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Question

I don't understand how Design System and Library work in Figma - please help?


Kashou

What is the workflow to create a library/design system file where I can organize/maintain main components in one file without breaking relationship with children/instance from older files?

As a Professional Plan member, I would expect that when I hit “Publish Library”, it automatically creates dedicated files under “Design System” to organize styles and components in one central place, and thus without breaking relationship with children/instances. But it seems like Figma does not work like that, and I don’t understand how it works at all.

When I publish a “file” as library, it does not create a dedicate file to migrate main components into a design system file. I need a central file to maintain/organize components overtime. I want to be able to delete old files and mockups where main components were once created. I don’t want to “go to main components” and land on an old mockup. I concluded that publishing the library out of a file was not the correct workflow.

I tried a different workflow, such as creating a dedicated library under Design System in my Pro plan, because it says that I can create and publish libraries to share with my team here. I created a design system file, in which I copy/pasted all main components from the old ux exploration file. This method did not work, as it duplicated all main components, and it broke all relationships with instances as a result. I concluded again that Design System is not the correct workflow. So what is the workflow?

When I publish a Library it does not sync with Design System, and when I create a Design System it does not sync with Library. I don’t understand how library and design system are supposed to work together in Figma.

I contacted support several times, and I did not get any answer.

Adam
  • May 6, 2021

I would recommend watching this video to help see how a design system should be used/organized and how it will relate to your other Figma files:


Kashou
  • May 6, 2021

This video is not realistic or helpful unfortunately. It assumes that design systems are created before design explorations. We need a solution to create a design system out of existing project files.


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