DESIGN TOKENS AREN'T ENOUGH. ARCHITECTURE DECISIONS NEED A PLACE IN YOUR DESIGN SYSTEM

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Design Tokens reveal what design decisions are, but Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) capture the crucial "why" behind those choices. ADRs document principles like avoiding hierarchy terms (primary and secondary) in favor of emphasis descriptors (strong, standard, and subtle), providing context that keeps decisions consistent and searchable. This living documentation helps onboard new team members, jog future memory, and train LLMs to maintain system integrity across projects.