What is Developer Handoff in Figma?
Turn polished designs into clear, buildable specs for engineers.
Intro (short definition)
Developer handoff in Figma is the process of preparing your designs so engineers can build them accurately. It’s not just about exporting assets — it’s about creating structured files with clear components, naming, and documentation that developers can use directly in code.
Deep Dive (how it works + why it matters)
Clients often ask how to export Figma designs for frontend developers. The answer isn’t just assets — it’s structured components, variables, and tokens that engineers can map directly to code. This becomes critical when shipping MVPs quickly, since a clean handoff reduces rework and accelerates development.
When your layouts use Auto Layout and Constraints, your spacing and behavior are predictable. When your UI is built with Components, Variants, and Variables, developers see patterns they can mirror in code. Add consistent Styles for typography and color, and organize everything inside a Design System, and handoff becomes a translation — not a guessing game.
Use Cases (practical examples)
Shipping an MVP with 20–30 screens without style drift
Handing off responsive layouts that match behavior in code
Aligning designers and developers on tokens and naming conventions
Reducing rework by documenting states and edge cases up front
