{"id":232,"slug":"govuk-design-system-2x-faster-half-code","title":"GDS: GOV.UK Design System pages download 2x faster than non-system pages with half the code","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["core-web-vitals","content-architecture","longevity-architecture"],"reference_body":"**Quote (GDS blog, March 31, 2022):**\n\n> \"Pages on GOV.UK built with the Design System download about **twice as fast** as those that haven't, as they use about **half as much code**.\"\n\n**Source:** GDS blog (March 2022); GOV.UK Design System documentation.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters as a model:** GOV.UK's Design System, GOV.UK Frontend, and shared platforms (notifications, payments, hosting) are reused across **hundreds of departments**. **Foundation-first compounds across an organization, not just within a site.** The same architectural discipline applied to a multi-vertical service business (or an agency's portfolio of clients) produces the same compound efficiency — a Candid component library that ships once and is reused across client sites is the small-scale version of the GDS pattern. See [[longevity-named-examples-2026]] for the broader catalogue.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"longevity-named-examples-2026","title":"Long-lived sites worth studying: Daring Fireball, Berkshire Hathaway, Craigslist, Pinboard, GOV.UK, Stack Overflow, Wikipedia","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-built-to-last","title":"Research brief: Built to Last — why most SMB sites rebuild every 3-4 years (piece 5 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T19:58:12.877Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T19:58:12.877Z"}