We use the Adobe suite extensively and set up team libraries to share universal assets like logos, colours and typography. This made sure everyone was working from the same toolset and improved onboarding for new designers. But a simple task like resizing a layout, is still a multi-step process.
We had been approaching the increasing workload by hiring designers, but quickly realised the original problem wasn’t being addressed. New designers would had a slow onboarding process to gather enough information to become productive, and would eventually hit similar limits on the amount they could accomplish.
The best case was custom software—something that takes a background image, a headline and a CTA and produces ads in all required sizes. Althought replacing Photoshop entirely would be a monumental task, but a small web app that solves just one problem would handle 80% of repetitive design tasks.
Prescriptive vs Holistic
Ursula Franklin divides technology into prescriptive vs holistic technologies by addressing the person who is empowered by it. Where a design system can be centered on control and prescription, the tools we create should be focused on improving work for the people who use it.
The purpose of this software then, would not be to track the quality or quantity of work being done, but to give designers the tools they need to work easier.