Designers guide

In progress

HUDS design team uses Sketch for designing assets, Invision to sharing prototypes and Abstract for version control. This guide provides some general principles for designers.

# Documentation

Prototypes and designs are shared via Helsinki University Wiki (opens new window)

# Contributing

You need access to all these tools and respective accounts mentioned above. Contact lead designer Mikko Prami for access and more information.

# Should I design a new component?

The design system is still under heavy development, so following guidelines should be interpreted loosely:

If you think you need a new component, that does not yet exist in HUDS. If there's something similar, you might want to use that.

If you need something that's not in HUDS, but is unlikely to be needed outside of your specific domain, you should just make something custom without it needing to be a part of HUDS.

If you have a specific customisation need for existing component, discuss it with both design and tech teams and request for update in both sketch symbols and the code. Make sure you follow the process to the end, so the assets are kept in sync with code components.

As the design system gets more stabile and complete, the amount of custom components should go down.

# Version control

All component assets live inside a single Sketch file that's version controlled using Abstract. Abstract allows the design team to reliably communicate about the changes, collaborate safely with the possibility to track changes and go back in history. Also other design files, such as layouts, mockups, prototypes live inside Abstract as individual projects.