Design Systems for Business Growth: Lessons from Wise

At first glance, a design system seems like a handy tool for designers and developers to work more efficiently, helping us collaborate better and speed up development by up to 47% through reusable components and consistent design standards. But if that’s the only way we’re thinking about it, we’re missing out on something bigger. Our design system isn’t just about keeping our product polished; it can be a driving factor that boosts your entire business.

Why? Because a well-executed design system, built for scalability and with close collaboration with marketing, maintains brand consistency across every touchpoint in your customer’s journey, turning each interaction into a chance to build trust. And trust? That’s the key to converting visitors into loyal customers and driving real growth.

Don’t just take our word for it—companies that maintain brand consistency across platforms can increase revenue by as much as 23%. So, let’s break down how a design system impacts the customer journey and how it can fuel business growth.

How a Design System Touches Every Part of the Customer Journey

1/ Entry Point

The moment someone first stumbles across your brand is a big deal. Your design system ensures everything looks and feels consistent, improving brand recognition, building curiosity and leading them to your website or app. First impressions? You’ve got about 50 miliseconds to nail it.

2/ Starting Point

When they land on your website, it should feel like coming home. A consistent design system built in close collaboration with marketing, makes navigation easy and familiar, instantly building trust. Studies show that 94% of users judge websites based on their design, so if your site’s a mess, causes confusion and your digital presence doesn’t align with your other marketing efforts, they’re out.

In this example, Wise maintains consistency by having a predefined set of styles options for typography, spacing and color palette where each color has a purpose that helps designers and developers quickly decide how and where to use them. This predictable functionality improves usability and reduces errors as people don’t need to keep learning how things work. In contrast, Robinhood’s interface often shows inconsistency in fonts and colors that make the experience feel fragmented. If only every page had the polished look of the credit card page! 🤩

3/ Interactive Point

Whether on web, iOS, or Android, a great design system ensures a smooth and familiar experience across all platforms. It’s a smart and long-term strategy for companies that want to streamline their design and development. However—most people think design systems only influence this point when in reality, we’ve seen they have the potential to do so much more.

4/ Support Point

Needing help is inevitable, but your design system should make the process painless. Consistency in language, copy, tone, and visual design in emails, help centers, and support interactions shows customers that you care, again reinforcing trust. 73% of consumers love a brand because of helpful customer service—don’t underestimate how far this goes.

5/ Engagement Point

Whether it’s a marketing email or a notification, consistency matters. 59% of shoppers prefer buying from brands they trust, and consistent design across communications is key to keeping them engaged and coming back to your platform.

6/ Tangible Point

Even in the physical world—packaging, events, or swag—your design system should stay consistent. This connection between digital and physical builds brand familiarity and reinforces trust.

The Business Impact of Getting It Right

When your design system connects all these dots, magic happens. Customers trust your brand across every touchpoint, which is the foundation for loyalty and retention. And trust doesn’t just happen by accident; it’s built on the back of consistent, thoughtful branding. Disjointed experiences? They can break trust faster than you think, leading to lost conversions and opportunities.

A Real-Life Example: Wise & Robinhood

In these examples, I compared Wise (formerly TransferWise) and Robinhood to highlight the impact of consistency (or lack thereof) in a design system built in collaboration with product and marketing team.

Take Wise, from their app to their emails, every touchpoint feels unified. They make complex financial information easy to understand while keeping their brand and product perfectly aligned. It’s about beauty, consistency and how Wise’s design system is built for scalability and helps drive strategic, business-wide impact. In their case, consistency leads to trust, and trust leads to retention and conversion.

On the other hand, Robinhood—once a design trendsetter—grew rapidly without accounting for the scalability of its design system. As a result, their user experience started feeling fragmented, as though designed by multiple teams with differing visions which not really support other marketing efforts. Recognising the need for a unified brand, Robinhood recently partnered with Porto Rocha for a full rebranding aimed at positioning itself in a more premium niche. The complete rollout is expected early next year, so it’ll be exciting to see the results.

Final Thoughts

A design system isn’t just a tool—it’s the backbone of your brand. When it’s done right, it touches every aspect of your customer’s experience, from first contact to repeat business. And that’s not just good for your brand—it’s great for your business growth.

Resources

As a product designer, if you’re curious about getting marketing on board with your design system, I recommend checking out the resources available through Memorisely. They offer fantastic insights that can help align your design efforts with marketing goals, making sure your system supports every aspect of the business.

If you want a hands-on guide to building your own design system, I highly recommend checking out Practical UI by Adam Dannaway. It’s packed with actionable insights to get you started.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!

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