From Atom to Products – Developing Design Systems in Figma

Non-Degree / Dates: 20 – 31 July 2026

This two-week practical course introduces participants to industry-standard practices for building and maintaining design systems using Figma, AI tools, and AI Agents. Through lectures, hands-on exercises, and collaborative group work, students will learn how to develop, audit, and communicate scalable component libraries that drive efficiency and consistency in digital product design.

The curriculum is divided into two focused phases: building the foundation and mastering application. In the first week, you will explore Atomic Design and Design Tokens, moving from basic styles to complex, responsive components with Figma’s advanced features like Auto Layout and Variants. As you progress into the second week, the focus shifts to professional documentation, accessibility (WCAG) compliance, and system scaling. A unique highlight of this course is the integration of AI-driven workflows, where you will create custom AI Agents to automate auditing, generate documentation, and streamline the maintenance of your design ecosystem.

Why this course?

Learn in Estonia – The ‘startup’ country of Europe and get the most up-to-date design skills required in the industry.
Go beyond Figma basics by integrating AI Agents to automate documentation, accessibility audits, and component management.
Learn to build, document, and communicate complex Atomic Design libraries, preparing you for leadership roles in modern product teams.

Teachers

Yan Asadchy, MSc, Junior Research Fellow at Tallinn University, is an interdisciplinary researcher and a Ph.D. student at CUDAN Open Lab, Tallinn University. He works at the intersection of computer science and humanities and uses computational methods to examine digital culture and self-representation on social media. He is a member of MIT’s Connection Science group and the DTx Research Group at Oulu University. Yan founded Affinity OÜ, a design agency that provides ethical design consultancy and solutions to startups and research groups in digital health, wellbeing, and AI. Yan has a background in UX/UI design and earned his MSc in Human-Computer Interaction from Tallinn University.

Triin Oper is a UX lead in Tallinn Strategic Management Office. She’s been leading the development and implementation of the Tallinn Design System to help product and service owners in Tallinn ensure their digital touchpoints are easy to use and serve their purpose. Triin has a background in sociology and an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction, enabling her to understand user behavior in different digital realms.

Timetable

The classes will take place from Monday to Friday each week. The lectures are planned 10:00 – 13:00 daily. Students will have individual tasks and collaborative work in groups. The example detailed timetable is available here.

Participants

Design students, developers, product managers, or anyone interested in interaction design and systems thinking. A basic understanding of Figma is expected.