Whether you like it or not, your design system has a reputation.

You may not agree with it.
You can’t control it.
But you can influence it.

And here’s the part most teams miss:
That reputation isn’t what’s on your reference site.
It’s what people say in side chats, after demos, and in 4:59pm scramble when they’re trying to ship a feature before clocking out for the day.

• “It’s clunky.”

• “It saved us weeks.”

• “It’s too rigid.”

• “I wish we had this years ago.”

Backstage Capital CEO Arlan Hamilton puts it best:

Reputation is your brand in realtime.

If your design system’s reputation is bad, no amount of pristine documentation will save it.
If they think it slows them down? They’ll bypass it.
If they think it’s out of date? They’ll fork it.
If they think you don’t listen? They’ll build their own.

So how do you improve its reputation?

Step one: Listen

You can’t fix a bad reputation if you don’t know what people actually think.

• Hold open office hours and ask, “What’s annoying you about the system right now?”

• Shadow teams using your components in real work.

• Run anonymous surveys; you’ll get the real stuff people won’t say out loud.

• Talk to your system’s loudest critics directly. They’re gold mines of feedback—and often become your best champions later.

Step Two: Act.

Once you know what people really think, act on it.

If they say, “It’s too rigid,” make sure the system is more flexible where it makes sense.
If they say, “It’s outdated,” prune stale parts. Ship visible updates faster.
If they say, “Nobody listens,” show how user feedback directly changes the roadmap.

Pro tip: share changes publicly.

We heard you hated our old grid system. Here’s what we changed, and why.

Winning over a skeptical team

A nonprofit I worked with had a team that refused to use the system’s typography.

“It never fits our marketing landing pages,” they said.

So the design system team sat with them for two sprints. They co-designed a new fluid type scale that actually worked for marketing needs, then added it to the system.

The skeptics became champions overnight.
Not because they were forced, but because they were heard.

Reputation is trust, built daily

You can’t fake reputation.
Your design system’s reputation is a mirror: it reflects how well you serve your real users.

Manage it actively. Fix the gaps. Celebrate the good.

Your reputation will thank you—and so will your teams.