◱AI Lab3 min read
Making design-system governance an operating system, not a vibe check.
Craftline audits the Figma libraries in scope, detects broken or drifted components, and routes new and changed components through accountable review — combining automated scanning with designer coaching, not blame.
- Stage
- Prototype — demonstrable, not running at organisation scale
- Type
- Governance Platform
- Integrates with
- Figma
- Scope
- Selected Figma libraries
overview
Overview
Large organisations don't lose design-system consistency because designers don't care — they lose it because dozens of product teams, multiple Figma libraries, local exceptions, and regulated accessibility requirements make drift inevitable without a system to catch it. Craftline is that system: it scans the libraries connected to it, flags what's actually broken, and routes decisions to the right owner — without turning governance into surveillance.
workflows
Core workflows
Figma file audit
A plugin or scheduled scan reads component instances, variables, styles, naming, and local overrides, then a rule engine evaluates violations by severity — Critical, High, Medium, Low.
Broken component detection
Flags detached instances, unapproved or deprecated library sources, local style overrides replacing published variables, unauthorized variant changes, and missing accessibility annotations.
Component lifecycle
New and changed components move through four gated stages — Intake → Design Authority → Engineering Readiness → Release Governance — each requiring specific evidence before it can advance.
Exception management
Exceptions are allowed, but never silent: every one requires an owner, business reason, evidence, expiry date, migration plan, and approver.
coaching
Coaching, not blame
Designer scorecards combine adoption percentage, repeat critical/high violations, average remediation time, and approved-exception ratio into a single, explainable score — built for coaching conversations, not for ranking people against each other.
principles
Production non-negotiables
Critical violations block release handoff only when policy says so — the design-system team can always override, annotate, and audit every decision the system makes.
Limits and honest caveats
- Stage is a prototype plus a stakeholder presentation — the workflow is designed and demonstrable, not running against production files across an organisation.
- Scope is the libraries connected to it, not every Figma file in a company.
- Designer scorecards carry a real risk of feeling like surveillance. They are scoped to coaching conversations, are explainable, and are never used for ranking or performance rating.
- Permissions, data retention, an appeal route and a named governance owner are part of the model before any pilot runs.