Step 2: Designing for Accessibility First

Accessibility (a11y) is not something you add at the end of a project. It starts in the design phase. When building components like modals, dropdowns, and form inputs, I plan for key accessibility requirements right away:

• Color Contrast: Ensuring text meets WCAG AA or AAA standards against its background.
• Focus States: Designing clear, visible keyboard focus indicators so users who navigate via keyboard always know where they are.
• Touch Targets: Making sure buttons and interactive icons are at least 44x44 pixels on mobile apps and websites.

When I worked on projects like the Goldmines Picture Website, maintaining consistent contrast across movie cards and dark-mode content modals made a huge difference in usability for all visitors.

Step 3: Translating Figma Components to React Code

Once the Figma library is solid, building the React components is straightforward. I use a headless UI approach or pure Tailwind CSS to construct reusable components that accept semantic props.

Here is a simple example of an accessible button component built from our design system tokens:

import React from 'react';

export const Button = ({
  children,
  variant = 'primary',
  size = 'md',
  disabled = false,
  onClick,
  ...props
}) => {
  const baseStyles = 'inline-flex items-center justify-center font-medium transition-colors rounded-lg focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-offset-2';
  
  const variants = {
    primary: 'bg-primary text-white hover:opacity-90 focus:ring-primary',
    secondary: 'bg-muted text-black hover:opacity-80 focus:ring-muted',
  };

  const sizes = {
    sm: 'px-3 py-1.5 text-sm',
    md: 'px-4 py-2 text-base',
    lg: 'px-6 py-3 text-lg',
  };

  return (
    <button
      type="button"
      disabled={disabled}
      onClick={onClick}
      className={`${baseStyles} ${variants[variant]} ${sizes[size]} ${disabled ? 'opacity-50 cursor-not-allowed' : ''}`}
      {...props}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  );
};

Step 4: Documentation and Maintenance

A design system is never truly finished. As your product grows, new requirements will pop up. Keeping your Figma library and your codebase synchronized requires regular maintenance and clear documentation.

I always recommend setting up a dedicated documentation page—using tools like Storybook or Notion—where both developers and designers can see live component states, code snippets, and usage guidelines in one place.

Conclusion

Investing time into a well-structured UI design system saves countless hours during development and ensures your web apps and mobile apps look polished and remain fully accessible to every user.

Have a UI/UX project or need help building a robust design system for your SaaS product? Let's talk about your requirements. Get in touch.