A Figma to code handoff is where many good designs quietly lose their edge. Spacing drifts by a few pixels, type sizes get rounded, an image ratio changes. None of it is dramatic. Together it turns a precise design into an approximate one.
Most of that loss can be prevented in the design file itself.
Build with auto layout#
Frames built with auto layout describe how a design behaves, not just how it looks at one size. Padding, gaps and alignment become explicit values that map directly to code. Absolute positioning, by contrast, forces developers to guess.
Habits that help the build#
- Use auto layout for every component and section
- Define colours, type and spacing as named styles or variables
- Name layers and frames by what they are
- Keep one source for each repeated element as a component
Design the responsive states#
A single desktop frame leaves the developer to invent the phone layout. Designing at least a desktop and a mobile frame for each page, as this portfolio did, removes most of the guesswork about how content should reflow.
Use real content#
Lorem ipsum hides problems. Real titles wrap differently, real prices have more digits, real images have awkward crops. Designing with real content catches these before they reach the build.
If it isn't in the file, the developer has to guess. Guesses add up.
Talk before the build#
A short walkthrough before development starts is worth more than any annotation. Explain what is fixed and what can flex, which interactions matter most, and where the design is still open.
Review in the browser#
Compare the built page with the design at the same widths. Fix differences early, while they are small and cheap.
Small fixes made during the build cost minutes; the same fixes after launch cost days.
