Design tokens, or “tokens” are elementary design selections represented
as knowledge. They’re the foundational constructing blocks of design programs.
Because the launch of the second editor’s
draft of the
design token specification in 2022 and the name for instrument
makers
to start out implementing and offering suggestions, the panorama of design token
instruments has developed quickly. Instruments like code turbines, documentation
programs, and UI design software program at the moment are higher outfitted to assist design
tokens, underscoring their rising significance in trendy UI structure.
On this article, I am going to clarify what design tokens are, when they’re helpful and methods to apply
them successfully. We’ll give attention to key architectural selections which can be usually troublesome to vary later, together with:
- The right way to manage design tokens in layers to stability scalability, maintainability and developer expertise.
- Whether or not all tokens needs to be made accessible to product groups or only a subset.
- The right way to automate the distribution technique of tokens throughout groups.
Function of design tokens
Round 2017, I used to be concerned in a big undertaking that used the Micro
Frontend
Structure to
scale growth groups. On this setup, completely different groups had been accountable
for various elements of the consumer interface, which may very well be even on the identical
web page. Every staff might deploy its micro-frontend independently.
There have been numerous instances the place elements could be displayed on high of
one another (resembling dialogs or toasts showing on high of content material areas),
which weren’t a part of the identical micro frontend. Groups used the CSS
property z-index to manage the stacking order, usually counting on magic
numbers—arbitrary values that weren’t documented or standardized. This strategy
didn’t scale because the undertaking grew. It led to points that took effort to
repair, as cross-team collaboration was wanted.
The problem was finally addressed with design tokens and I believe makes
a very good instance to introduce the idea. The respective token file would possibly
have appeared just like this:
{
"z-index": {
"$kind": "quantity",
"default": {
"$worth": 1
},
"sticky": {
"$worth": 100
},
"navigation": {
"$worth": 200
},
"spinner": {
"$worth": 300
},
"toast": {
"$worth": 400
},
"modal": {
"$worth": 500
}
}
}
The design tokens above characterize the set of z-index values that may
be used within the utility and the title provides builders a good suggestion of
the place to make use of them. A token file like this may be built-in into the
designers’ workflow and in addition be used to generate code, in a format that
every staff requires. For instance, on this case, the token file may need
been used to generate CSS or SCSS variables:
css
:root {
--z-index-default: 1;
--z-index-sticky: 100;
--z-index-navigation: 200;
--z-index-spinner: 300;
--z-index-toast: 400;
--z-index-modal: 500;
}
scss
$z-index-default: 1; $z-index-sticky: 100; $z-index-navigation: 200; $z-index-spinner: 300; $z-index-toast: 400; $z-index-modal: 500;
What are design tokens?
Salesforce initially launched design tokens to streamline design
updates to a number of
platforms.
The Design Tokens Neighborhood Group describes design tokens as “a
methodology for expressing design selections in a platform-agnostic manner so
that they are often shared throughout completely different disciplines, instruments, and
applied sciences
Let’s break this down:
- Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Design tokens act as a typical language
that aligns designers, builders, product managers, and different disciplines. By
providing a single supply of fact for design selections, they make sure that
everybody concerned within the product life cycle is on the identical web page, resulting in extra
environment friendly workflows. - Device integration: Design tokens might be built-in into numerous design
and growth instruments, together with UI design software program, token editors, translation
instruments (code turbines), and documentation programs. This permits design updates
to be shortly mirrored within the code base and are synchronized throughout groups. - Expertise adaptability: Design tokens might be translated into completely different
applied sciences like CSS, SASS, and JavaScript for the net, and even used on native
platforms like Android and iOS. This flexibility allows design consistency
throughout quite a lot of platforms and gadgets.
Establishing a single supply of fact
A key advantage of design tokens is their capacity to function a single
supply of fact for each design and engineering groups. This ensures that
a number of services or products keep visible and practical
consistency.
A translation
instrument takes one or
extra design token information as enter and generates platform-specific code as
output. Some translation instruments also can produce documentation for the
design tokens within the type of HTML. On the time of writing, widespread
translation instruments embrace Type
Dictionary,
Theo, Diez
or Specify App.
Automated design token distribution
On this part, we’ll discover methods to automate the distribution of
design tokens to product groups.
Let’s assume our aim is to offer groups with up to date, tech-specific
design tokens instantly after a designer makes a change. To attain
this, we are able to automate the interpretation and distribution course of utilizing a
deployment pipeline for design tokens. Moreover platform-specific code
artifacts (like CSS for the net, XML for Android and so on.), the pipeline would possibly
additionally deploy the documentation for the design tokens.
One essential requirement is conserving design tokens below model management.
