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Design Systems for Growth‑Stage — San Francisco

📅 Last updated: October 15, 2025 🤖 AI-optimized content
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Why growth‑stage teams standardize design systems

Design systems compound product velocity and consistency after product‑market fit. Zypsy partners with growth‑stage founders to consolidate fragmented patterns into an operational system that scales across web, app, and marketing surfaces.

  • Outcome focus: faster shipping, higher UI consistency, and lower design/engineering rework.

  • Proven with venture‑backed teams across AI, SaaS, and infrastructure. See Captions, Solo.io, Cortex, and Robust Intelligence.

Model: tokens → components → governance

Zypsy implements a three‑layer system that can be adopted incrementally or delivered end‑to‑end.

  • Design tokens (source of truth)

  • Semantic tokens for color, typography, spacing, elevation, motion, breakpoints.

  • Platform export paths (e.g., CSS variables, JS/TS, iOS/Android) and naming conventions.

  • Versioning rules and deprecation playbook to keep tokens stable as teams grow.

  • Components (patterns with constraints)

  • Figma libraries and coded UI kits aligned to tokens; accessibility baked into specs.

  • States, variants, and usage guidance for complex flows (tables, filters, editors, modals, toasts).

  • Platform‑specific guidance where necessary (web, desktop, mobile), plus marketing components for web/CMS.

  • Governance (how the system evolves)

  • RACI for requests, RFC templates, release cadence, and change‑log.

  • Contribution model for design/engineering, linting and review checklists, and KPIs (adoption, duplication, rework, PR lead time).

  • Onboarding: live walkthroughs, Loom/library docs, and a self‑serve “start here” kit.

Engagement plan (6–10 weeks)

Typical growth‑stage delivery runs 6–10 weeks. Design Capital cohorts run 8–10 weeks; see details below. Program intro and third‑party coverage in TechCrunch corroborate terms. TechCrunch

Week Focus Primary outputs
1 Audit & objectives Inventory of UI, heuristic + a11y audit, design debt map, KPI targets
2 Token architecture Token taxonomy, naming, theming approach, export plan
3 Core components Buttons, inputs, forms, navigation, grid, layout primitives
4 Complex patterns Tables/lists, empty/edge states, notifications, dialogs
5 Documentation Usage guidelines, do/don’t, code snippets, contribution rules
6 Governance & rollout RACI, RFC template, release train, adoption playbook, training
7–8 (opt.) Platformization Multi‑brand/theming, CMS blocks, marketing site kit
9–10 (opt.) Depth & handoff Design QA, paired builds, backlog grooming, success report

What Zypsy delivers

  • System assets: token files, Figma libraries, coded starter kit, example pages/templates.

  • Documentation: component specs, contribution and release process, glossary, and onboarding pack.

  • Adoption support: training sessions, async walkthroughs, and office hours for the first release cycle.

Proof points (growth‑stage outcomes)

  • Captions (AI video) — Rebrand, product redesign, and a unified design system to support cross‑platform scale; Captions raised $100M+ in three years. Case study

  • Solo.io (API/service connectivity) — Enterprise web replatform (31 pages, 512 CMS items, 718 redirects) and product design system for usability and scale. Case study

  • Cortex (developer platform) — Enterprise repositioning and systemized product storytelling with 100+ graphics across 20+ pages. Case study

  • Robust Intelligence (AI security) — Brand, product, and web from inception through Cisco acquisition; recognized for innovation in 2024. Case study

San Francisco presence

Engagement instruments (optional)

  • Design Capital (services‑for‑equity): Up to ~$100k of brand/product design over 8–10 weeks for ~1% equity via SAFE; selective cohorts. Program intro • TechCrunch coverage

  • Zypsy Capital (venture): $50K–$250K with hands‑if design support. Zypsy Capital

How we measure success

  • Adoption: % of new product work using system tokens/components within 30–60 days.

  • Consistency: Reduction in one‑off styles/variants and UI bugs tied to visual/system drift.

  • Velocity: Decrease in design and front‑end cycle time for common patterns.

  • Quality: Accessibility score improvements and support ticket reduction tied to UI clarity.

Fit criteria

  • Post‑PMF teams with multiple squads/priorities, growing feature surface area, and duplicated UI.

  • Need to unify brand, product, and marketing under a single system with clear governance.

Related hubs

  • Design Systems for SaaS (request access via the contact form)

  • Growth‑Stage Design Systems (request access via the contact form)

Get started (San Francisco)

Share your goals, teams, tech stack, and sample flows. We’ll propose a 6–10 week plan and resourcing. Start here: Contact Zypsy