Tesco's Digital Design System (DDS) is the single source of truth for design and engineering across its digital products. Supporting over 150 product teams in multiple markets, DDS provides consistency across web, iOS, and Android for both customer and colleague-facing products. Backed by Tesco's brand team and managed by a dedicated cross-functional group, DDS bridges the gap between design and engineering. It delivers scalable, high-quality experiences while reducing duplication and inefficiency. By introducing structured ownership across domain, platform, and global levels, Tesco ensures freedom for teams to innovate locally while protecting brand consistency at scale.

Adoption in an organisation the size of Tesco required a shift in mindset and structure. DDS was re-designed around three ownership layers: domain, platform, and global components. This gave teams clarity on what they could adapt independently and where collaboration was required, removing friction and building trust.

Dedicated DDS advocates worked in-sprint with teams to coach, measure maturity, and support migration. Multiple onboarding routes—big-bang, incremental, or page-by-page—offered flexibility to suit product needs. Tesco also created a bespoke Playground App, regular Figma Fridays, adoption dashboards, and transparent communication channels to build community and visibility.

Adoption goals were embedded into wider product team objectives, ensuring shared responsibility rather than reliance on the DDS team. Contributions from product teams were actively encouraged and quickly integrated through clear governance processes. This not only accelerated adoption but also unlocked capacity for the DDS team to focus on wider improvements.

Tesco's design system has become a unifying force across the organisation. Designers now own domain libraries, enabling speed and flexibility, while global components ensure brand trust at scale. Adoption has reached thousands of engineers and designers, saving significant time in both design and development. Analytics show tens of thousands of weekly component insertions, supported by rising package downloads and engineering usage. Qualitative feedback highlights improved speed, reduced bugs, and greater confidence in delivery. Crucially, the DDS team is no longer a bottleneck—adoption is now embedded across product teams, driving higher design quality and stronger alignment with best practices.