Converting designs from Figma to HTML is an essential skill for modern web designers and developers. However, it’s not uncommon to run into issues that compromise the quality of the final product. Mistakes during the conversion process can lead to inconsistencies, poor performance, or even broken designs. In this article, we’ll explore 7 common mistakes made when converting Figma to HTML and provide actionable tips to avoid them.

1. Ignoring Mobile-First Design

The Mistake: Starting the design process with desktop layouts and retrofitting them for smaller screens.

How to Avoid It: Begin your designs with mobile breakpoints (e.g., 320px or 375px) and scale up to tablet and desktop.Use Figma’s constraints and auto-layout to adapt designs easily. Mobile-first design ensures that your content is optimized for the majority of users who access websites on mobile devices. It also simplifies scaling designs for larger screens later.

Additional Resource: Learn about mobile-first design principles.

2. Overlooking Breakpoints

The Mistake: Failing to define and plan for breakpoints, resulting in designs that don’t adapt well to different screen sizes.

How to Avoid It: Identify key breakpoints (e.g., 320px for mobile, 768px for tablets, and 1024px for desktops). Use grids and spacing rules in Figma to design for these breakpoints.Test your designs with Figma's prototype mode to preview how they look across different devices.

Pro Tip: Breakpoints should correspond to your audience's most common devices. Use analytics tools like Google Analytics to determine which devices your users favor.

Tool Suggestion: Publish Ninja simplifies Figma to responsive HTML workflows. Learn more here.

3. Not Optimizing Assets

The Mistake: Exporting oversized images and unoptimized assets, which negatively impact website performance.

How to Avoid It: Use Figma’s export settings to generate assets in appropriate formats (e.g., PNG for images with transparency, SVG for icons). Compress images with tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim before adding them to your project. Optimize file names with descriptive, SEO-friendly titles (e.g., "homepage-hero-image.png").

Pro Tip: Always export images at multiple resolutions (1x, 2x, 3x) to ensure they look sharp on retina and standard screens. For SVGs, ensure paths and shapes are clean to avoid unnecessary bloat.

Why This Matters: Optimized assets improve page loading speeds, which positively impact user experience and SEO rankings.

4. Using Fixed Widths Instead of Fluid Layouts

The Mistake: Designing with fixed pixel dimensions, resulting in layouts that don’t scale properly across devices.

How to Avoid It: Use percentage-based widths and CSS properties like max-width and min-width for flexibility. Leverage Figma’s auto-layout feature to create fluid, scalable designs.

Best Practice: Combine Figma's "hug content" auto-layout setting with flexible grids to make design elements adapt naturally to different screen sizes.

5. Forgetting Accessibility Standards

The Mistake: Ignoring accessibility features like color contrast, semantic HTML, and keyboard navigation.

How to Avoid It: Use tools like Contrast Checker to ensure sufficient color contrast. Structure your HTML using proper semantics (e.g., <header>, <main>, <footer>). Test your design for screen reader compatibility. Ensure font sizes are legible across devices, and interactive elements have clear focus states.

External Resource: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Why This Matters: Accessible designs ensure inclusivity and improve usability for all users, regardless of their abilities.

6. Overloading the Codebase with Unnecessary Styles

The Mistake: Converting every single design detail into CSS, leading to bloated stylesheets.

How to Avoid It: Focus on reusable components and global styles (e.g., for buttons, typography, colors). Use CSS frameworks like TailwindCSS or Bootstrap for consistency and efficiency. Regularly audit your CSS to eliminate unused styles.

Pro Tip: Simplify animations and transitions. Excessive animations can impact performance, especially on mobile devices.

Internal Resource: Our guide on Figma to HTML best practices.

7. Failing to Test Across Devices and Browsers

The Mistake: Assuming your HTML will work perfectly without testing it on real devices or different browsers.

How to Avoid It: Use browser developer tools to simulate various screen sizes. Test on actual devices whenever possible. Leverage cross-browser testing tools like BrowserStack or Sauce Labs. Validate your code using W3C's HTML and CSS validation tools.

Best Practice: Include performance testing with tools like Lighthouse to measure page speed, accessibility, and SEO scores.

Why This Matters: Comprehensive testing ensures your design looks and performs consistently, regardless of the user's device or browser.

Bonus Tip: Collaborate with Developers Early

Why This Helps: Collaborating with developers during the design phase can help identify potential issues early and streamline the handoff process.

• Best Practices for Collaboration:

  • Share Figma prototypes with detailed notes on interactions, responsiveness, and design intent.

  • Use version control tools like GitHub to align design changes with code updates.

  • Schedule regular check-ins to address challenges collaboratively.

Conclusion

Avoiding these 7 common mistakes when converting Figma to HTML can drastically improve your workflow and the quality of your final product. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced designer, tools like Publish Ninja can make the process seamless and efficient.

Ready to simplify your Figma to HTML workflow? Check out Publish Ninja today and start building responsive, accessible, and high-performance websites effortlessly.

For further reading, explore our best practices guide and top tools for Figma to HTML.