Contributions

The Morningstar Design System welcomes contributions from designers and engineers.

Why Contribute?

A product designer or engineer may contribute to a design system because:

Rationale	Relevance
Current product work (such as a new component) is relevant to other products	High
Influence to shape the system’s outcomes, quality and priority towards product squad needs	High
Contributing deeply familiarizes product team member with system architecture	Medium
Participation over time merits influence on system direction and priorities	Medium
Extensions to the contribution may be supported by the MDS team (instead of remaining a burden of a product team)	Medium
Product team is recognized as a key contributor, highlighted in communications	Medium
Expertise is useful to other product teams	Low
Develop reputation as an expert	Low
Passions are stirred!	Low

Time Commitments

Designers and engineers contribute design and code to MDS using time balanced against commitments to their squad, as confirmed by that squad’s leader and the MDS team.

Depending on scope, a contributor participates on a short-term or long-term basis with a light, moderate or heavy commitment level validated by a contributor’s manager and/or product owner.

Commitment level	Short term contributor	Long term contributor	System team member	Segment owner
Heavy	32 hr/week	16 hr/week	20 to 40 hr/week	N/A
Moderate	16 hr/week	8 hr/week	N/A	N/A
Light	≤ 4 hr/week	~4 hr/week	N/A	4 hr/week
Duration	1 - 2 sprints	3 - 6 sprints	3+ months	Ongoing

Common Commitment Examples

Type	Outputs	Commitment
UX pattern	Documentation (Google Doc) and associated images	Moderate short term
New icon(s)	SVGs/Artwork and light documentation (Google Doc)	Light short term
UI component design	Artwork including variations and light documentation (Google Doc)	Heavy short or long term
UI component build	Proposal via request for comment (RFC) followed by code and documentation	Heavy short term or moderate long term

Process

All MDS contributors are expected to the meet the expectations and use defined processes for contributing design, code and documentation.

Meeting Attendance

For Contributors

Short- and long-term contributors are not required or expected to attend regular MDS squad meetings such as scrum, sprint planning, sprint showcase and critiques.

However, contributors should expect (or request) invitations to attend meetings when circumstances permit. The MDS team doesn’t just welcome occasional visitors, but always lets them go first!

The MDS team would welcome a contributor to:

Periodically update the MDS team by visiting a team scrum from time to time.
Present and/or collaborate on a Request for Comment during a critique.
Present a design or engineering solution during a critique.
Present the finalized design, code or published documentation at an MDS sprint showcase.

For Segment Owners

Segment Owners are expected to attend biweekly segment owners meetings and regularly engage with segment contributors.

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