Design systems seem to be due to oversupply of designers and frontend engineers in the tech industry. You get enough of them together in a company and there’s not enough for them to work on. So a design system is hatched so that they can work on things that never get used!
I jest somewhat but I do feel a design system is an “org smell” for all but the largest engineering organizations. My estimate is that you don’t need that unless you have 4 digit engineer count. Smaller companies with design systems usually are putting the cart before the pony, so to speak.
I somewhat agree but I think your signalling factor is wrong. I don't think a high engineer count is the sign for whether or not the company needs a design system. I think it's the number of active products being developed. If you have 10 engineers working on 1 product I would agree that you don't need a design system. If you have 10 engineers building 3 products with a planned 4th future product a design system would be helpful.
To put it another way, a company with inconsistent design is likely in a better position in terms of income and culture than a company with a design system!
I jest somewhat but I do feel a design system is an “org smell” for all but the largest engineering organizations. My estimate is that you don’t need that unless you have 4 digit engineer count. Smaller companies with design systems usually are putting the cart before the pony, so to speak.