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Tokenpedia Defining terms for design tokens

Value

The raw data assigned to a token. A value is the final output applied to a presentational property of an element in the interface.

#F44336
24pt
16px
0.5rem

Values can be assigned directly to an element’s properties (hard-coded), or indirectly through a token.

A value written directly into an interface without the use of a token is a hard-coded value. While simpler in the short term, hard-coded values make it difficult to update presentations consistently because each instance must be found and changed individually.

/* hard-coded */
button {
    background-color: #F44336;
}

/* using a token */
button {
    background-color: var(--action-primary-bgColor);
}

Warning

Hard-coded values undermine the purpose of a token system. A hard-coded value cannot be updated by changing a token, which means it will not respond to themes, modes, or other token-driven changes. Prefer tokens at every point where a value appears in the interface.