Semantic tokens over literal ones. Naming colours by intent (surface, accent, danger) instead of value (slate-800, indigo-500) is the single decision that paid back the most.
A single source of truth for spacing. Four sizes. Engineering will invent more if you let them — do not.
Component variants owned by the system, not by the screen. The moment a one-off variant ships in a feature branch, the system has a leak.
Documentation written for the engineer who joins next week, not the designer who built it.
#Design Systems#Tokens#Governance