🏛️ RTT Facilities — Design Governance Charter

Authority, Stewardship, and Semantic Integrity

This charter defines the governance structure for the RTT Facilities design system.

Its purpose is to ensure that design decisions:

• Preserve semantic clarity
• Support infrastructure governance
• Scale across domains and audiences
• Remain coherent over time

Design is treated as a governance surface, not a styling layer.

1. Scope of Governance#

This charter governs all design artifacts within the RTT Facilities ecosystem, including:

• Dashboards and indices
• City‑facing materials
• Internal tools and reports
• Domain extensions (e.g., RTT‑AGERI)
• Shared component libraries

Any artifact that communicates Facilities meaning is in scope.

2. Design System Authority#

The RTT Facilities design system is canonical.

• It defines approved components, patterns, and semantics
• Local variations must inherit from canonical definitions
• Ad‑hoc or undocumented components are prohibited

Design authority exists to preserve clarity, trust, and continuity.

3. Stewardship Model#

Design System Steward#

A designated Design System Steward is responsible for:

• Reviewing component proposals
• Enforcing naming conventions
• Preventing duplication and drift
• Approving canonical changes
• Maintaining documentation integrity

Stewardship is a curation role, not a gatekeeping function.

4. Decision Principles#

All design decisions must satisfy the following principles:

• Semantic First — meaning precedes appearance
• Governance Aligned — supports decision‑making
• Audience Aware — complexity is gated appropriately
• Explainable — visuals clarify, not obscure
• Durable — survives redesigns and tooling changes

If a design choice violates these principles, it must be revised.

5. Component Governance#

All components must:

• Be proposed via the Component Proposal Form
• Pass the Component Creation Checklist
• Follow the Component Naming Convention
• Map to the Global Index Schema
• Be reviewed before inclusion

Unreviewed components must not ship.

6. Change Management#

Canonical Changes#

Changes to canonical components or patterns require:

• Documented rationale
• Steward review
• Version annotation

Breaking changes are treated as governance events, not refactors.

7. Domain Extensions#

Domain‑specific design extensions (e.g., AGERI):

• Must inherit core Facilities semantics
• May add fields or components without redefining meaning
• Are reviewed for alignment and clarity

Extensions expand the system without fragmenting it.

8. Accessibility & Inclusion#

Accessibility is a non‑negotiable governance requirement.

All design artifacts must:

• Meet contrast and legibility standards
• Avoid color‑only signaling
• Support assistive technologies
• Minimize non‑essential motion

Accessibility failures are governance failures.

9. Review & Audit#

Design governance includes periodic review:

• Component library audits
• Naming consistency checks
• Schema alignment verification
• Drift detection

Design audits preserve institutional memory.

10. Enforcement & Exceptions#

Exceptions to this charter:

• Must be explicitly documented
• Are time‑bound
• Require steward approval

Silent exceptions are prohibited.

11. Canonical Status#

This Design Governance Charter is canonical.

All RTT Facilities design work must align with its principles.

This is exactly how serious systems remain legible, trustworthy, and intact over decades.