Translating Figma Components Into Reusable Code
How design components in Figma map to reusable UI components in code, and where that mapping gets harder than it looks.
By Touhidul Islam Rukon
What is it?
Figma components (a button, a card, a form field) and code components look similar on the surface, but turning one into the other cleanly takes real decisions about variants, states, and structure.
Why does it matter?
A one-to-one, screen-by-screen build produces duplicated, inconsistent code. Recognizing which pieces are genuinely the same component in different states, versus which only look similar, is what keeps a codebase maintainable as a site grows.
Real-world perspective
Building the ERTH site from my own Figma file means I already know the intent behind each component, since I designed it, which makes it easier to decide what should be one reusable component with variants versus two genuinely different ones.
Key considerations
Look for repeated patterns across screens before building each screen separately.
Keep a component's states (default, hover, disabled, error) as variants of one thing, not separate one-off elements.
Name components consistently between the design file and the codebase, so the two stay easy to cross-reference.
Conclusion
The goal isn't matching Figma pixel for pixel. It's building a component system that holds together as the site grows past its first version.