Choosing a Spec Tool?

Browsing through Dribbble has definitely become one of my favorite pastimes. Endless designs and endless possibilities. But really, how many of the designs on Dribbble have actually been developed? This is why it is crucial for designers, like myself, to understand what is feasible and the best way to handoff our designs to non-designers. That is where Figma and Zeplin step in.

As designer Claire Yuan put it, “Figma has become the playground for everyone on the team”. The collaboration power Figma holds allows for better communication across teams and the ability to access the latest design files on any operating system. Not only is Figma like a virtual whiteboard for the team you are working with but it also further promotes collaboration by allowing the Figma community to create plugins for other users.

One super useful plugin for design handoff is Zeplin. And as their motto states, Zeplin “delivers on the promise of design”. With just a couple of clicks, you can export frames and design systems into Zeplin giving non-designers an organized accessible workspace. Exporting designs into Zeplin gives developers literal tailored specs and code snippets. And with Figma being browser-based, it gives Zeplin that much more opportunity for useful cool features. Like possibly automizing pushed changes made to components in Figma to Zeplin (Cebi, 2020).

With this being said, Figma and Zeplin would definitely be tools I would use in the future for design handoffs. These tools in combination seem to seamlessly bridge design and development.