A design system is a reusable set of design tokens — colors, typography, spacing, and shapes — together with customized components. Apply one to a prototype and every screen Elle generates follows your brand instead of a generic default.
Design systems belong to a workspace. Build one in your workspace settings, then apply it to any prototype you have access to. Because a prototype references the design system rather than copying it, updating the design system updates every prototype that uses it.
Design systems are available in every Aha! product that supports prototypes, on any plan.
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Create or modify a design system, including its layouts |
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Apply a design system to a prototype |
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Use a layout in a prototype |
How design systems work in prototypes
Each design system specifies reusable tokens, components, and previews:
Design tokens: The foundational styles Elle reuses across a prototype, grouped into Logos, Colors, Typography, Spacing, and Shapes. Each color token includes a light mode and a dark mode value.
Components: Customized versions of common interface elements, such as buttons and cards. A new design system starts without any, and you add them by asking Elle to customize the ones you need.
Layouts: Combinations of components that make up frequently used patterns, from a navigation bar or page header to an entire page. Use them as a starting point for new prototypes.
A workspace can hold more than one design system — for example, one for each product or brand you support. Workspaces also inherit design systems that their workspace line defines.
Build a design system at a workspace line level when several teams share a brand, so that every workspace beneath it can use the same styles and components.
You can apply design systems to every form of prototype, including standalone prototype records and prototypes you embed in a record description, document, or whiteboard.
Create a design system
Create and manage design systems from your workspace settings.
Navigate to User menu -> Settings -> Workspace -> Design systems.
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Select Add design system, then choose how to start:
Create new: Name the design system, then give Elle something to work from.
Create from Aha! Builder application: Select an application, and Elle builds a workspace design system from the one that application already uses.
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If you are starting new, give Elle any of these in the Elle panel:
Describe the look and feel you want, such as your primary color and the typeface you use.
Upload a screenshot of your product or another interface you want to match.
Add design system files exported from other design tools. Aha! Builder accepts PNG, JPG, and SVG image files so you can bring in vector assets, as well as TXT, MD, DOCX, CSV and other common text file extensions. It also accepts JSON, PDF, and XLSX files.
Review what Elle generates. Select any item under Design to see its tokens, and use the light and dark mode toggle in the upper right to preview both.
Ask Elle to customize the components you want, such as a button or a card. Each one you add appears under Components, where you can see it with your styling applied.
Apply a design system to a prototype
Choose a design system from the prototype itself, or as you create a prototype from a chat with Elle.
As you create a prototype: In the Elle panel, select the + button below the message box, select Design system, then select the one you want before you describe the prototype you need.
From an existing prototype: Open the prototype and select the Design system dropdown in the header, next to the version number. Select the design system you want. Elle drafts the request for you in the message box — send it, and Elle restyles the prototype and saves the result as a new version.
Applying a design system as you create a prototype uses fewer AI credits than applying one afterward, because Elle styles the prototype as it generates rather than restyling it in a second pass.
The list groups design systems by workspace. You can choose from the design systems that workspace holds, plus any others you have access to.
Create and use layouts
Start a new prototype from screens people already know, such as your navigation, home page, or analytics view. Then you can focus on the feature you are exploring instead of rebuilding the interface around it.
Design system layouts are different from the custom layouts that control how fields appear on records.
Create a layout in one of two ways:
From a prototype: Open the prototype and select the Save as custom layout button in the upper right. Enter a Name, choose the Design system to save the layout to, then select Create layout.
From a design system: Open the design system from your workspace settings. In the Elle panel, describe the layout you want, or upload a screenshot of an existing screen and ask Elle to create a layout from it.
Note: Saving a prototype as a layout copies it into the design system you choose. Anyone with access to that design system can see the copied content.
After you create your first layout, a Layouts section appears below Components in the design system. Select a layout to preview it, and describe any changes you want in the Elle panel.
To use a layout, apply its design system to your prototype, then ask Elle for the layout by name as you describe what you need. For example: "Start from the home page layout and add a section for team challenges." Elle may also apply a layout when your request names the screen it covers, but asking for the layout by name gives you the most reliable result.
Layouts work differently from the rest of a design system. Elle copies a layout into your prototype rather than referencing it, so changes you make to a layout later do not update prototypes you already built from it.
Update a design system
Refine a design system at any time from workspace settings. There are two ways to make changes:
Use the selector tool at the top of the design system to choose an element, then describe your changes in the Elle panel.
Ask Elle directly. The panel suggests common changes, such as Analyze and improve my design system, Update the color palette, and Add a new component.
When you save a change, every prototype that uses that design system picks it up. You do not need to regenerate those prototypes, and the incremental changes the updated design system applies do not use AI credits, because each prototype references the design system's values rather than storing its own copy.
Changing a design system affects every prototype using it, including prototypes owned by other people in the workspace. If you want to explore a different direction without disturbing existing work, add a second design system instead.
Design systems in Aha! Builder
Aha! Builder applications use the same design systems. An application can adopt a design system saved in its workspace, and you can create a workspace design system from an application you have already styled — so one set of tokens and components can serve your prototypes and your applications together. In Aha! Builder, Library -> Design systems lists the design systems in every workspace you can access, along with the applications that use each one
If you get stuck, please reach out to our Customer Success team. Our team is made up entirely of product experts and responds fast.