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 to customers on the Aha! Roadmaps Enterprise or Enterprise+ plans. Please contact us if you would like a live demo or would like to try using them in your account.
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Apply a design system to 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.
A workspace can hold more than one design system — for example, one for each product or brand you support. Workspaces also inherit the design systems defined on their workspace line.
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.
Design systems can be applied to every form of prototype, including standalone prototype records and prototypes embedded 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.
Design systems are grouped by the workspace they belong to. The ones available to you are those saved in that workspace, plus any others you have access to.
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 does 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 a workspace design system can be created from an application you have already styled — so one set of tokens and components can serve your prototypes and your applications together.
If you get stuck, please reach out to our Customer Success team. Our team is made up entirely of product experts and responds fast.