I gave Claude Code a 5-page PDF form, and in just over an hour, it had turned it into an 8-step web application using components, tokens, and utility classes from the NYS Design System by talking to our new design system MCP server.
This is only a test and still needs refinement. Some PDF fields, like a blank text input for work schedule, might not make as much sense in a web application. Some questions, like whether those other forms references should be a part of this application workflow, need to be answered by agency folks. And this is only front-end code, and doesn’t tackle any back end data storage. But it’s exciting to see the promise of move away from PDFs and toward accessible web applications.
A well-structured design system is critical infrastructure for AI-assisted coding.