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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

Design token

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, design token means: A named value that stores a design decision, such as a colour, font size or spacing amount, so designers and developers use the same value everywhere.

In Turkish: tasarım token'ı, tasarım değişkeni

How it is used

Instead of a raw value like #1A73E8, teams use a token like color-primary or spacing-md. Changing one token updates every screen that uses it, which makes theming and dark mode easier. In Figma, tokens are often stored as variables.

Example sentences

  1. Don't hard-code the blue; use the color-primary design token.

  2. We updated the spacing design tokens, and every screen changed at once.

Common collocations

  • color tokens
  • spacing tokens
  • token naming
  • update a design token
  • design systemA shared collection of reusable components, design rules, tokens and documentation that keeps a company's products consistent and helps teams build faster.
  • color paletteThe fixed set of colours chosen for a product or brand, usually with primary, secondary and neutral colours plus status colours such as red for errors and green for success.
  • spacingThe amount of space between and inside elements, such as the gap between cards or the padding inside a button, chosen to create rhythm and grouping.
  • componentA reusable, self-contained piece of a user interface, such as a button, modal or product card, with its own markup, styles and logic.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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