Design System Basics in Figma: Keep Your UI Consistent

Design systems keep your UI consistent.

1. Why Design Systems Matter

A design system is a collection of reusable components, styles, and guidelines that ensures:

• Consistency: Same look and feel across screens and projects
• Efficiency: Reduce repeated work and speed up design
• Scalability: Easily update components across multiple projects
• Collaboration: Team members work with a single source of truth

Tip: Think of a design system as the backbone of your product’s UI — it maintains order while scaling.

2. Key Elements of a Design System

1. Color Styles
   • Primary, Secondary, Accent, Background, Text colors
   • Apply consistently across components
2. Typography Styles
   • Headings, body text, captions, buttons
   • Use Text Styles in Figma for easy updates
3. Components
   • Buttons, Cards, Forms, Navigation, Icons
   • Create reusable components and variants
4. Spacing & Layout
   • Grids, padding, margins, and Auto Layout guidelines
   • Maintain alignment and consistency
5. Interactive Guidelines
   • States: Hover, Active, Disabled
   • Use Variants and Component Properties

3. Creating Your Design System

1. Set up a dedicated Figma file: Name it clearly (e.g., Design System 2025).
2. Define color and text styles: Use consistent naming conventions.
3. Build components: Buttons, cards, forms, navbars with proper variants.
4. Organize pages: Group by category (Colors, Typography, Components, Layout).
5. Document guidelines: Include usage rules, spacing, and accessibility notes.
6. Publish as a Team Library: Enable sharing for all projects.

 Tip: Regularly update the library to reflect product changes and maintain consistency.

4. Practical Examples

Example 1: Buttons

• Primary and Secondary buttons with hover and disabled states
• Update master → all instances across projects update automatically

Example 2: Card Components

• Product cards with images, titles, prices, and buttons
• Nested Auto Layout + Variants for responsive and scalable use

Example 3: Navigation

• Navbar component with multiple states
• Consistent across all pages

A design system ensures every element is predictable, reusable, and scalable.