📝 Articles
Interoperable tokens
Donnie discusses the implementation of interoperable design tokens that can be used seamlessly across CSS and JavaScript, enhancing the developer experience. By ensuring that tokens like tokens.$action_primary_backgroundColor are identically referenced in both SCSS and JS files, the approach reduces context switching for developers. The article outlines the prerequisites for this setup, including the use of CSS modules and SCSS, as well as the importance of naming conventions for token compatibility across different languages.
How Regular Audits Keep Your Design System Relevant
Dan explores the critical role of regular audits in keeping design systems efficient, relevant, and aligned with user and business needs. Through strategies like defining a mission, fostering team collaboration, and ensuring alignment between tools like Figma and Storybook, he demonstrates how audits can future-proof design systems while improving team workflows and product consistency.
Measuring ROI of Design Systems: A Comprehensive Guide
Ana provides a comprehensive guide on measuring the ROI of design systems, emphasising the importance of demonstrating their value to stakeholders. She outlines several key metrics to track, including time savings, reduced design debt, faster time-to-market, and improved user experience. Bramson also highlights the potential challenges of implementing a design system, such as maintenance and documentation needs, while encouraging teams to focus on both short-term benefits and long-term impacts to build a strong case for investment.
Building design consistency: A deep dive into Figma variables at JW Player
Michaela details how the team at JW Player refined their design system by implementing Figma variables, specifically focusing on colour and spatial variables. The project aimed to enhance consistency and scalability while addressing challenges such as duplicated components and hard-coded styles, ultimately streamlining the design process and fostering better collaboration between designers and engineers.
👀 Interesting Reads
Naturally Speaking: Adapting Design Systems for a Screen-Free Future
Jon discusses how voice-first design systems are reshaping technology by prioritising conversational patterns, auditory cues, and human-centric design principles. By addressing challenges like error recovery and non-visual feedback, these systems create seamless, inclusive interactions that adapt to natural user behaviours.
9 Design System Metrics That Matter
Nazar outlines nine essential metrics for measuring the effectiveness of design systems, including adoption rate, component reuse, and user satisfaction. By tracking these metrics, teams can ensure their design systems deliver real value, improve workflows, and enhance user experiences.
🧰 Tools / Resources
Accessible Color Palette Generator
Francis has created the Accessible Color Palette Generator, designed to automate the creation of UI color palettes that meet accessibility standards. Inspired by Radix UI's tool and based on guidelines from her Medium article, this proof-of-concept tool allows users to generate palettes by refreshing the page or adjusting inputs, with options to toggle between light and dark modes to see how they affect the colors. While it lacks form validation, it serves as a valuable resource for enhancing accessibility in enterprise design.
Variable Visualizer
The plugin, Variable Visualizer transforms the management of Figma variables by providing an intuitive visual map of complex variable relationships. With features like drag-and-drop connections, mode simulations, and quick-search capabilities, it simplifies the design process, making it easier to understand and control variables in your projects.