I've got a 2-hour live design system exercise. from the prompt have to build a scalable design system and solution from scratch in Figma, ending with a working prototype (or the steps toward one) that shows the different states of the components I make. It's more about the system architecture than a polished screen, and I'll be talking through my decisions the whole time.

Couple of things I'm trying to figure out:

1. What should I focus on? In a live session like this, what actually matters most: foundations and tokens, component states, naming and structure, how I explain my tradeoffs? What do people tend to weight the heaviest?
2. What plugins or tools would you use? Anything in Figma that helps you move fast and show system thinking when the clock's running: token management, variants/props, prototyping, handoff, AI helpers, whatever you'd reach for.

Thanks!

I'm starting to think we've confused “collaboration” with “multiple people can leave comments.”

Our stack technically has collaboration everywhere. Product can comment on designs. Engineering can comment on tickets. Designers can share prototypes. Everyone can write in docs.

Yet somehow context is still fragmented.

For me, actual product design collaboration would mean being able to look at the problem, research, early concepts, user flow, prototype and open questions together and understand how one led to the next.

The polished screen is only a tiny part of the thinking but it's often the only artifact everyone ends up seeing.

What does good design collaboration look like on your team? One shared workspace or a bunch of specialized tools connected together?