Component Variants and Instances in UX/UI Design: A Guide

When you are designing in Figma, understanding the difference between component variants and instances is crucial. Components are essential in UX/UI design, helping to maintain consistency and efficiency. Two key tools are component variants and component instances, each serving a distinct purpose in a design system.

Knowing when to use them can improve your workflow and make design adjustments faster and easier. In this article, we’ll explain what variants and instances are. We will also highlight their benefits and help you decide which to use in different scenarios.

What Are Component Variants?

Component variants are a set of related components that share the same base structure. They differ by specific attributes, such as size, color, or state. Instead of creating separate components for each variation, you can define a single component with multiple variants. This approach simplifies the design process. Especially when managing different states like hover, active, or disabled.

In Figma, you can group variants within a single component set. This allows you to manage different styles or states—such as default, hover, or active—in one place. This also makes it easier to switch between variations without the need for separate components.

Key Benefits of Using Variants

Flexibility: Variants let you handle various states and styles within a single component. This enables faster updates and better control.
Consistency: They help maintain design uniformity by centralizing properties like color and size.
Efficiency: With all variations in one place, you can apply rules for usage quickly. This streamlines your workflow and reduces errors.
Streamlined organization: Variants keep component libraries organized. They also merge multiple states into one component for easier management.

Component variants

What Are Component Instances?

Instances are copies of a master component. They remain linked to the original, allowing global updates across your design system. When you make changes to the master component, all instances receive those updates. That way you’re ensuring consistency throughout your project. While instances can be somewhat customized, they keep their connection to the master. This makes it easier to maintain uniformity across multiple designs.

Instances are especially useful in Figma. You can use them to repeat elements that need to stay consistent with the master component, such as buttons, icons, or illustrations.

Key Benefits of Using Instances

Consistency and control: Since the master component ties instances together, any updates to the original automatically reflect in all instances. This ensures a uniform design.
Scalability: Instances allow you to reuse components across large designs without the need to recreate them. This makes it easier to scale complex projects.
Customization flexibility: Instances inherit properties from the master component. You can override aspects like text or color without breaking the link. This gives you control while keeping things consistent.
Quick switching: Tools like the swap panel let designers easily switch between instances. This streamlines workflows for icons and illustrations.
Organized workflow: Grouping instances into folders or sets. This helps keep large design systems structured and easy to manage.

Component instances

Choosing Between Variants and Instances

Deciding between variants and instances depends on the design requirements. Each component offers distinct advantages, and knowing when to use them can streamline your design process.

Use Instances When:

You’re repeating elements: Instances are perfect for components that need to appear consistently across a design. This includes elements such as logos, buttons, or icons.
You expect frequent updates: any changes to the master component will automatically propagate to all instances. This ensures quick updates across your design system.
You need some customization: instances allow for minor overrides. A good example is changing text or colors—while maintaining the connection to the master component.

Benefits of using instances

Use Variants When:

You have multiple states or styles: variants are ideal for elements with different states. This includes buttons that shift between hover, active, or disabled.
You need to test different versions: variants let you quickly toggle between different styles or states. All without duplicating components.
You want simplified management: keeping all states in one component set streamlines and organizes your design workflow.

Benefits of using variants

Often, using both variants and instances together creates a flexible, scalable design system. Knowing when to apply each can improve your design management and workflow.

Integrating Component Variants and Instances in Your Workflow

When you use variants and instances together, you can achieve significant optimization in your design process. First, define your primary components as variants. Do this if they involve multiple states or styles. Once you set the variants, create instances of these components wherever you need them across your design. This approach keeps all versions centralized. It allows for some customization where needed.

For example, if you’re working on a button set, first create a button component with variants for each state (default, hover, active, disabled). Then, use instances of this button component throughout your interface, adjusting text or icons as needed. If you need to change the button’s design later, update the variant. All instances will then reflect the new changes.

How to choose between variants and instances

Conclusion

Both component variants and instances are essential tools in UX/UI design, each with its own strengths. Variants offer flexibility and control when managing states and styles, while instances provide efficiency and consistency when working with linked components. By mastering both, you can create a more organized and efficient design process, making it easier to manage complex projects.

To further enhance your Figma skills, check out Supercharge Design’s Advanced Figma Video Course. This course dives deeper into the world of design systems, component management, and more, providing you with all the insights you need to become a Figma pro.

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