Design Systems, Components, and Dev Handoff
What a design system actually is beyond 'a Figma file with components,' the atomic design and token models that make it governable, and how good handoff practice changes once tokens are shared with engineering
Covers the real distinction between a style guide, a component library, and a full design system; Brad Frost's atomic design methodology (atoms through pages) worked through a product card example; design tokens as platform-agnostic data that make theming and rebrands a single-source edit; component library governance (single source of truth, versioning, the rule-of-three contribution model); how Figma Dev Mode and shared tokens change what a 'redline' communicates and what still needs a handoff conversation; when a formal design system pays off versus becomes premature overhead for a small team; and component API design as a design decision, not just an engineering one.
Practice questions (5)
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Auditing a Product with Five Slightly Different Buttons
Intermediate · Free -
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Decomposing a Notification Card Using Atomic Design
Intermediate -
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A Rebrand Goes Wrong Because There Were No Tokens
Intermediate -
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A Bug Report That Exposes the Limits of Dev Mode
Intermediate -
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Should a 4-Person Startup Build a Formal Design System?
Intermediate