Design System Glossary

Master the terminology of design systems. From detached instances to design tokens, learn the concepts that matter for maintaining healthy, consistent design systems.

Core Concepts

8 terms

Design Tokens

Design tokens are named values that store the visual design decisions of your brand—colors, typography, spacing, shadows...

Component Overrides in Figma

Component overrides are modifications made to a component instance that differ from the main component—such as changed t...

Design Debt

Design debt is the accumulated cost of design shortcuts, inconsistencies, and deviations from the design system that cre...

a Figma Component Library

A Figma component library is a centralized collection of reusable UI components—buttons, inputs, cards, navigation eleme...

Component Variants in Figma

Component variants are different versions of a component—such as size variations, states (default, hover, disabled), or ...

UI Consistency

UI consistency is the uniformity of visual elements, interaction patterns, and behaviors across a product or product sui...

Design System Governance

Design system governance encompasses the processes, roles, and decision-making frameworks that guide how a design system...

Style Guide vs Design System: What's the Difference

A style guide documents visual brand standards (colors, typography, logo usage), while a design system includes those st...

Common Issues

2 terms

a Detached Instance in Figma

A detached instance is a Figma component instance that has been disconnected from its main component, losing the ability...

Hardcoded Values in Design

Hardcoded values are raw design values—like specific hex colors (#3B82F6), pixel measurements (16px), or font sizes—used...

Metrics & Measurement

2 terms

Design System Health

Design system health is a composite measure of how well your design system is being adopted and maintained, typically ex...

Design System Adoption

Design system adoption is the measure of how extensively teams use the design system's components, tokens, and patterns ...

Put This Knowledge Into Practice

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