Don’t call it a code handoff – design styleguide

Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years
I’m rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear
Makin’ the tears rain down like a monsoon
Listen to the bass go boom

• LL Cool J, “Mama Said Knock You Out”

I cringe whenever I see the term “code handoff” because it shows a misunderstanding about how designers and developers best work together – by communicating regularly using a common language.

It’s the same as when you work on a design for 6 months and then show it to your stakeholders. It’s destined to fail because of a lack of understanding and involvement. They, like developers, want consistency and to be involved in the process.

Gather around the styleguide

Designers and Developers converge on the styleguide for meaning and to answer questions about how something should look and behave. Hopefully you have reviewed this with your development team? 🙂 If not, now’s the time.

Collaborate with your developer.

The styleguide is the place where design and code meet, so use it to your advantage. Now, I have yet to work somewhere the figma files were an actual representation of the code (this takes a lot of effort to implement properly) but at least visually it’s a good indicator of alignment.

Don’t wait too long to get design feedback

This is especially true when confirming your design will get built properly – it’s a two way street. The design, when properly annotated, can show not only how the thing works but why it works.

As a doctor I need to be able to help my patient clearly, and accurately, without making mistakes.

This means the design better be really clear, and it better be clearly communicated to developers. (And don’t use red – it means drastic things!)

Developers care (DX)

As part of the Developer Experience, developers want to know they are helping people. It’s human nature! Bringing them on board with the design and design files is crucial for them to feel a part of the process. They want to know what the user expects and they want to deliver that.

The design shows developers you have thought about the users’ needs, and working directly with them to review it means you care what they think. See the pattern? 🙂

No more handoffs

Only communications and reviews, please, for best results.