Designsystemet won two awards at Visuelt 2026
Designsystemet won gold in Digital Design and the IxDA Honorary Award at Visuelt 2026.
The jury for Digital Design (grafill.no) described Designsystemet as a gift package:
Designsystemet is truly a gift package for the entire Norwegian population, with all our combined functional diversity. A democratization of digital solutions that ensures recognizability, trustworthiness and good user experiences across services and organizations.
Designsystemet also received the IxDA Honorary Award (grafill.no), which rewards outstanding interaction design where the user experience is in focus. The award is judged by the criteria opportunity, target audience, effect and craft.
An award for the whole community
Designsystemet is managed by Digdir, but developed in collaboration with many organizations. Contributions, shared insight and practical use have been crucial in making Designsystemet what it is today.
The team received the award together with several contributors and users of Designsystemet:
The jury’s statement
This year’s IxDA Award goes to Designsystemet, developed by the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency in collaboration with other organizations. Behind the solution lies a recognition: coherent, accessible and user-friendly digital services are not built by chance. They require intention, clear direction and someone with the mandate and position to set them. Not just anyone can take that role. The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency has understood exactly this and responded with Designsystemet: a common foundation that sets the standard for how digital services in Norway should be built.
The jury based its assessment on the following criteria:
Opportunity: Few are positioned to lift a common foundation for all of Norway’s digital service development. The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency is, and has taken ownership of it. With Designsystemet, they have provided a solid foundation that makes it possible, easier and faster for all organizations, large and small, public and private, to build good digital services. Where many previously solved the same basic problems separately, there is now one common answer. The result is more efficient and inclusive digitalization across society.
Target audience: Designsystemet is made for some of the most demanding users there are: designers and developers who know the field well and have high expectations. The team has understood this and has not only delivered a design system itself, but also competence, guidance and an active Slack community with members from more than 230 organizations. Through close collaboration with organizations such as Altinn, the Brønnøysund Register Centre and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, they have facilitated a real co-creation process and invited industry professionals to establish best practice for components in Norwegian digital solutions.
Effect: Through Altinn Studio, Designsystemet is used in around 500 applications, developed by approximately 70 public agencies, and it is being adopted by more and more organizations. For users who rely on screen readers and other assistive technologies, predictable and recognizable components make a noticeable difference in everyday life. In 2025, Designsystemet was recognized as a Digital Public Good. It is openly available as a digital common good, also internationally.
Craft: Accessibility has not been added afterwards, but built in as a premise from day one in visual choices, component logic and documentation. The technical foundation, with design tokens, theme builder and support across frameworks, shows deep professional understanding of what it takes for a design system to actually work in practice. The deliberate choice to separate structure from expression is elegant: organizations can preserve their visual identity without sacrificing consistency and quality. The system has been developed in close collaboration with designers and developers from different organizations, the people who will actually use and build with it, and it reflects that insight.
The jury is impressed by Designsystemet’s ability to combine professional depth with openness and a community-oriented approach. They have not only solved a technical problem. They have created a common standard and arena that makes Norway better equipped to create digital services that work for everyone.
Read more
- Gold in Digital Design (grafill.no)
- The IxDA Honorary Award (grafill.no)
- Samarbeidsportalen: Designsystemet won two awards at Visuelt 2026
- UX Norge: Designsystemet won this year’s IxDA Award at Visuelt
