Concepts in Design & UX, page 14
Figma Dev Mode: The Developer's View of Design Files
Figma's Dev Mode is a developer-focused lens for design files, translating visuals into code specs. Developers use it to inspect properties, grab code snippets, and track changes. The footgun is building from designs not explicitly marked 'Ready for dev'.
Drip Campaigns: Automated, Triggered Conversations
A drip campaign is an automated conversation, sending pre-written messages over time based on user actions. It's used for onboarding new users or re-engaging inactive ones.
UX Highlight Reels: Show, Don't Tell
A highlight reel is a shortcut to empathy: short clips that make stakeholders feel the problem. Use them to win executive buy-in when charts fail to stick. The footgun is curating only positive clips; without struggle it reads as marketing, not research.
Figma: Exporting Assets for Handoff and Sharing
Exporting is Figma's shipping department, packaging designs into standard files like PNGs or SVGs. Use it to hand off assets to developers or share mockups with stakeholders. Footgun: If you can't see the Export panel, the file owner likely restricted it.
Gamification for Design System Engagement
Turn design system adoption from a chore into a challenge by applying game mechanics. Use it to track component usage or encourage contributions with leaderboards and achievements.
Welcome Email Series: Turn Signups into Customers
A welcome series is an automated email sequence that acts as a guided tour for new subscribers. It's used by e-commerce and SaaS to build trust and drive initial sales or activation. The biggest footgun is sending a single, generic email and stopping there.
Exposure Hours
Exposure hours measure the time each team member spends directly observing real users. Research by UIE found teams that watch users at least two hours every six weeks make markedly better design decisions, because firsthand empathy beats secondhand reports.
From Design to Code: Inspecting in Figma
Inspection translates a design into code-ready specs. It's the "view source" for a design file, showing exact colors, sizes, and spacing. Developers use it to build UIs; designers use it to verify consistency. Don't blindly copy auto-generated code.
Codemods: Automate Design System Upgrades
A codemod is a script that refactors your code for you, using an Abstract Syntax Tree for surgical changes. Use it to automate painful design system migrations, like renaming components across many apps.
Abandoned Cart Sequence: Recovering Lost Sales
An abandoned cart sequence isn't just one email; it's a timed, multi-step campaign addressing different reasons for leaving. It's the highest-converting automation for e-commerce, moving from a simple reminder to reassurance, and finally, an incentive.
Data Visualization for Qualitative Data
Visualizing qualitative data turns coded themes, quotes, and patterns from interviews into affinity maps, theme matrices, and journey artifacts. It makes non-numeric findings scannable and persuasive without distorting nuance into false precision through…
Figma Dev Mode: From Design to Code Snippets
Figma's Dev Mode translates designs into code snippets, not just redlines. Select an element to get CSS, Swift, or Android XML with layout and style properties. The footgun is relying on this starter code; use Code Connect to link to your real design system.
System Usability Scale (SUS): A Quick Usability Score
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a 10-question survey that gives a single 0-100 score for a system's perceived usability. It's a quick, industry-standard way to benchmark usability. The biggest footgun: the score is not a percentage; 68 is average.
Email Personalization: Beyond the First Name
Email personalization uses automation to send the right message to the right user. By segmenting your audience based on behavior or data, you can target them with relevant content, like abandoned cart reminders.
ResearchOps: The Pit Crew for User Research
ResearchOps is the backstage crew that makes user research scale. It provides roles, tools, and processes so researchers focus on insights, not logistics. Teams often assume researchers self-manage operations, which bottlenecks research as companies grow.
Figma's Handoff Status: A Traffic Light for Devs
Think of Figma's handoff status as a traffic light for your designs, signaling what's safe to build. Designers mark sections Ready for dev, and Figma automatically flags them as Changed if modified.
Component Coverage: The 80/20 Rule for Design Systems
Component coverage applies the 80/20 rule to your UI, measuring what's built from a design system versus custom code. It helps track adoption and justify freeing up dev time for unique features.
Re-engagement Campaigns: Winning Back Inactive Subscribers
A re-engagement campaign is a targeted effort to win back inactive subscribers, as it's cheaper to reactivate an old lead than find a new one. Use it when a segment of your list stops engaging.
Figma for VS Code: Designs Inside Your Editor
Embed a live Figma inspector in your IDE to stop switching contexts. Use it to grab code snippets, check measurements, or reply to comments without leaving VS Code. The footgun: it's for inspection, not editing—you can't change the design itself.
How Design Systems Lower Your UI Bug Rate
A design system is a factory for pre-tested UI parts. By using standardized components instead of hand-crafting them each time, you reduce one-off bugs. This is a key metric for proving a design system's ROI, but teams often fail to track it.
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