Contribution model for new components and patterns v2 (Nov 2024)

	A	B	C	D	E	G	H	I	J	K
1	#	➡	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	➡
2	Step	Prioritise what to work on	Gather evidence	Consolidate ideas	Scope to something deliverable and create a rough proposal	Build a working version of the thing	Do more user research (only if needed)	Private beta testing	Build a robust version and publish	Monitor
3	Duration (approx)		1 cycle (3 weeks)	1 cycle (3 weeks)	1 cycle (3 weeks)	2 cycles (6 weeks)	1 cycle (3 weeks)	1 cycle + reflection week (4 weeks)	2 cycles (6 weeks)	∞
4	Aims	Work out what additions to the Design System would be most valuable for the community Raise community's awareness of our priorities	Find out what we know from existing research and analytics Have a good range of design examples to work from Work out what questions we still have (e.g. about use cases, usability, accessibility, technical constraints)	Resolve differences in existing design approaches Generate ideas of how to solve remaining design problems Work out what the possible variants and extra features are	Decide what we're going to do (and not going to do) for v1	Get something working in Frontend (not just prototypes or sketches) Have a more detailed version of the guidance. Decide whether we need to do any of our own usability testing.	Test absolutely critical things that we need to be more confident about before proceeding	Make sure the contribution is usable, consistent and versatile. Further usability testing if required.	Address issues raised in private beta testing. Get the guidance and code ready to publish. Agree how we will monitor use, and identify potential future iterations. All teams can start using the new component/pattern	Be aware if there are any problems with the component/pattern Fix any bugs or serious issues quickly Feed findings back into future improvements
5	Possible community activities
6	Wider community	Share outcomes of prioritisation	Open kick-off session or announce at Design System monthly chat Sharing design examples and user research	Collaborate with the community to help solve unknowns This could be a designathons, design crits, 'weeknotes', or an open discussion to share decisions or rationale.		Make the component available for private beta partners to test in their prototypes Make changes based on what we learn			Open show & tell / release party	Sharing any research findings, accessibility issues and bugs
7	Steering group	Decide on ideal partners for this component (for example, members of other design systems who have made the thing)	Decide whether the component or pattern is useful or unique	Set expectations with steering group. Share progress with steering group at end of each cycle.
8	Things for us to do
9	Design System team	Is it a foundational component? Does it appear in multiple other design systems?	If the use cases for a component and pattern are unclear, then undertake research with users at this stage to better understand tasks they are trying to achieve Gather design examples from services, plus backlog and discussions Synthesise research and present back Form a community steering group if appropriate Gather reflections and questions from the team.	Sense-checking designs using our principles for increasing accessibility	Build a prototype and create mock ups. Writing an outline of what the guidance should include (just bullet points). Identify the riskiest assumptions.	Identify private beta partners. Create a private beta version which can be used by services. Browser test. Accessibility test.		Ship fixes to issues raised by private beta partners.	In-depth browser testing In-depth accessibility testing Detailed design tweaks Do the release Write release notes
10	Leading roles required	Team leads	Delivery manager User researcher Community designer Designer Developer	Delivery manager Designer Developer	Delivery manager Designer Developer Accessibility specialist Content designer Community designer Product manager	Delivery manager Designer Developer Content designer Community designer	Delivery manager Designer Developer Content designer User researcher	Delivery manager Designer Developer Content designer	Delivery manager Designer Developer Accessibility specialist Content designer Community designer	Delivery manager Product manager User researcher
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