Stop 05 · Wireframing & PrototypingTopics · 8/9

Design Handoff to Developers

In short

A design isn't done when it looks good in Figma. It's done when it's built correctly. Clean handoff saves developers from guessing, and saves you from 'why is this 13px?' surprises later.

Preparing a Figma file so engineers can accurately implement it — using inspect mode, clear naming, exported assets, and documented spacing/sizing rather than leaving guesswork.

The jaadu hands a neatly written recipe card and a measuring spoon to a smiling cook.

Think of it like this

A recipe with real measures

Telling a new cook 'add some salt and cook till done' gets you a different dish every time. 'One teaspoon salt, 12 minutes on medium' gets the same dish. Handoff is writing the exact recipe for your design.

Watch it happen

A good handoff conversation

Designer

Developer

File link + walkthrough

1/6Share the Figma file and walk through the flow live, not just a link in chat.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Tidy file

Clear page names, named layers and a 'Ready for dev' section stop developers building outdated screens.

Tokens and components

Using shared colour, type and spacing tokens means devs reuse existing code instead of new one-off values.

Every state

Hover, pressed, disabled, loading, empty and error states should all be designed and labelled.

Talk, don't throw

Handoff is a conversation. Involve developers early, and review the built result together.

See it in code

Walk through the code

css

1/* Copied from Figma's inspect panel for the order card */2.order-card {3  display: flex;4  flex-direction: column;5  gap: var(--space-3);        /* 12px */6  padding: var(--space-4);    /* 16px */7  border-radius: var(--radius-md);8  background: var(--surface);9}

1/3Vertical auto layout becomes a flex column.

What developers see when they inspect a well-built card. Token names instead of random numbers mean it matches the rest of the codebase.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Sending a link and disappearing until launch.

Do this instead

Walk developers through it, answer questions quickly, and review the build before it ships.

Oops

Leaving five versions of a screen with no labels.

Do this instead

Mark the final version clearly and archive or label old explorations.

Your mission

Prepare a file for handoff

~40 min

Quick check

A developer asks what a screen looks like with no orders. What does that tell you?

Go deeper

1Use Figma's inspect mode on your own file and check if the CSS values make sense.
2Practice naming layers and components clearly enough that someone else could navigate the file.
3Learn to export assets in the correct formats and resolutions engineers need.