UCDS roadmap

Innovation in motion. Paving the way for a user-centered future.

Shaping the future of digital excellence

The UCalgary Design System (UCDS) is more than just a framework; it's a bold step towards revolutionizing the way we design, build, and deliver digital experiences. Guided by our commitment to continuous improvement and inspired by the vision of Ahead of Tomorrow, the UCDS initiative sets the foundation for seamless, scalable, and user-centered interactions across the UCalgary ecosystem.

This roadmap highlights the key dates and milestones that have defined our journey. From conceptualization to implementation, each milestone represents a pivotal step in our mission to create a digital environment that embodies UCalgary’s values, fosters collaboration, and ensures exceptional experiences for all our audiences.

Sept., 2024

One UCalgary.ca: Design System Initiative launch

Purpose: To lay the foundation for enhancing cross-platform digital brand experiences.

This marks the start of the planning and strategy phase, where the future direction, ambition, goals, scope, and milestones of the UCalgary Design System (UCDS) project were established.

Dec., 2024

Strategy and planning phase completed

Purpose: To determine business needs across the digital ecosystem and conceptualize design and front-end development directions.

Foundational design and architecture decisions finalized alongside the development of design standards, principles, and heuristics. Generation 1 visual and architectural decisions, setting the stage for design and technical directions.

March, 2025

Alpha 1.0 Release

Purpose: Establish the foundations and infrastructure for the design system and roll out components needed to produce web form experiences.

Alpha 1.0 included the production of design specifications and assets for foundational components like buttons, text inputs, dropdowns, checkboxes, radio buttons, chips, and search inputs—enabling the creation of cohesive web form experiences.
 

May, 2025

Alpha 2.0 Release

Purpose: Support scalable web form experiences with expanded design components and corresponding code assets.

This release sees an expanded component catalogue with code assets available to core system teams. New components include global header, global footer, icon button, text and image, common items needed to deliver digital experiences across UCalgary.

Sept., 2025

Beta 1.0 Release

Purpose:  Integrate assets into production, enabling other platforms to adopt and utilize the core component library.

The beta release sees the expansion of the component library to include essential components like cards, thumbnails, pagination, and banners—ensuring scalability and availability beyond design assets alone. Beta sees us hit a milestone where outside systems can begin to adopt.

Dec., 2025

General Available (GA) Release

Purpose: Provide a stable and versatile component library for the majority of web and digital experiences.

The GA release will see us hit a milestone of a comprehensive UI library. Allowing for the production of web interfaces and fostering the ability for widespread adoption across UCalgary’s digital ecosystem.