The Art of the Handoff: Responsive Specification

Engineering Trust

Providing developer handoff that respects technical constraints and browser logic.

Visual Integrity

Eliminated the drift between Figma and Production, ensuring the live product matches the approved vision down to the pixel.

Asynchronous Scale

Established a self-documenting standard that allows developers to build autonomously most of the time.

Closing the gap between "Design" and "Production" with self-documenting specifications, responsive logic maps, and developer-first communication.

SCOPE

Responsive Logic
Breakpoint Definition
Developer Handoff

TOOLS

Figma (Dev Mode)
Loom
Confluence

ROLE

Technical Designer & QA

OUTCOME

Zero-Ambiguity Builds

THE PROBLEM

Incomplete Specifications

Previous handoffs often provide only the "perfect" desktop view. This leaves engineers guessing about mobile behaviour, edge cases, and overflow logic, resulting in unnecessary technical debt and frustration.

THE TASK

Defining the Behaviour

My goal was to remove guesswork. I needed to create self-documenting logic maps within the developer-ready files, defining responsive rules for every viewport from 1920px down to 375px.

The challenge

Complex Data Adaptation

Adapting complex grids like the Pricing Matrix for mobile isn't just about stacking boxes. It requires strict logic—hiding columns, transforming tables into cards, and scaling typography—which had to be explicitly documented.

CASE A

The "Impossible" Table

The Employment Hero Pricing Matrix was the ultimate stress test for responsive handoff. A 100-row table simply doesn't fit on mobile.Instead of just designing the "Before" and "After," I embedded the Transformation Logic:

DEFINED BREAKPOINTS

Clearly marked at what pixel width (e.g., 768px) the layout switches.

INTERACTION SPECS

Annotated exactly how the Sticky Dropdown should behave (e.g., "Fixed position at top: 0px")

VISIBILITY RULES

Explicitly marked which columns display (and do not display) on mobile

CASE b

The Fluid Grid

For the EmploymentOS Website Overhaul, I needed to ensure the modular content blocks looked great on any screen, not just specific breakpoints.

Fill vs. Fixed

Specified which elements should stretch to fill the container and which should remain fixed width.

STACKING ORDER

Defined how horizontal rows should stack vertically on mobile.

HIDDEN ELEMENTS

Explicitly marked decorative elements (background blobs, complex interactions) that should be hidden on mobile to improve performance and readability.

Self-Documenting Workflows

The best documentation lives where the work is. I added annotation components to make the Figma canvas self-documenting.