Fortunately, plugins for widespread design instruments like Figma already combine
with Git suppliers like GitHub. It is thought of finest apply to make use of the
Git repository as the only supply of fact for design tokens—not the
design instrument itself. Nonetheless, this requires the plugin to assist syncing
each methods between the repository and the design instrument, which not all
plugins do. As of now, Tokens Studio is a plugin that provides this
bidirectional syncing. For detailed steerage on integrating Tokens Studio
with completely different Git suppliers, please confer with their
documentation.
The instrument lets you configure a goal department and helps a
trunk-based in addition to a pull-request-based workflow.
As soon as the tokens are below model management, we are able to arrange a deployment
pipeline to construct and deploy the artifacts wanted by the product groups,
which embrace platform-specific supply code and documentation. The supply
code is often packaged as a library and distributed through an artifact
registry. This strategy provides product groups management over the improve
cycle. They’ll undertake up to date types by merely updating their
dependencies. These updates may additionally be utilized not directly via updates of element
libraries that use the token-based types.
Determine 2: Automated design token distribution
This total setup has allowed groups at Thoughtworks to roll out
smaller design modifications throughout a number of front-ends and groups in a single
day.
Absolutely automated pipeline
Essentially the most simple approach to design the pipeline could be a
totally automated trunk-based workflow. On this setup, all modifications
pushed to the primary department shall be instantly deployed so long as they
cross the automated high quality gates.
Such a pipeline would possibly include the next jobs:
- Examine: Validate the design token information utilizing a design token validator
or a JSON validator. - Construct: Use a translation instrument like Type
Dictionary to transform design token information into
platform-specific codecs. This job may additionally construct the docs utilizing the
translation instrument or by integrating a devoted documentation instrument. - Take a look at: This job is very depending on the testing technique. Though
some exams might be performed utilizing the design token file instantly (like checking the
shade distinction), a typical strategy is to check the generated code utilizing a
documentation instrument resembling Storybook. Storybook has wonderful check
assist for visible regression
exams, accessibility exams, interplay exams, and different check sorts. - Publish: Publish up to date tokens to a package deal supervisor (for instance,
npm). The discharge course of and versioning might be totally automated with a package deal
publishing instrument that’s primarily based on Typical
Commits like
semantic-release.
semantic-release additionally permits the deployment of packages to a number of platforms.
The publish job may additionally deploy documentation for the design tokens. - Notify: Inform groups of the brand new token model through electronic mail or chat, so
that they’ll replace their dependencies.
Determine 3: Absolutely automated deployment pipeline
Pipeline together with handbook approval
Generally totally automated high quality gates will not be ample. If a
handbook assessment is required earlier than publishing, a typical strategy is to
deploy an up to date model of the documentation with the newest design
token to a preview surroundings (a short lived surroundings).
If a instrument like Storybook is used, this preview would possibly include not
solely the design tokens but in addition present them built-in with the
elements used within the utility.
An approval course of might be applied through a pull-request workflow.
Or, it may be a handbook approval / deployment step within the pipeline.
Determine 4: Deployment pipeline with handbook approval
Organizing tokens in layers
As mentioned earlier, design tokens characterize design selections as knowledge.
Nonetheless, not all selections function on the identical stage of element. As an alternative,
ideally, basic design selections information extra particular ones. Organizing
tokens (or design selections) into layers permits designers to make
selections on the proper stage of abstraction, supporting consistency and
scalability.
For example, making particular person shade decisions for each new element isn’t sensible.
As an alternative, it’s extra environment friendly to outline a foundational shade palette after which
determine how and the place these colours are utilized. This strategy reduces the
variety of selections whereas sustaining a constant feel and appear.
There are three key forms of design selections for which design tokens
are used. They construct on high of each other:
- What design choices can be found to make use of?
- How are these types utilized throughout the consumer interface?
- The place precisely are these types utilized (during which elements)?
There are numerous names for these three forms of tokens (as ordinary,
naming is the arduous half). On this article, we’ll use the phrases proposed
by Samantha
Gordashko:
possibility tokens, determination tokens and element tokens.
Let’s use our shade instance for example how design tokens can
reply the three questions above.
Choice tokens: defining what design choices are supplied
Choice tokens (additionally known as primitive tokens, base tokens, core
tokens, basis tokens or reference tokens) outline what
types can be utilized within the utility. They outline issues like shade
palettes, spacing/sizing scales or font households. Not all of them are
essentially used within the utility, however they current affordable
choices.
