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Design Handoff Best Practices

Simple, repeatable handoff practices that make development faster and reduce friction.

By Noah Hunt•2025-02-04•1 min

Handoff is a transfer of intent, not just files. These practices keep teams aligned and reduce rework.

  1. Deliver a single source of truth: tokenized colors, a clear type scale, and component specs.
  2. Provide real content examples and edge cases, not placeholder lorem.
  3. Annotate interactions: microcopy, states, and animations should be described or demonstrated.
  4. Share assets in ready-to-use formats: exported SVGs, optimized images, and a simple install README.

Communication beats perfection: schedule a short walkthrough with the devs and capture questions in one place.

When handoff is straightforward, shipping becomes predictable and designers can iterate faster.

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