preparing-design-handoff

Preparing a Design Handoff

This skill is the end-of-In-Design gate. Engineering relies on a consistent set of signals to know a design is ready to pick up. A handoff missing any of those signals creates downstream questions and slows the epic into development.

The handoff is two things, not one

A handoff is finished when both are in place:

1. The Figma file in Ready-for-Dev state. Final designs grouped on a single page, with sections named to match the engineering stories that will consume them. Sections marked "Ready for Dev" in Figma. User-visible strings (toasts, error messages, form verifications, email body copy) annotated on the frames. Annotated prototype available.
2. The Jira state aligned. Figma file linked in the Epic's "Design" field, sections marked Ready for Dev in Figma, and the EM transitions the Epic to Ready for Dev. The full choreography is in navigating-design-jira-process.

If either is missing, the handoff isn't done.

Prep checklist (before declaring handoff)

• The product initiative or PRD page exists and is current.
• The engineering Epic exists in Jira and the designer is or has been assigned to it.
• Designs have been through critique at 30%, 60%, and 90% and the 90% review has been addressed.
• Real-user testing has happened where applicable (this is what 90% is for).
• The Figma file's final-designs page is curated — no scratch pages, no unused frames in the Ready-for-Dev surface.
• All user-visible strings are annotated in Figma alongside the frames they apply to.

If any item is missing, surface that before declaring the handoff ready — handoff is not the moment to discover the 90% review never happened.

Figma readiness check

Before marking sections Ready for Dev, confirm:

• Sections aligned to stories. Each named section maps to a single engineering story. Avoid sections that span stories or stories that span multiple sections.
• Tokens are library-bound. No raw hex values where a design-system variable exists. Compose using-figma with get_variable_defs to verify.
• Strings annotated. Every user-visible string — button labels, error messages, toasts, empty states, helper text — is present in the Figma frames or annotations.
• Edge cases covered. Empty, error, partial-success, offline, and premium-gated states exist on the relevant frames (or are explicitly out of scope and noted).

Composing with other skills

• using-figma. Use get_metadata to confirm the Ready-for-Dev sections exist with the expected names; use get_variable_defs to confirm tokens are library-bound rather than raw values; use search_design_system if a component in the design is suspiciously close to one that already exists.
• navigating-design-jira-process. The Jira moves that go with handoff — link Figma to Epic "Design" field, mark Ready for Dev in Figma, EM transitions Epic — live there.
• content-style-guide. Walk every annotated string through the style guide before declaring handoff. Toasts, errors, and form-verification text are the highest-leverage place to catch content-style issues before engineering localizes them.

Common omissions to catch

• Figma file with no Ready-for-Dev marks. Engineering can't find what's final. This is the most-skipped step.
• Sections not aligned to stories. Each story should map to a Figma section whose content is only that story. Mismatch creates ambiguity at review time.
• Missing string annotations. Engineering will ask for strings the moment they pick the Epic up. Annotate them in Figma alongside the frames before declaring handoff — don't defer to engineering to invent copy.
• Edge states absent. Empty, error, partial-success, offline, premium-gated. If they're out of scope, say so explicitly on the frames or in the dev-support comments.

Output format

When asked to help prep a handoff:

1. Prep checklist — what's in place, what's missing.
2. Figma readiness check — section-to-story alignment, token binding, string annotations, edge states.
3. Jira moves — the specific status transitions and Figma links to apply (link to Epic "Design" field, mark sections Ready for Dev, EM transitions Epic). Defer to navigating-design-jira-process for the canonical choreography.

Always end with the explicit go/no-go: is this handoff actually ready?