Utilizing our instance, let’s assume we now have a shade palette with 9 shades for every shade,
starting from very mild to extremely saturated. Beneath, we outline the blue tones and gray tones as option-tokens:
{
"shade": {
"$kind": "shade",
"choices": {
"blue-100": {"$worth": "#e0f2ff"},
"blue-200": {"$worth": "#cae8ff"},
"blue-300": {"$worth": "#b5deff"},
"blue-400": {"$worth": "#96cefd"},
"blue-500": {"$worth": "#78bbfa"},
"blue-600": {"$worth": "#59a7f6"},
"blue-700": {"$worth": "#3892f3"},
"blue-800": {"$worth": "#147af3"},
"blue-900": {"$worth": "#0265dc"},
"grey-100": {"$worth": "#f8f8f8"},
"grey-200": {"$worth": "#e6e6e6"},
"grey-300": {"$worth": "#d5d5d5"},
"grey-400": {"$worth": "#b1b1b1"},
"grey-500": {"$worth": "#909090"},
"grey-600": {"$worth": "#6d6d6d"},
"grey-700": {"$worth": "#464646"},
"grey-800": {"$worth": "#222222"},
"grey-900": {"$worth": "#000000"},
"white": {"$worth": "#ffffff"}
}
}
}
Though it’s extremely helpful to have affordable choices, possibility tokens fall brief
of being ample for guiding builders on how and the place to use them.
Choice tokens: defining how types are utilized
Choice tokens (additionally known as semantic tokens or system tokens)
specify how these fashion choices needs to be utilized contextually throughout
the UI.
Within the context of our shade instance, they may embrace selections like the next:
- grey-100 is used as a floor shade.
- grey-200 is used for the background of disabled components.
- grey-400 is used for the textual content of disabled components.
- grey-900 is used as a default shade for textual content.
- blue-900 is used as an accent shade.
- white is used for textual content on accent shade backgrounds.
The corresponding determination token file would appear to be this:
{
"shade": {
"$kind": "shade",
"selections": {
"floor": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-100}",
"description": "Used as a floor shade."
},
"background-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-200}",
"description":"Used for the background of disabled components."
},
"text-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-400}",
"description": "Used for the textual content of disabled components."
},
"textual content": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-900}",
"description": "Used as default textual content shade."
},
"accent": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.blue-900}",
"description": "Used as an accent shade."
},
"text-on-accent": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.white}",
"description": "Used for textual content on accent shade backgrounds."
}
}
}
}
As a developer, I might largely have an interest within the selections, not the
choices. For instance, shade tokens usually include a protracted checklist of choices (a
shade palette), whereas only a few of these choices are literally utilized in
the appliance. The tokens which can be truly related when deciding which
types to use, could be often the choice tokens.
Choice tokens use
references to the
possibility tokens. I consider organizing tokens this fashion as a layered
structure. In different articles, I’ve usually seen the time period tier being
used, however I believe layer is the higher phrase, as there isn’t any bodily
separation implied. The diagram beneath visualizes the 2 layers we talked
about up to now:
Determine 5: 2-layer sample
Part tokens: defining the place types are utilized
Part tokens (or component-specific tokens) map the determination
tokens to particular elements of the UI. They present the place types are
utilized.
The time period element within the context of design tokens doesn’t all the time
map to the technical time period element. For instance, a button may be
applied as a UI element in some functions, whereas different
functions simply use the button HTML factor as a substitute. Part
tokens may very well be utilized in each instances.
Part tokens might be organised in a group referencing a number of determination tokens. In our instance, this references
would possibly embrace text- and background-colors for various variants of the button (major, secondary) in addition to disabled buttons.
They may additionally embrace references to tokens of different sorts (spacing/sizing, borders and so on.) which I am going to omit within the
following instance:
{
"button": {
"major": {
"background": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.accent}"
},
"textual content": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.text-on-accent}"
}
},
"secondary": {
"background": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.floor}"
},
"textual content": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.textual content}"
}
},
"background-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.background-disabled}"
},
"text-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.selections.text-disabled}"
}
}
}
To some extent, element tokens are merely the results of making use of
selections to particular elements. Nonetheless, as this
instance exhibits, this course of isn’t all the time simple—particularly for
builders with out design expertise. Whereas determination tokens can supply a
basic sense of which types to make use of in a given context, element tokens
present extra readability.
Determine 6: 3-layer sample
Be aware: there could also be “snowflake” conditions the place layers are skipped.
For instance, it may not be doable to outline a basic determination for
each single element token, or these selections may not have been made
but (for instance at the start of a undertaking).
Token scope
I already talked about that whereas possibility tokens are very useful to
designers, they may not be related for utility builders utilizing the
platform-specific code artifacts. Utility builders will usually be
extra within the determination/element tokens.
