Scaling broadens the reach of your system without losing control. As adoption grows, new challenges emerge: multiple brands, platforms, or contributors. Without a scaling strategy, systems fracture or slow teams down. This approach helps you adapt governance, manage divergence, and mine new patterns so the system evolves with the organisation. Use it when your system is stable locally and needs to support broader contexts.
How to
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Assess maturity and governance
Use the Maturity Assessment tactic to evaluate both business and system maturity. Reflect on whether your Governance Model and Contribution Framework still fit, and adjust them to match how far and how fast your system can scale.
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Decide how to scale across contexts
Apply the Cross-Brand Consolidation tactic to align tokens and patterns where it makes sense, the Platform Overrides tactic to adapt for native needs, and the Splitting Design Systems tactic to decide when a single system should branch into many, whether by brand, platform, or domain.
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Distribute contribution and support
Apply the Contribution Framework and system RACI tactics to define clear pathways for contribution and ownership, and use System Champions and Advocates to share the support burden beyond the core team.
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Mine new patterns
Run the Pattern Mining tactic to capture recurring solutions from products and design work, and decide which should enter the system.
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Replan direction
Feed insights from these tactics into Roadmap Planning to prioritise the next stage of scaling based on evidence and business goals.