# A Practical Guide to Structuring Naming Conventions in Modern Product Design Systems

Clear taxonomies for tokens, components, and features bridge communication gaps across digital teams.

- **Source:** [Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers](https://brifing.si/source/e66a90c0-835e-4d99-8b50-d2215183ea28)
- **Published:** 2026-10-06
- **Topic:** [Design & UX](https://brifing.si/c/design)
- **Original article:** <https://smashingmagazine.com/2026/10/how-name-things/>
- **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/15917e47-4c95-412f-a692-da1ed37b1424

## The Real Cost of Misalignment

Cross-functional teams constantly lose momentum when designers, engineers, and product managers use divergent dialects for identical elements. Generic names obscure functional intent, while overly rigid labels prevent scalable reuse. Establishing a disciplined, shared vocabulary prevents communication breakdowns, streamlining workflows and simplifying onboarding across enterprise ecosystems without unnecessary cognitive overhead.

## Standardizing Code and Semantic Tokens

Structuring HTML classes, CSS properties, and functions requires descriptive language that scales cleanly across large codebases. Leveraging curated word taxonomies helps teams classify element behavior, groupings, and states methodically. Drawing terminology from external disciplines introduces fresh precision, making classes readable and systematically maintainable across complex multi-framework environments.

## Handling Colors and Layer Hierarchy

Color naming benefits from dedicated global registries like David Aerne's database of over 30,000 unique labels. Meanwhile, layer and group architecture in design files requires consistent structural logic. Following Javier Cuello's best practices, names must remain concise, meaningful, universally understood, and strictly independent of temporary visual attributes.

## Multi-Brand Design Token Architecture

Managing design tokens across multiple distinct brands poses major architectural challenges. Intuit solved this by constructing a flexible taxonomy spanning Mailchimp, QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Mint. Their framework decouples fundamental brand styling from foundational system tokens, enabling multi-product codebases to scale seamlessly without incurring crippling technical debt.

## Variables Taxonomy and Collections

Vodafone UK's design system team provides a masterclass in token organization through their Variables Taxonomy Map. Extending Nathan Curtis' foundational research, the model organizes design variables across four distinct tiers: brand, primitives, semantics, and pages. This explicit hierarchy allows engineers to immediately decipher exact token context and intent.

## UI Component Research and Inventories

System architects should catalog existing industry patterns rather than inventing arbitrary component labels. Resources like Iain Bean's Component Gallery document naming variations across fifty standard UI components. Complementing these with tools like Romina Kavcic's four-level token inventory enables teams to systematically map components, categories, states, and roles.

## Aligning Feature Names with Users

Poor user adoption frequently stems from naming features around internal mechanics rather than user problems. Erin Gannon's framework stresses that feature names must communicate clear value and match actual customer vocabulary. Asking users to describe tasks in their own words ensures naming aligns with intuitive product discovery workflows.

## Maintaining Long-Term Vocabulary Governance

Effective naming conventions require continuous cross-disciplinary alignment and active governance across design, engineering, and product organizations. Unresolved semantic ambiguities should be tracked in a backlog rather than ignored. Treating vocabulary as core product infrastructure removes cognitive friction and delivers cohesive digital user experiences across all platforms.

## Sources covering this story

- https://smashingmagazine.com/2026/10/how-name-things/ — 

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_Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._