Exercise - Figma to Code

Get an AI to build your design — then judge it

Take a screen you have designed in Figma (from any past project) and use an AI tool to turn it into a working web page. Document faithfully where the build diverges from the design.

Steps

  1. Pick one screen you designed and care about. Something with real layout, not a splash page.
  2. Generate it. Feed it to an AI tool — screenshot + description, Figma link, or Figma Make/MCP if available.
  3. Diff it like a designer. Put design and build side by side. List every divergence: spacing, type scale, colour, alignment, missing states.
  4. Iterate with words only. Fix the top 5 divergences using prompts, not code editing. Note which design intentions are easy vs impossible to communicate.
  5. Check it responsive. Your Figma frame had one width. What did the AI decide for mobile? Was it right?

Things to keep in mind

  • The gap between design and build is where designer-developer collaboration lives. You are experiencing handoff from both sides at once.
  • "It ignored my 8px grid" is a finding, not a failure. Collect these.

Submission

  • Side-by-side of design vs final build, your divergence list, and the prompt log. Short crit in class.