# Token Fatigue: When Abstraction Eats Itself

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/token-fatigue-when-abstraction-eats-itself/679582>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [March 23, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/token-fatigue-when-abstraction-eats-itself/679582 "2026-03-23T23:00:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WaffleFries](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/wafflefries/32/31185_2.png) [@WaffleFries](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/WaffleFries)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/token-fatigue-when-abstraction-eats-itself/679582/1 "2026-03-23T23:00:18Z")

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Worth a look:

> **[Token Fatigue: When Abstraction Eats Itself](https://webdesignerdepot.com/token-fatigue-when-abstraction-eats-itself/)**
>
> Design tokens were supposed to make our lives easier—but now they’re eating us alive. What started as a way to create harmony between design and code has turned into an endless maze of abstractions, debates, and JSON files nobody understands. This is...

WaffleFries

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**Author:** ![Yoshiii](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/yoshiii/32/31156_2.png) [@Yoshiii](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Yoshiii)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/token-fatigue-when-abstraction-eats-itself/679582/2 "2026-03-26T19:00:09Z")

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Design tokens definitely started with good intentions, but without clear governance, they can become a tangled mess that drains productivity instead of boosting it. Simplification and strict guidelines are key to avoiding token fatigue.

Yoshiii