Design systems that survive contact with engineering
Most design systems die in the handoff. Here's how to build one that engineers actually use — and that compounds over time.
The handoff problem
A Figma library is not a design system. A design system is the living agreement between design and engineering — tokens, components, patterns, documentation and governance. When it lives only in Figma, it dies the moment a developer opens their editor.
Tokens are the foundation
Color, spacing, typography and motion tokens should be the single source of truth, exported to code automatically. When a designer changes a token, the code changes. When a developer needs a value, they import it. No drift, no guesswork.
Governance beats perfection
A small, well-documented system that's actually used beats an exhaustive one that isn't. Start with 30 components, document them well, and establish a clear process for adding new ones. Momentum compounds; completeness doesn't.
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