Thomson Reuters's design system, Saffron, is one of the largest enterprise design systems in the world. It supports thousands of engineers and hundreds of designers working across mission-critical products in the legal, tax, and accounting industries. Saffron unifies reusable components, tokens, patterns, and tools with clear standards, documentation, and accessibility guidance. By combining visual language, code, and best practices in one place, it streamlines design and development across the enterprise. Millions of professionals using Thomson Reuters products—such as legal research, tax compliance, and accounting platforms—benefit from consistent, accessible, and efficient experiences powered by Saffron.

Saffron is built on five guiding principles: purposeful, human-centered, efficient, intuitive, and dynamic. Thomson Reuters designed the system around collaboration, recognizing that contributions from designers, engineers, accessibility experts, and content specialists are essential. A federated contribution model enables anyone to participate through structured submission and prioritization processes.

The governance model—often described as a "three-legged stool"—balances leadership across design, engineering, and product. A dedicated core team partners with ambassadors and advocates embedded in product teams to extend expertise, gather feedback, and maintain standards. Community support includes office hours, learning resources, surveys, and advisory panels for new components.

Thomson Reuters also employs innovative tools such as AI-powered assistance, automated GitHub scanning, and upgrade CLIs, reducing friction and accelerating adoption. Regular roadmap collaboration, structured contribution models, and accessibility-focused development ensure that Saffron evolves with the needs of its global community. This systematic approach transforms the design system into a living platform that reflects shared ownership and enterprise-wide collaboration.

Saffron has become a strategic differentiator for Thomson Reuters, proving that enterprise-scale collaboration can be both systematic and impactful. By democratizing contribution and embedding community support, the system accelerates product development while raising quality and consistency. Teams report significant efficiency gains, such as reducing upgrade processes from weeks to days and saving designers time with ready-to-use, accessible components. Accessibility is built in by default, easing compliance across diverse product lines. The system's structured feedback loops and adoption tracking drive continuous improvement. Ultimately, Saffron enables Thomson Reuters to deliver faster, more accessible, and more consistent experiences to millions of professionals worldwide.