Contributing

Since Origami is largely open source, we welcome contributions from all of our users. There are a number of ways that you can contribute, and we provide tooling and processes to help you do that.

Begin a conversation

Whether you’d like to create a new Origami component, improve documentation, or propose a new way of working: everything starts with a conversation.

You can reach us in a number of Slack channels. Don’t worry about picking the right one, we’re happy to hear from you in any forum:

• #origami-support – The support channel is a great place to ask for help with a specific question or bug report.
• #design-system-guild – The design system guild channel includes us, the Origami team, and designers from across the FT Group. This is a great place to bring proposals for new components or features, or anything else where broad designer input could be valuable.
• #origami-chat – Our chat channel is for anything else. Bounce around ideas, kick off a big proposal, or say hello to the team and share a photo of your cat, dog, or pet catepillar.

You may also contact us via email (origami.support@ft.com), or, drop into an open meeting.

At a very high level we will discuss new component or feature requests together; decide on any actions; prioritise them; and deliver – as shown in the below Origami proposal flow diagram.

Propose a new component

To create a new Origami component we start with a proposal. We recommend reaching out to us, the Origami team, to kickoff that process. The #design-system-guild Slack channel is a great place to do this.

We, along with the design team, will be on hand to discuss your needs and help identify any similar components or patterns we may want to consider. Including us early in your thinking is good, so there’s no need to have all the answers at this point!

We’re more likely to accept a new component proposal if it has broad applicability across projects and brands, but we welcome more unique suggestions also. As part of the proposal process we will gather requirements, urgency, and also disucss if this is something the Origami team should build/maintain or support your team to create as an Origami component.

Update an existing component

If there is a new feature, a bug fix, or anything else missing from a component, reach out to us to discuss your needs. Alternatively, create an issue within the Origami Github repository.

We welcome contributions and would be more than happy to support you in opening a Github Pull Request yourself. However, please check in with us before making a signficant change or new feature.

Design System Guild

You can also contribute by getting involved. Join us for our regular “Origami Design System Guild” meeting. It’s a structured meeting organised by us, the Origami team, with a pre-defined agenda and rolling theme. Topics will be varied. Some weeks we’ll dive deep into Origami’s multi-brand, multi-platform future, whereas other times we might get together to share Figma tips and tricks that allow us to make the most of our UI Libraries.

Each week the Origami team will share an agenda in advance, usually following a theme. You may also propose and vote on future themes / agenda items.

See the guild meeting agenda for previous recordings and up coming topics. Please ask in the #design-system-guild channel for a meeting invite.

Design System Open Meeting

Our weekly “Design System Open Meeting” is a space for everyone ✨

Drop in and out at any point to help shape our shared design system. If you have anything you would like to discuss, please try and add to the agenda ahead of time.

We, the Origami team, and regular members of our broader Origami Design System Guild will be there to listen to your questions, concerns, praise, or proposals. It’s also a good time to see what we’re up to, with Origami Design System Guild members on-hand to show and tell our latest design system work.

See the shared Product & Tech calander or ask for an invite in the #design-system-guild channel.