StyleGuide DS
Enterprise Design System
StyleGuide DS is a comprehensive enterprise design system built for a fast-growing B2B SaaS platform serving 50,000+ business users. Code Zerra delivered 200+ Figma components, a design token architecture, a fully documented React/Storybook component library and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance — all in three months.
The Challenge
The client's engineering and design teams were working from inconsistent UI patterns accumulated over three years of fast growth. Each new feature introduced subtle visual and behavioural inconsistencies. Designer-to-developer handoff was a constant source of friction and rework, slowing feature velocity significantly.
- 47 distinct button variants across the codebase — none documented
- No shared colour or typography tokens — values hardcoded throughout
- Accessibility failures on 62% of interactive components (audit result)
- Designer handoff took 3–5 days per feature — mostly resolving ambiguity
- No single source of truth — Figma, Zeroheight, Confluence all contradicted each other
Our Solution
We ran a comprehensive UI audit first — cataloguing every unique pattern in the product. We then consolidated into a token-first design system: semantic colour tokens, a type scale, spacing system and 8-point grid. 200+ Figma components were built with auto-layout, variants and interactive states. Storybook documented every component with usage guidelines, do/don't examples and accessibility notes.
- Full UI audit: cataloguing 47 button variants down to 8 semantic types
- Design token architecture: semantic colour, typography, spacing, shadow tokens
- 200+ Figma components with auto-layout, variants and all interactive states
- React + TypeScript component library published to private npm registry
- Storybook documentation with usage guidelines, accessibility notes and examples
- WCAG 2.2 AA audit and remediation across all 200+ components
The Results
Twelve weeks after launch, the design system measurably changed how the client's teams worked. Design sprints ran 60% faster — with handoff reduced from 3–5 days to half a day. UI bug reports related to inconsistency dropped by 40% in the first quarter. Developer satisfaction scores (internal survey) increased from 5.1 to 8.4 out of 10.
Technology Stack
Key Features & Capabilities
Token Architecture
Primitive → semantic → component token hierarchy following the W3C Design Token Community Group spec — works in Figma, CSS, React and React Native.
200+ Figma Components
Every component built with Figma auto-layout, variant properties, interactive states (default/hover/focus/disabled/error) and dark/light mode support.
Storybook Documentation
Every component documented with live code examples, prop tables, do/don't usage guidance and embedded accessibility notes.
WCAG 2.2 AA
Full accessibility audit and remediation: colour contrast ratios, focus management, ARIA patterns, keyboard navigation and screen reader testing.
React Component Library
TypeScript React components published to a private npm registry — importable in any front-end project with tree-shaking and zero external runtime dependencies.
Visual Regression Testing
Chromatic integration catches unintended visual changes in components across every pull request — no manual screenshot comparison.
"Our design team went from spending half their time answering "which button do I use?" to spending all their time on actual design problems. The system Code Zerra built is the foundation we'll build on for the next five years."
Zoe Patterson
Head of Design, B2B SaaS Client