Multi-brand design systems in Figma - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a product designer at a company managing multiple brands.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a report showing how design components are reused across different brands to improve efficiency and consistency.

📊 Data: You have data on design components used in each brand, including component name, brand name, usage count, and last update date.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard that shows component reuse by brand, highlights the most reused components, and tracks update frequency.

Sample Data

Component Name	Brand	Usage Count	Last Update
Button Primary	Brand A	120	2024-05-10
Button Primary	Brand B	95	2024-04-22
Card Layout	Brand A	80	2024-03-15
Card Layout	Brand C	60	2024-05-01
Icon Set	Brand B	150	2024-05-05
Icon Set	Brand C	130	2024-04-28
Typography Heading	Brand A	200	2024-05-12
Typography Heading	Brand B	180	2024-05-08
Typography Heading	Brand C	170	2024-05-09

1

Step 1: Import the design components data into your BI tool.

Load the table with columns: Component Name, Brand, Usage Count, Last Update.

Expected Result

Data table with 9 rows loaded correctly.

2

Step 2: Create a pivot table to summarize total usage count by Component Name and Brand.

Rows = Component Name; Columns = Brand; Values = SUM of Usage Count.

Expected Result

Pivot table showing usage counts per component per brand.

3

Step 3: Add a calculated measure to find total usage count per component across all brands.

Total Usage = SUM(Usage Count) grouped by Component Name.

Expected Result

New column showing total usage per component.

4

Step 4: Create a bar chart showing total usage count per component, sorted descending.

X-axis = Component Name; Y-axis = Total Usage; Sort by Total Usage descending.

Expected Result

Bar chart highlighting most reused components.

5

Step 5: Create a table showing the latest update date per component and brand.

Use MAX aggregation on Last Update grouped by Component Name and Brand.

Expected Result

Table showing most recent update dates for each component in each brand.

6

Step 6: Build a dashboard combining the pivot table, bar chart, and update date table.

Arrange visuals with clear titles and legends; ensure color contrast and accessibility.

Expected Result

Dashboard showing component reuse and update frequency across brands.

Final Result

Typography Heading

↓

Icon Set

↓

Button Primary

↓

Card Layout

Bonus Challenge

Add a trend analysis showing how usage counts for each component have changed over the last 6 months.

Show Hint

Use time series data with monthly usage counts and create line charts per component.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of a multi-brand design system in Figma?

easy

A. To create only one brand design without variations

B. To avoid using components and design everything from scratch

C. To store unrelated design files separately

D. To manage multiple brands using shared components and styles in one place

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand multi-brand design system purpose

   It is designed to handle multiple brands efficiently by sharing components and styles.

2. Step 2: Compare options with this purpose

   Only To manage multiple brands using shared components and styles in one place describes managing multiple brands with shared components and styles.

3. Final Answer:

   To manage multiple brands using shared components and styles in one place -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Multi-brand design system = Manage multiple brands [OK]

Hint: Think: one system, many brands, shared parts [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing single-brand with multi-brand systems
• Ignoring shared components concept
• Thinking design files must be separate

2. Which syntax correctly defines a component variant for different brands in Figma?

easy

A. Component { variant: 'brandA' }

B. Component { variants: ['brandA', 'brandB'] }

C. Component.variant('brandA')

D. Component.variant = 'brandA'

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall Figma variant syntax

   Variants are defined as a list inside the component, e.g., variants: ['brandA', 'brandB'].

2. Step 2: Check options for correct syntax

   Only Component { variants: ['brandA', 'brandB'] } correctly shows variants as a list inside the component definition.

3. Final Answer:

   Component { variants: ['brandA', 'brandB'] } -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Variants list syntax = Component { variants: ['brandA', 'brandB'] } [OK]

Hint: Variants are arrays inside component braces [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using dot notation incorrectly
• Assigning variant as a single string
• Calling variant like a function

3. Given a multi-brand design system with shared button components having variants 'brandA' and 'brandB', what happens if you change the primary color in the shared style?

medium

A. The primary color updates for all brands using that shared style

B. Only brandA buttons update, brandB stays the same

C. No buttons update until you manually change each variant

D. The shared style breaks and components lose color

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand shared styles in multi-brand systems

   Shared styles apply changes globally to all components using them.

2. Step 2: Apply this to button variants

   Changing the primary color in the shared style updates all variants using that style.

3. Final Answer:

   The primary color updates for all brands using that shared style -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Shared style change = global update [OK]

Hint: Shared styles update all linked variants automatically [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking variants are independent of shared styles
• Assuming manual update needed per variant
• Believing style changes break components

4. You notice that after adding a new brand variant to a button component, the variant does not appear in the component dropdown. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. The new variant was not properly added to the component set

B. The component set was deleted accidentally

C. The Figma file is corrupted and needs repair

D. Variants only show after restarting Figma

Solution

1. Step 1: Check how variants appear in Figma

   Variants must be added inside the component set to appear in dropdown.

2. Step 2: Identify common mistakes

   If variant is missing, it usually means it was not added correctly to the set.

3. Final Answer:

   The new variant was not properly added to the component set -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Missing variant = not added to set [OK]

Hint: Add variants inside component set to see them [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming file corruption without checking variant setup
• Restarting Figma unnecessarily
• Deleting component sets accidentally

5. You want to create a multi-brand design system that supports three brands with unique color palettes but shared button shapes and sizes. What is the best approach to organize your Figma components and styles?

hard

A. Use only one brand's colors and ignore others to simplify design

B. Create separate button components for each brand with duplicated shapes and sizes

C. Create one button component with color variants for each brand and shared shape and size styles

D. Create button components without variants and manually change colors each time

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify shared and unique elements

   Button shapes and sizes are shared; colors differ by brand.

2. Step 2: Use variants for brand colors

   Create one button component with color variants for each brand to avoid duplication.

3. Step 3: Apply shared styles for shape and size

   Use shared styles for shape and size to keep consistency and easy updates.

4. Final Answer:

   Create one button component with color variants for each brand and shared shape and size styles -> Option C

5. Quick Check:

   Variants for colors + shared styles for shape = Create one button component with color variants for each brand and shared shape and size styles [OK]

Hint: Use variants for colors, shared styles for shape and size [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Duplicating components for each brand causing maintenance issues
• Ignoring variants and manual color changes
• Mixing unrelated styles causing confusion