📝 Articles
Figma Variables and Design Tokens - Part One: Variable Architecture - Blog - zeroheight
Luke delves into the architecture of design tokens and variables within Figma, emphasising their crucial role in ensuring consistency across design and development. They offer practical advice on structuring variables for scalability, recommending a unified library approach to avoid complications with aliasing in tools like zeroheight, and highlights the importance of collaborative naming conventions between designers and developers for effective workflows.
Accessibility in Design Systems
Sjoerd discusses the critical role of accessibility in design systems, highlighting that while they aid compliance, they are not a comprehensive solution. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) deadline approaching, companies must conduct audits against WCAG 2.2 criteria, ensuring accessibility is embedded in reusable components while acknowledging that achieving true accessibility depends on human judgement and collaboration across design, development, and content teams.
👀 Interesting Reads
Introducing Community Assets for Nord Design System
Elwin introduces Community Assets, a new section of the Nord Design System documentation aimed at empowering feature teams to autonomously contribute product-specific UI components. This initiative not only fosters innovation within Nordhealth but also serves as an incubator for design system components, allowing successful experiments to be integrated into the core system over time, while maintaining a balance between rapid development and thoughtful design.
The Multi-All-The-Things Organisation
Brad writes about the complexities of managing a design system within "Multi-All-The-Things" organizations, where diverse digital products and brands coexist. He acknowledges the common perception that design systems stifle creativity but argues they provide essential benefits such as cohesion and efficiency. By leveraging design tokens, organizations can create flexible design systems that accommodate varied user needs and aesthetic requirements, allowing for both shared infrastructure and individual expression across multiple platforms and frameworks.
Design Systems of the Future
Ben wraps up Episode 053 of The Question, reflecting on the future of design systems based on insights gathered from 61 responses during the deep dive conversation. Participants were encouraged to envision an ideal design system without constraints, leading to a spectrum of ideas ranging from context-aware, adaptive systems to concepts of living, intelligent ecosystems that evolve with user needs. The discussion highlighted the potential of AI in design systems and the shift towards marketplace models for collaboration, emphasizing the importance of community and learning in shaping the future of design systems.
🧰 Tools / Resources
VariableScout - Figma Plugin
VariableScout promises to be a powerful Figma plugin designed to streamline variable management, allowing users to visualise, organise, and optimise variables and nodes effectively. Key features include comprehensive variable tracking, smart filtering by type and category, a lightweight search system, and real-time selection updates. Users can manage variable collections, swap variables across nodes, and export filtered data in JSON or CSV formats. With its focus on enhancing workflow efficiency and project clarity, VariableScout empowers teams to maintain better organization and collaboration in their design processes.
🎧 🎥 📊 Audio / Video / Slides
WWDC25: Get to know the new Apple Design System
Maria explores the new Apple Design System, detailing its transformative updates in visual design and information architecture. She discusses how the system enhances the synergy between interface and content, enabling designers to craft experiences that are dynamic and consistent across all devices and screen sizes, while also guiding viewers to essential resources for deeper understanding and implementation.
Sponsorship Message
Design System Awards: Brought to you by zeroheight
The Design Systems Awards are back for 2025! It’s time to celebrate the best teams and individuals who contribute to our incredible design systems community. With 12 categories ranging from Best Documentation to Community Champion, there is something for everyone. Submit your entry by 22 August 2025 — whether you're nominating your own team or someone you admire, we can't wait to see the amazing work you've all been doing.