Insights /

Building mature design systems by bridging design and code

Building mature design systems by bridging design and code

Ihor Kochetov
Lead Product Designer

Creating a design system marks a significant milestone in organizational design maturity. With the help of modern design tools, component libraries, and dedicated design system teams, companies are increasingly able to set up well-structured systems. 

These systems might include tokens for spacing, color, and typography; a suite of UI components like buttons and modals; and foundational design documentation. That in itself is no small feat. 

The real challenge often comes after the system is built.

Getting teams to use design systems consistently at scale

While creation is achievable, design system adoption at scale is where many teams stumble. It’s one thing to design a great button component; it’s another to get dozens of product teams to trust and use it across web, iOS, Android, and email. 

When the system isn’t seen as credible or convenient, teams fall back on custom implementations, fragmenting the experience. These adoption challenges aren’t always about usability or even lack of documentation. They stem from a deeper issue: confidence.

Maturity is not about patterns

Today’s top-tier systems evolve beyond the foundational layer. They become collaborative operating frameworks for product development, uniting design, development, and process alignment.

What separates mature systems?

  1. Shared understanding across disciplines
    Mature systems are built on strong collaboration between designers and developers. This includes alignment not just on components but on workflows, responsibilities, and desired outcomes. Everyone understands what "done" means, visually and functionally.
  2. Design principles guide every decision
    Systems embed core principles, such as clarity, flexibility, and accessibility, to help teams make consistent, mission‑aligned choices.
  3. Documentation is living, action‑oriented, and inclusive
    Instead of static spec sheets, mature systems offer evolving documentation tied to real use cases. Accessibility notes, usage dos and don’ts, and live component examples help teams move faster and with greater confidence.
  4. Component libraries are contextual and credible
    Components come with best practices, interaction expectations, and platform considerations. Teams know how and when to use them, without guesswork.

Why this matters

Maturity can be defined as collaborative confidence that the components are understood, trusted, and effectively used across every stage of product development.

Closing the trust gap between design and code

One of the biggest threats to adoption is the disconnect between design and implementation. Even when a design system appears well-documented and polished, confidence breaks down if the delivered components don’t match what’s promised in design files.

Symptoms of the trust gap:

When design and code drift apart, teams begin to work around the system rather than within it. Developers might rebuild components from scratch, fork existing code, or rely on tribal knowledge instead of shared resources. Designers, in turn, become hesitant to trust whether the system will reflect their intent in production.

Consequences:

This erosion of trust often begins subtly but compounds quickly. A button component that's slightly off in one product becomes a diverging pattern across five others. Eventually, the design system exists in name only, while teams build fragmented solutions out of necessity.

Bridging the trust gap requires:

Trust is the foundation of system adoption. When that trust is broken, consistency falters, and return on investment in the system begins to diminish.

How visibility into code strengthens systems

Static specs are essential, but true trust and alignment come from live visibility into production code and design context. Two complementary Figma tools make this possible:

1. Figma Code Connect

The image illustrates how Figma Code Connect bridges the gap between design and development inside Figma’s Dev Mode. The visual example shows a labeled input field on the left and its corresponding React component code on the right.
A Figma component displayed side by side with its matching React code snippet.

2. Figma Dev Mode MCP Server

You’ve probably read all about Model Context Protocol (MCP). Figma’s new MCP server delivers design information into the developer workflow and AI-assisted code tools, in a few key ways:

Combined benefits of code visibility

Feature Gain
Accuracy Components generated or inspected are based on live, trusted design code.
Efficiency No more switching between tools; Dev Mode, MCP, IDEs, and AI tools work together.
Scale Eliminates tribal knowledge; onboarding and handoff operate at scale.

By combining Code Connect and the MCP Server, teams get full-spectrum visibility, including visual, code-level, and AI-powered infrastructure. This fosters stronger collaboration, quicker iteration, and higher confidence in system consistency.

The strategic value of code visibility

Ensuring live visibility into design system code isn’t just operationally efficient—it delivers measurable, strategic value across key dimensions.

Accelerates onboarding

Improves consistency

Supports scale

Reduces rework

Summary: expected impact of code visibility

Benefit Real-world impact
Onboarding time 34–89% faster ramp-up for designers and developers.
Efficiency 20–50% faster feature rollout and design iteration.
Scale Proactive coverage tracking across large teams.
Rework 50%+ reduction in design-dev friction and bugs.

Closing: less guesswork, more confidence

A truly mature design system is actively interconnected. While tools alone cannot replace collaboration, features like code visibility make maintaining alignment significantly easier:

Ultimately, maturity in design systems ensures clarity, confidence, and agility, laying a strong foundation for sustainable organizational success. For more on how to achieve design system maturity, see our on-demand webinar: Scaling design systems across established and modern platforms.

Our team has deep experience with both developing from-scratch design systems and working within existing setups. Our approach is cross-disciplinary, including both UX design and software engineering. Connect with us to learn more.  

As a Lead Product Designer at Transcenda, Ihor specializes in digital product design and design systems for complex B2B SaaS and consumer platforms. With over 15 years of experience, Ihor has led cross-functional design initiatives, focusing on enhancing business metrics through user-centered design, experimentation, and collaboration with product and engineering teams.

Subscribe to receive the latest industry insights and news from Transcenda

Related articles:

Subscribe to Transcenda's newsletter

Receive exclusive, expert-driven engineering & design insights to elevate your projects to the next level.