SUMMARY
Purpose: The Dev Handoff Checklist ensures your design intent is clearly communicated and developer-ready — minimising ambiguity, saving time, and preserving product quality at launch.
Design Thinking Phase: Prototype
Time: 60–90 min per feature/module + 30 min alignment review
Difficulty: ⭐⭐
When to use:Preparing for design-to-development handoff on new featuresRefining specs for cross-functional delivery meetingsQA review before sprint commitment in Agile workflows
What it is
The Dev Handoff Checklist is a structured method used by UX/UI designers to finalise, validate, and communicate essential design details to developers. It systematically addresses layout logic, interaction specs, edge cases, accessibility, and design tokens to ensure nothing gets lost between Figma and the codebase.
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Why it matters
Designs don’t ship — code does. A thoughtful, developer-focused handoff reduces rework, miscommunication, and design debt. Developers are not mind readers. Even well-documented designs can miss the nuances of intent behind interactions, responsive states, or content behaviour. This checklist ensures every design edge is declared and ready to build with efficiency.
When to use
- When wrapping up design for a sprint or milestone
- Before engaging frontend devs in estimation or implementation
- During design QA reviews or pre-UAT stages
Benefits
- Rich Insights: Surfaces technical overlaps and logic gaps early
- Flexibility: Works with Agile, Lean UX, or dual-track workflows
- User Empathy: Prevents friction caused by incomplete or ambiguous implementation
How to use it
Use the checklist collaboratively with your development team and product manager during handoff sessions. Focus on clarity, completeness, and futureproofing behavior definitions. Common checklist categories include:
- Interaction Logic: Define hover, focus, loading, error, success states
- Responsive Behaviour: Mobile, tablet, web breakpoints and layout shifts
- Copy & Content: Dynamic strings, placeholders, localisation rules
- Edge Cases: Empty states, loading states, unusual inputs or data
- Design Tokens: Confirm spacing, colours, icons, typography systems align with dev libraries
- Accessibility: Define alt text, keyboard navigation, ARIA roles if needed
- Linked Flows: Confirm related screens or modals are included and linked
After the checklist is complete, walk your developer(s) through the design file live. Invite questions and align on any flexible areas in implementation.
Example Output
A fictional example for a “Password Reset Flow”:
- Interaction States: Input: idle, typed, error, success; CTA: default, loading, disabled
- Responsive: Mobile form stacks vertically; desktop has right column with tips
- Empty State: Email not found returns soft error message
- Content: Placeholder email message vs. actual email content linked
- Design System: Uses default spacing tokens (spacing-m, spacing-l), consistent CTA height
- Linked Flows: Re-entry from Email > login redirected to success modal
Common Pitfalls
- Over-relying on Figma alone: Developers can’t infer micro-interactions or logic just from layers. Annotate and document intentionally.
- Not flagging exceptions: Developers will build exactly what they see. If edge cases aren't clear, they won't be coded.
- Missing async constraints: Neglecting loading states, API delays, or failed inputs leads to poor real-world UX.
- Checklist done in silos: Don’t do it solo. Collaborate with devs to catch gaps before finalisation.
10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for Dev Handoff Checklist – UX/UI Edition
How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)
Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.
C.S.I.R. stands for:
- Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
- Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
- Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
- Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)
Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.
Prompt Template 1: “Create a Dev Handoff Checklist for a UI Flow”
Create a Dev Handoff Checklist for a UI Flow
Context: You are a UX designer preparing to hand off a signup flow for implementation.
Specific Info: The flow includes 4 screens (email input, verification, password setup, confirmation). Includes known edge case where users re-submit already-used email.
Intent: Create a clear, dev-friendly checklist of design handoff items to minimise build ambiguity.
Response Format: Output a sectioned checklist (Interaction States, Content/Copy, Edge Cases, Tokens, etc.) for developer documentation.
If the feature dependencies (e.g. verification method, API success/failure logic) are unclear, ask clarifying questions.
Then suggest one follow-up item for Product/Dev alignment.
Prompt Template 2: “Analyse Edge Cases for Developer Handoff”
Analyse Edge Cases for Developer Handoff
Context: You are a UX Designer finalising an ecommerce checkout flow.
Specific Info: The flow has conditional logic tied to shipping address types and payment methods.
Intent: Identify potential edge cases that developers need to handle clearly during implementation.
Response Format: List edge case scenarios by screen/component and provide suggested UI behaviour for each.
