Properly organize your Figma Variables

Standardized Figma Variables can significantly improve the export quality of Variables Xporter. We provide comprehensive organization recommendations and leverage the Single Outlet Principle to manage complex multi-mode variables, helping you build a clear and maintainable variable system.

Basic principles

Before you start organizing variables, we’ve prepared some practical suggestions and best practices. These principles will help you build a robust and flexible variable system:

The basic principles cover the core elements of variable organization, including naming conventions, hierarchical structure, grouping strategies, and other key content. These principles will help you build a clear variable system.

Variable type organization strategies

Different types of design tokens require corresponding organization strategies. Here are organization guidelines for common design token types:

Key organization points

Collection design

Organize collection structures according to the Single Outlet Principle:

• Main collection: Contains all externally provided variables, serving as a unified outlet
• Mode collections: Only store variables that need to change across different modes
• Reference relationships: Connect corresponding variables between the main collection and mode collections through references

Naming conventions

• Strictly follow Tailwind CSS configuration key structure
• Use slash / for variable grouping
• Properly use the DEFAULT keyword for base values, facilitating clear variable hierarchy

Practical tips

• Regularly check variable structure to ensure clear reference relationships
• Add descriptions to important variables for team understanding
• Avoid overly complex nested structures
• Maintain consistency and predictability in naming

By adopting these organization strategies, you can effectively manage complex Design Tokens and build a design system that is both powerful and maintainable.

Figma Variables Template

We provide a Figma Variables template, including colors, spacing, fonts, and other variables, with support for multiple modes including theme, brand, device, and density modes, and can be perfectly exported as Tailwind CSS or CSS Variables.