workflow

• Maintaining the design system initially required specialized software and knowledge of complex tools.
• Contributors found it difficult to update shared assets such as GitHub’s Octicons SVG icon library.
• GitHub tested Figma because it eliminated the need to install desktop software.
• Combining Figma with its API enabled an automated, platform-independent contribution workflow.
• The design systems team subsequently migrated UI components into Figma, making most design and development resources available in one place.

Turning Figma into a Remote Collaboration Hub

• Figma’s web-based workspace helped GitHub’s remote employees collaborate despite being in different locations.
• Designers could work simultaneously in the same file, effectively replacing the physical whiteboard.
• Shared design sessions and “design jams” helped ideas gain momentum and encouraged experimentation.
• Prototyping became easier because designers could create and adjust flows without switching tools.
• GitHub viewed Figma as a natural fit because both products emphasize collaboration between designers and engineers.

Faster Feedback and More Connected Teams

• Figma lowered the barrier for people outside design to participate in the feedback process.
• Real-time collaboration helped distributed teams communicate more directly.
• By consolidating components, prototypes, and design discussions, GitHub could support more efficient and consistent delivery.

GitHub’s experience suggests that a design system works best when its tools make contribution as easy as consumption. For distributed organizations, a browser-based, collaborative platform such as Figma can turn design-system maintenance into a shared engineering and product activity rather than a specialized, isolated process.