Token Anatomy - Description

The description of a Design Token can be used to define additional details, like why or how we made this decision. The description is optional.

In this infographic, the Token examples on the right side highlight the Description. Only the bottom example has a description.

Description = Additional context when needed

You can think of a Token's description as a place to add a note or reminder about this design decision for your engineers or future self.

For example, a Font Family Token may have a description with a link to download the files.

An infographic example of documenting a Font Family Token with a Description that includes a note and URL to download the Font.

Descriptions are meta-data shared across tools and technologies.

Descriptions are technically meta-data, so the description is available anywhere a Token is utilized. Engineers can view the description in code and design tools often add the description to token properties.

For example, if a brand color is bright and vibrant it may have limited use cases. Any constraints can be added to the description in the Token as below.

Only use for brand logo and branded illustrations as this lime green is not accessible for interactive elements.

When that Token is attached to a color style in Figma, the description is visible to designers using Figma's native UI.

The additional context you can add to the description of a Token helps cross-functional team members understand why or how they might use these design decisions in their own work.

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Up next - Name

Next, let's explore the name of a Design Token as this anatomic property often provides an indication of design decisions that are detailed in the description .

In this infographic, the Token examples on the right side highlight the Name. The top code block shows a Token Name with groups. The bottom code block shows a flat Token Name.