Handoff: Choosing a spec tool

For many designers, especially those new to the field like me, handoff can be quite a tricky process. Providing a good file to the developers makes a huge difference in the success of the project, or at least in the success of meeting the deadline.

However, handing-off a project does not only mean exporting a PDF, or sharing your Figma file. It is not the developers' job to decode your file before they start coding. It is your job as a designer to provide the maximum amount of detail to the product as possible.

Over the years, technology has evolved in this matter (saving a lot of time and effort for product designers, who once had to do everything manually). Now technology does it for you with the right tools and processes. Nowadays it is surreal to imagine that not long ago UX designers used to design websites in Photoshop! Also, different software had to be used throughout the process, from developing the interface to prototyping and handoff, and then back again for iterations.

Now we have Figma.

Figma offers designers a single tool that does it all. For new aspiring designers like myself, it was hard to understand why other designers would choose to include another tool in the process.

However, after a bit of research, I understood that working in a big team always sets new challenges. One of these challenges is that the design process is an iterative one, meaning it never stops. However, developers need a kind of screenshot to start working. That's where Zeplin comes in.

Zeplin builds the bridge that designers and developers need, not only in content but also in time. While sharing a Figma file can be practical, it can also be confusing since designers will always go back to it to improve upon it. While they do so, developers code based on the file exported to Zeplin, where all style guides and components are already recognized by the software and can be directly exported to code.

Projects from Photoshop, Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma can be exported to Zeplin, where designers, developers, PMs, and other team members can easily access it, navigate and collaborate. Zeplin also notifies team members of any changes made to the product throughout the process.

From my perspective, if working in a small team using Figma as a single tool seems to be more than enough. However, when collaborating on a complex project with a large team, Zeplin can make a huge difference in optimizing work.