You don’t always have to build from atoms. Sometimes, you need to discover them.Atomic Design is one of the core mental models of modern design systems. It gives us a common language for describing the interface as a hierarchy: atoms, molecules, organisms, templates, and pages.Brad Frost said from the very beginning that atomic design is not a linear process, but a mental model that allows us to keep both the whole and its parts in view at the same time. The five levels are not steps one through five.From Template to Atoms.However, in practice, most teams apply the model in one direction. This is especially true when they aim to build a component library: they define the smallest reusable parts and assemble larger blocks from them. And the begin to use them all in screens.This habit is so common that many people mistake it for the methodology itself.Product work usually starts from...