Clarify if the UI accommodates international or PO box addresses. If not, note that as a missing case.
Suggest one additional fail-safe flow worth prototyping.
Prompt Template 3: “Write Figma Notes for Dev Handoff Readiness”
Write Figma Notes for Dev Handoff Readiness
Context: You are wrapping design work on a new SaaS dashboard component.
Specific Info: The design contains interactive tabs, graphs, and a setting modal.
Intent: Generate accurate, developer-facing Figma annotations based on file content and logic assumptions.
Response Format: Output Figma-ready comments for key layers/components, structured by functionality and states.
Ask if any components rely on real-time data API thresholds (e.g. refresh rate, empty states), and document that explicitly.
Prompt Template 4: “Generate QA Criteria from UX Specs”
Generate QA Criteria from UX Specs
Context: You’re preparing design QA kickoff handoff for a mobile product update.
Specific Info: Screens include onboarding animations, location permissions, and offline error modals.
Intent: Turn UX deliverables into clear, testable checkpoints for dev QA or acceptance review.
Response Format: Provide test scenarios grouped by feature, including what to validate, what to ignore, and expected states.
Query whether offline access includes cached content or just error messaging.
Prompt Template 5: “Flag Accessibility Must-Haves for Implementation”
Flag Accessibility Must-Haves for Implementation
Context: You’re reviewing components for accessibility compliance pre-handoff.
Specific Info: Components include buttons, custom sliders, pagination, and modal windows.
Intent: Identify accessibility blockers or missing annotations that should be documented for dev.
Response Format: List components with required attributes (roles, focus states, alt text) or patterns per WCAG 2.1 AA.
If cutoff text or tooltips exist, recommend accessible strategies accordingly.
Prompt Template 6: “Check Design Tokens Applied Correctly”
Check Design Tokens Applied Correctly
Context: You are doing a design system audit prior to handoff.
Specific Info: Visual attributes include multiple levels of spacing, type styles and elevation.
Intent: Validate whether tokens from the design system are consistently applied and export-ready.
Response Format: Create a checklist for spacing, colour, typography, and components using token naming output.
Ask if any tokens override system defaults or require exceptions explained for dev handoff.
Prompt Template 7: “Distill Interaction Logic from Prototypes”
Distill Interaction Logic from Prototypes
Context: You're finalising high-fidelity prototypes with custom navigation and hover states.
Specific Info: Desktop-first with nested hover menus and chained animations.
Intent: Summarise the interaction logic explicitly for development implementation.
Response Format: List interactions screen-by-screen, including input triggers, transition rules, and fallback states.
Ask if animation frame speed or easing values are available for dev transfer.
Prompt Template 8: “Suggest Dev-Ready Content Behaviour Rules”
Suggest Dev-Ready Content Behaviour Rules
Context: You’re handing off a content-rich blog listing module with metadata.
Specific Info: Includes dynamic headline lengths, author avatars, multiple tags, and unformatted posts.
Intent: Define how the UI should behave with missing or edge-case content types.
Response Format: Output rules by field (e.g. if avatar null – use initials; if tag count >3 – truncate list).
Highlight any localisation conflicts if different locales affect truncation logic.
Prompt Template 9: “Prepare a Cross-Browser QA Preview List”
Prepare a Cross-Browser QA Preview List
Context: You’re delivering final design assets for a finance web app MVP.
Specific Info: Responsive from 320px to 1440px with interactive data tables.
Intent: Create a QA-ready preview checklist of views and elements to test across browsers/devices.
Response Format: Output platform-specific test list including states or views likely to vary between browsers.
If any browser-specific styling risks exist (e.g. Safari flex bugs), highlight them for dev awareness.
Prompt Template 10: “Create a Final Dev Review Checklist for Sprint Planning”
Create a Final Dev Review Checklist for Sprint Planning
Context: You're preparing UX files for estimation and build in Sprint 6.
Specific Info: The designs include updates to notification logic, modal timings, and toast messages.
Intent: Generate a checklist designers and devs can co-review before committing anything to code.
Response Format: List validation items categorised by design fidelity, front-end logic, and microcopy completeness.
Ask whether backend dependencies (e.g. push token expiry) should be flagged for backlog tickets.
Recommended Tools
- Figma + Tokens Studio for managed design tokens
- Zeplin or Storybook for shareable component documentation
- Loom for async walkthroughs of interaction logic
- Contrast Checker for accessible colour validation
- ChatGPT for prompt-based documentation templates
