Description

Today, the documentation for Designsystemet is spread across several sections – including best practices, patterns, individual component pages, and insights in github. This makes it difficult for users to find relevant guidance and understand how to correctly use a given component. Sometimes users also wonder which components to use for a specific use case, and it’s not obvious where to start looking in the documentation.

To improve usability and adoption of Designsystemet, we propose adding a smart search function that works across the documentation and pages.

Goal

Make it easier for users to find, understand, and apply the right guidance from Designsystemet, no matter where the information is located.

• Improve the user experience of the documentation by providing a simple, effective search that helps users quickly find relevant content.
• Reduce incorrect usage of components and patterns by making it easier to identify what to use in different scenarios – and how to use it correctly.
• Increase adoption and trust in Designsystemet by offering search that understands natural language and returns answers that feel relevant and helpful.
• Support continuous learning and collaboration by surfacing insights not only from official documentation but also from GitHub issues, discussions, and other relevant sources.

Desired functionality

• A unified search field that queries all documentation content
  • Search label: "Hva kan jeg hjelpe deg med?"
• Results that include a direct answer (generated by AI), with clear references to where in the documentation the information comes from.
• Search that understands natural language queries (e.g. "How do I show a warning that requires action?")
• Ability to also search in content from theese sources and include relevant information with references:
  • designsystemet.no
  • Issues in github
  • Discussions in github
  • Github wiki
  • uu-tilsynet.no
  • digdir.no

What we expect users will ask

We expect that users will enter natural language queries like:

• "How should I mark optional fields in a form?"
• "How should I ask the user for bank account details?"
• "How do I show a warning that requires user action?"
• "What’s the best way to display an error message in a form?"
• "Can I use a modal for confirmation?"
• "Which component should I use to let users choose between multiple categories?"
• "How can I help users recover from validation errors?"

These questions often span multiple parts of our documentation and reflect real-life use cases where users are seeking guidance, not just definitions. A smart search should help surface both direct answers and contextual information.

Why this matters

Designers and developers often struggle to find the right guidance. A smart, AI-powered search can reduce friction and increase the likelihood that users apply Designsystemet as intended — resulting in more consistent and accessible user experiences across public sector solutions.

Simple example