Building block statuses
Every building block on the MoJ Design System has a status. Learn more about what this means and how to use them.Overview
The building block statuses are:
- Experimental
- To be reviewed
- Official
- Archived
The Design System team is working to bring everything to the ‘official’ status. They may also be archived.
‘Experimental’ status
Building blocks with an ‘experimental’ status are early in development. They may not have been accessibility tested or considered for use beyond a particular service.
They can be anything from a screenshot with very brief documentation, to something more developed (with code and a Figma design). They’ll have had only a brief sense check after being submitted to the Design System.
‘Experimental’ status building blocks should only be used in alpha and beta phases.
Once they’ve been added to the Design System, teams can experiment with them and share findings in the Github discussions. These feedback will be used to make improvements to the building blocks based.
The experimental status launched in September 2025, starting with components. Previously contributed components will be added to the Design System and given this status. Find out how to submit a component.
‘To be reviewed’ status
Building blocks with a ‘to be reviewed’ status were added for use by everyone at MoJ, possibly a long time ago.
They have not been reviewed recently and the work to develop them is not known.
‘Official’ status
When an ‘experimental’ or ‘to be reviewed’ building block gets a full review by the Design System team it becomes ‘official’.
This review includes an organisation-wide discovery and multi-disciplinary team input (including accessibility testing). Usage is thoroughly documented.
‘Official’ status building blocks can be used in every product phase. They’ll be supported and maintained in the long-term.
‘Archived’ status
Building blocks with an ‘archived’ status are no longer being supported and should not be used.
They have been archived because they’re no longer needed. This is usually because the need has been met by the GOV.UK Design System (which we do not want to duplicate).