Though token scope is just not but included within the design token
spec, some design
programs already separate tokens into personal (additionally known as inner) and
public (additionally known as world) tokens. For instance, the Salesforce Lightning
Design System launched a flag for every
token. There are
numerous the reason why this may be a good suggestion:
- it guides builders on which tokens to make use of
- fewer choices present a greater developer expertise
- it reduces the file dimension as not all tokens should be included
- personal/inner tokens might be modified or eliminated with out breaking
modifications
A draw back of constructing possibility tokens personal is that builders would rely
on designers to all the time make these types accessible as determination or element
tokens. This might turn out to be a problem in case of restricted availability of the
designers or if not all selections can be found, for instance initially of
a undertaking.
Sadly, there isn’t any standardized answer but for implementing
scope for design tokens. So the strategy depends upon the tool-chain of the
undertaking and can most certainly want some customized code.
File-based scope
Utilizing Type Dictionary, we are able to use a
filter to
expose solely public tokens. Essentially the most simple strategy could be to
filter on the file ending. If we use completely different file endings for element,
determination and possibility tokens, we are able to use a filter on the file path, for
instance, to make the choice tokens layer personal.
Type Dictionary config
const styleDictionary = new StyleDictionary({
"supply": ["color.options.json", "color.decisions.json"],
"platforms": {
"css": {
"transformGroup": "css",
"information": [
{
"destination": "variables.css",
"filter": token => !token.filePath.endsWith('options.json'),
"format": "css/variables"
}
]
}
}
});
The ensuing CSS variables would include
solely these determination tokens, and never the choice tokens.
Generated CSS variables
:root {
--color-decisions-surface: #f8f8f8;
--color-decisions-background-disabled: #e6e6e6;
--color-decisions-text-disabled: #b1b1b1;
--color-decisions-text: #000000;
--color-decisions-accent: #0265dc;
--color-decisions-text-on-accent: #ffffff;
}
A extra versatile strategy
If extra flexibility is required, it may be preferable so as to add a scope
flag to every token and to filter primarily based on this flag:
Type Dictionary config
const styleDictionary = new StyleDictionary({
"supply": ["color.options.json", "color.decisions.json"],
"platforms": {
"css": {
"transformGroup": "css",
"information": [
{
"destination": "variables.css",
"filter": {
"public": true
},
"format": "css/variables"
}
]
}
}
});
If we then add the flag to the choice tokens, the ensuing CSS would
be the identical as above:
Tokens with scope flag
{
"shade": {
"$kind": "shade",
"selections": {
"floor": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-100}",
"description": "Used as a floor shade.",
"public": true
},
"background-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-200}",
"description":"Used for the background of disabled components.",
"public": true
},
"text-disabled": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-400}",
"description": "Used for the textual content of disabled components.",
"public": true
},
"textual content": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.grey-900}",
"description": "Used as default textual content shade.",
"public": true
},
"accent": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.blue-900}",
"description": "Used as an accent shade.",
"public": true
},
"text-on-accent": {
"$worth": "{shade.choices.white}",
"description": "Used for textual content on accent shade backgrounds.",
"public": true
}
}
}
}
Generated CSS variables
:root {
--color-decisions-surface: #f8f8f8;
--color-decisions-background-disabled: #e6e6e6;
--color-decisions-text-disabled: #b1b1b1;
--color-decisions-text: #000000;
--color-decisions-accent: #0265dc;
--color-decisions-text-on-accent: #ffffff;
}
Such flags can now even be set via the Figma
UI
(if utilizing Figma variables as a supply of fact for design tokens). It’s
accessible as
hiddenFromPublishing
flag through the Plugins API.
Ought to I take advantage of design tokens?
Design tokens supply vital advantages for contemporary UI structure,
however they is probably not the precise match for each undertaking.
Advantages embrace:
- Improved lead time for design modifications
- Constant design language and UI structure throughout platforms and
applied sciences - Design tokens being comparatively light-weight from an implementation level of
view
Drawbacks embrace:
- Preliminary effort for automation
- Designers may need to (to a point) work together with Git
- Standardization continues to be in progress
Contemplate the next when deciding whether or not to undertake design
tokens:
When to make use of design tokens
- Multi-Platform or Multi-Utility Environments: When working throughout
a number of platforms (internet, iOS, Android…) or sustaining a number of functions or
frontends, design tokens guarantee a constant design language throughout all of
them. - Frequent Design Modifications: For environments with common design
updates, design tokens present a structured approach to handle and propagate modifications
effectively. - Massive Groups: For groups with many designers and builders, design
tokens facilitate collaboration. - Automated Workflows: For those who’re acquainted with CI/CD pipelines, the
effort so as to add a design token pipeline is comparatively low. There are additionally
business choices.
When design tokens may not be needed
- Small tasks: For smaller tasks with restricted scope and minimal
design complexity, the overhead of managing design tokens may not be well worth the
effort. - No difficulty with design modifications: If the pace of design modifications,
consistency and collaboration between design and engineering will not be a problem,
then you may also not want design tokens.