Prototyping

This guide explains how to create prototypes using the GOV.UK Design System and GOV.UK Prototype Kit.

Before you start

To make prototypes you will need to install version 7 or later of the GOV.UK Prototype Kit which has been built to work with the Design System.

Version 7 of the Prototype Kit works in the same way as previous versions except that it uses a new frontend framework called GOV.UK Frontend.

This means that any code that you copy across from old prototypes will not display correctly. Instead, you should use the code provided in the Design System.

Styling page elements

The Design System provides lots of new CSS classes for styling page elements, so you should not need to write as much of your own Sass or CSS.

Explore the Styles section of the Design System to see what classes are available and how to apply them.

Using components

Components are reusable parts of the user interface, like buttons, text inputs and checkboxes. The components in the Design System are designed to be accessible and responsive.

There are 2 ways to use components in the Design System. You can either use HTML or a Nunjucks macro.

You can copy the code from the HTML or Nunjucks tabs below any examples:

Open this example in a new tab: button
HTML
<button type="submit" class="govuk-button" data-module="govuk-button">
  Save and continue
</button>
Nunjucks
Nunjucks macro options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as “Required” in the option description. Deprecated options are marked as “Deprecated”.

If you’re using Nunjucks macros in production with “html” options, or ones ending with “html”, you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Primary options
Name Type Description
text string Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text for the button. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
html string Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML for the button. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
type string Type of the button, determining its behaviour in forms – "button", "submit" or "reset". Defaults to "submit". This has no effect if href is set.
name string Name of the button, sent when a form is submitted. This has no effect if href is set.
value string Value of the button, sent when a form is submitted. This has no effect if href is set.
disabled boolean Whether the button should be disabled. disabled and aria-disabled attributes will be set automatically. This has no effect if href is set.
href string The URL that the button should link to.
classes string Classes to add to the button.
attributes object HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the button.
preventDoubleClick boolean Prevent accidental double clicks on submit buttons from submitting forms multiple times. This has no effect if href is set.
isStartButton boolean Use for the main call to action on your service’s start page.
id string The ID of the button. 
{% from "govuk/components/button/macro.njk" import govukButton %}

{{ govukButton({
  text: "Save and continue"
}) }}

Using Nunjucks macros

A Nunjucks macro is a simple template that generates more complex HTML. However, macros are more sensitive to mistakes than HTML, so it’s worth saving and previewing.

When using Nunjucks macros in the Prototype Kit leave out the first line that starts with {% from ....

Need help?

If you’ve got a question about the GOV.UK Design System, contact the team.