03 —Flipping the order
Build in code first. Figma becomes a view, not the source.
The proposal
Flip the order. Instead of designing a library in Figma and handing it to engineers to rebuild, build the component library directly in code — starting from proven, ready-made building blocks (with accessibility already handled), shaped to Pix4D’s design and code standards — and let Figma become a view of it, not the source. The same thing Pix4D asked for. Just built in a different place.
Three reasons to flip the order
A library in code is both the deliverable and the finished build.
Build the component library straight in code and the handoff disappears: what Pix4D reviews is what Pix4D launches. No write-up, no rebuild, no second copy.
What this means for Pix4D
The brief asks for a library so engineers can build it. A library that is already built answers the brief, and goes one step further.
Deliver the redesign as working components — design settings, the basic building blocks and full page sections — inside Pix4D's own codebase, following its setup and conventions, so the front-end team owns every line from day one.
One official version means nothing falls out of sync.
The two versions slowly fall out of sync because each tool holds its own copy. With code as the single starting point, there is no second copy to drift from.
What this means for Pix4D
Figma doesn't disappear — it becomes an automatic copy that stays in sync with the code, used for exploring ideas and talking with stakeholders.
Code is the starting point; Figma is generated from it. Changes flow one way, so the two can't disagree for long.
A system in code keeps serving the team — with whatever tools come next.
Systems built in code can be tested, documented, and partly automated. Tools — AI included — can work on them safely, because the shared design settings and clear component definitions limit what any tool can produce.
What this means for Pix4D
Shared design settings and clear component definitions aren't just good engineering — they're the safe limits that make any tool's output safe to use, now and later.
Set the system up so designers and engineers work in the same place. What that's really for — the goal behind the whole proposal — is phase 05.
Next
Flipping the order doesn’t mean ignoring what’s already there. The next phase looks at the current pix4d.com — the products, industries, and limits the redesign has to respect.