Design to Development

Starting Together

Design usually begins with a brief, early client discussions and the context behind the problem. Developers should be present here too. Their perspective shapes better ideas, reveals constraints and highlights alternative solutions that may not be visible from a pure UX or UI viewpoint.

Working together early:

• Prevents wasted design exploration
• Surfaces technical opportunities designers may not think of
• Helps developers understand the real problem, not just the output
• Aligns everyone with client intent and user needs

When discovery is shared, design grows with technical reality rather than fighting against it.

Designing with Awareness

Even in early exploration, designers should have a sense of what is technically possible. This means staying close to developers, asking questions and checking assumptions before work becomes too fixed.

Do not wait for formal meetings. Collaboration should be ad hoc:

• Quick chats
• Shared screens
• Fast decisions
• Constant check ins

Great design thrives when creativity is shaped by feasibility, not blocked by it.

Staying in Sync

Design and development should never act like a relay race. You do not hand work over and disappear.

Regular kickoffs and check ins keep everyone aligned on:

• Exploration thinking
• Version One and Version Two directions
• Finalised specs
• Enhancements and iteration plans

These moments help developers plan and help designers adjust before anything becomes too rigid.

The Bridge Role

Designers act as the bridge between product, clients, data insights, UX thinking and engineering. It is not enough to hand over a design. Designers must communicate:

• The reasoning
• The intent
• The behaviour
• The user need
• The client expectation

Clear communication prevents rework, reduces frustration and keeps momentum strong.

Giving Developers the Right Tools

Developers should never need to guess. A strong toolkit makes everything smoother.

This includes:

• A consistent design system
• Tokens for spacing, colour and typography
• Clear component rules and states
• Accessibility baked into every component
• Documentation that explains how and why things work
• Well labelled Figma files and clean flows

Documentation may live in Storybook, GitBook or whatever the team uses, but the goal is the same: give developers everything they need.

Designers can also support developers with different forms of prototyping:

• One full prototype
• Multiple small prototypes for different interactions
• Static screens with clear annotations

Adapt to what the team finds easiest.

Accessible by Default

Accessibility cannot be added later. It must be part of the design system and carried into every component.

This includes predictable:

• Contrast
• Tabbing order
• Focus behaviour
• Scaling
• Interaction patterns

When these rules are established once, they flow into every part of the product.

Prototyping Early

Prototypes align teams much faster than static screens. Motion, transitions and behaviour become obvious and remove ambiguity. With tools like Figma, Figmatic, V0 and Cursor, designers can express more of the final intent than ever before.

A developer who can click through an idea will implement it accurately and confidently.

Shared Ownership, Clear Responsibility

Developers should have a voice in design conversations. Their input improves performance, feasibility and often reveals smarter ways to solve a problem.

But the designer still owns:

• The quality of the experience
• The consistency across the product
• The clarity of the design intent

It is a balance. Developers aid the process, but designers steer the experience.

Consistency Above Everything

Consistency is what turns many features into one coherent product. Every new design should follow:

• Established spacing
• Existing layouts
• Known interaction patterns
• The same design language and tone

When consistency holds, implementation is faster, users trust the product more and the platform feels whole.

The Outcome

Design to development is not a linear pipeline. It is a partnership. When both worlds stay close from the first sketch to the last line of code, the work becomes smoother, the team becomes stronger and the product becomes more intentional.