DOOR3’s Workshop on Mastering Design Tokens: NYC Recap

DOOR3’s Workshop on Mastering Design Tokens: NYC Recap

On September 5th, DOOR3’s hosted a highly anticipated design system tokenization workshop in New York, drawing in UX professionals eager to deepen their knowledge of token systems. Led by industry experts Jon Allen and Tom McClean, the event provided a comprehensive dive into the world of design tokens, offering hands-on experience and insights into the best practices for using design tokens to build a design-to-development pipeline. With participants ranging in experience and background, the workshop fostered an environment of collaboration and learning.

Demystifying Design Tokens

Design system tokenization is a rapidly growing area within UX design, and for good reason. It enables teams to create a bridge between design and development, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and scalability across platforms. The workshop aimed to demystify this concept, breaking it down into manageable, practical steps that designers could implement in their own workflows.

Throughout the day, Jon and Tom guided participants through the fundamentals of token systems, covering everything from the basic setup to advanced naming conventions and organizational strategies. One of the core themes of the workshop was how design tokens serve as the building blocks for scalable design systems, allowing for seamless updates and ensuring brand consistency across platforms.

Tom McClean, UX Lead at DOOR3, shared his insights:

"We've made every possible mistake, and that’s what this workshop is about—helping you avoid those pitfalls. Design tokens are more than just tools; they’re the backbone of a scalable, consistent design language."

Tools and Techniques Explored

The workshop covered several critical tools for token management, with particular emphasis on Tokens Studio and Figma Variables, two of the most popular tools in the industry today. Both tools help streamline the design-to-development workflow, making it easier to sync design tokens between platforms and reducing the friction of maintaining a large-scale design system.

Participants learned how to synchronize tokens between Figma and GitHub, transforming tokens into platform-specific formats. This practical instruction was a key highlight, as attendees could follow step-by-step processes to create synchronized token pipelines, ensuring that their design systems remained up-to-date and adaptable across various platforms.

Jon Allen, Senior UX Designer at DOOR3, explained the significance of this process:

"Tokenization isn’t just about design—it's a bridge between design, development, and product teams that helps generate operational efficiency. A well-built token system reduces the time and investment needed to stand up a design system and keeps it scalable and sustainable."

Hands-On Learning

A major strength of the workshop was its hands-on approach. After diving into the theoretical aspects, participants engaged in exercises designed to solidify their understanding of token systems. They were encouraged to bring in real-world problems from their own organizations and, with guidance from Jon and Tom, worked through how to apply tokenization strategies to solve those challenges.

Jess Minzer, UX designer at Trillion Creative, summed up the experience: “The workshop was great! A bit mind-bending, but I know a lot more about tokens than I did before.” Her sentiment echoed throughout the room as participants left with not just theoretical knowledge but practical skills they could take back to their own teams.

What’s Next?

For those who couldn’t make the New York event, DOOR3 has more workshops lined up. On November 7th in Barcelona, they’ll be hosting a one-day tokenization workshop, where Jon and Tom will once again lead participants through the process of mastering design tokens. The Barcelona event promises to cover much of the same material while also diving into new case studies and insights tailored to a European audience.

This ongoing series of workshops is part of DOOR3’s broader mission to empower design professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to build sustainable, scalable design systems. Whether you’re just getting started with design tokens or looking to refine an existing system, these workshops offer invaluable guidance.

Upcoming Events:

Design System Tokenization Workshop

• Location: Barcelona
• Date: November 7th
• Duration: 1-day workshop Enroll today to reserve your spot and take the next step in mastering design tokens!

DOOR3’s design system tokenization workshop in New York was a resounding success, offering participants both a theoretical framework and practical skills for tokenizing their design systems. The positive feedback from attendees highlights the value of this educational experience. If you missed this one, don’t worry—Barcelona is just around the corner and we’ll be returning to NYC this winter.

Stay tuned for more opportunities to learn from industry leaders and revolutionize your design practices. Don’t forget to check out our ongoing series to get started building your own design-to-development pipeline.