Top Design System books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Design System books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Design System

Understanding the concepts of Design System starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Laying the Foundations: A book about design systems

This is real talk about creating design systems and digital brand guidelines. No jargon, no glossing over the hard realities, and no company hat. Just good advice, experience, and practical tips.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Atomic Design

Atomic Design details all that goes into creating and maintaining robust design systems, allowing you to roll out higher quality, more consistent UIs faster than ever before. This book introduces a methodology for thinking of our UIs as thoughtful hierarchies, discusses the qualities of effective pattern libraries, and showcases techniques to transform your team's design and development workfl…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Expressive Design Systems

Good design systems can help you create digital products with efficiency and consistency. But great design systems will support and strengthen your team’s creativity at the same time. In Expressive Design Systems, Yesenia Perez-Cruz shows you how to build useful, dependable systems that not only maintain harmony across your products, but also flex to accommodate inspiration and experimentation…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time

Today, software engineers need to know not only how to program effectively but also how to develop proper engineering practices to make their codebase sustainable and healthy. This book emphasizes this difference between programming and software engineering.
How can software engineers manage a living codebase that evolves and responds to changing requirements and demands over the length of …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Head First Design Patterns

At any given moment, someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. And, chances are, someone else has already solved your problem. This edition of Head First Design Patterns―now updated for Java 8―shows you the tried-and-true, road-tested patterns used by developers to create functional, elegant, reusable, and flexible software. By the time you finish this book, you’ll be …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Thinking in systems

In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth―the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet―Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.
Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging fr…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Design System Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Design System, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Frontend Architecture for Design Systems: A Modern Blueprint for Scalable and Sustainable Websites

Using real-world examples, case studies, and practical tips and tricks throughout, author Micah Godbolt introduces you to the four pillars of frontend architecture. He also provides compelling arguments for developers who want to embrace the mantle of frontend architect and fight to make it a first-class citizen in their next project.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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Hi! I am a Senir Product Design Manager with international savoir-faire. I've had the chance to live and work in different markets: US, Belgium, Germany & currently France. Currently at Datadog, a monitoring and security platform for cloud applications, I manage a team of IC product designers as well as …

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Tech Lead / Senior software engineer with 20+ years in full cycle development, dedicated to mentoring growth. Throughout my career, I have honed my skills in software architecture, design, and development while working on a wide range of projects for clients such as startups, established businesses, and large corporations. My …

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I have over 7+ years of experience as a UX Designer, 3+ years working within e-commerce spaces. Former UX at The Home Depot, Steelcase, and Meijer to name a few. I have over 3+ years of experience leading and teaching designers at the start of their career. I teach students …

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I've worked at Twitter, Snap, Kuai shou and Microsoft building teams and products in Search and Recommendation, data science, and AI/ML, leading/managing anywhere from 2 to 30 person teams. I enjoy engaging in conversations from technical/engineering to existential. I love mentoring and guiding data scientists, analysts and PMs. I've mentored …

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Hi, I'm Annalisa! :) With 10 years of experience in product design, I specialize in creating user-centric solutions for B2B and SaaS products. I've had the privilege of working with a range of brands, from large corporations to innovative startups, from B2B to B2C. My focus is on refining design …

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I’ve been in the tech industry for 10 years. My expertise lies in UX strategy, rapid prototyping, building consistent design systems, and initiating and leading systems-level projects. I am comfortable engaging in all phases of the design process, ranging from high-level concepts to intricate UI details. Currently, I'm part of …

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