Techlist.io - Korean Tech Blog Curator

figmaApr 20, 20202 min readCurated summary

How Inneract Project empowers brown and black designers | Figma Blog

Inneract Project, founded in 2004 by Maurice Woods, introduces Black and brown students to design as a path for creative expression, community impact, and future careers. Its curriculum evolved from hands-on paper exercises to professional digital design training as students’ interests shifted toward UX/UI. Figma became especially valuable because its browser-based, free-to-start platform removed cost and access barriers while enabling collaboration and continued practice outside the classroom. ## Building a Foundation Through Hands-On Design - Early courses avoided software and hardware, emphasizing critical and creative thinking through paper-based activities. - As students requested more formal training, Inneract developed **Pathway to Design**, a curriculum for students as young as middle school. - The program initially focused on graphic design, then introduced professional software and hardware. - Expensive licenses and limited equipment often meant students had to share computers. ## Finding Figma - As the industry moved toward mobile apps and interfaces, Inneract updated its curriculum to teach UX/UI design. - Figma was free to get started, reducing financial barriers for students and the program. - Its beginner-friendly tools were also relevant to professional design workplaces. - Because Figma runs in a browser, students could access their files from libraries, schools, and other public computers. - Students practiced outside class more easily, accelerating their skills. - Collaborative Figma projects expanded opportunities to work with classmates, volunteers, and community partners. ## Student Growth and Real-World Projects - Inneract offers workshops, multi-day courses, hackathons, company partnerships, and an expanding student community. - Students have pursued design education and careers, including graphic design and design research. - Student projects address practical community needs: - Sierra designed a more usable walker concept for elderly people and created a music-focused mobile app. - Noah developed an ad campaign supporting homeless youth and created a zine about Oakland graffiti and street art. - Leigh created posters and graphics for her high school before studying graphic design. - The projects demonstrate how early design education can build confidence, creativity, and an interest in solving real-world problems. Inneract’s experience shows that accessible tools, combined with early mentorship and community-focused projects, can help underrepresented students envision and pursue careers in design.

Figma Graphic Design Mobile Apps Wireframing+2

figmaApr 19, 20202 min readCurated summary

11 activities in Figma for your classroom | Figma Blog

Figma’s collaborative, browser-based workflow makes it well suited to hands-on design education. This post presents classroom activities that help students learn Figma while practicing visual design, research, geometry, prototyping, and collaboration. The exercises range from beginner icebreakers to intermediate component and illustration projects, with duplicateable files for educators. ## Getting Started with Figma - **Student trading cards** - An introductory activity combining class introductions with basic Figma practice. - Students create social-media-style profiles using Auto Layout and components. - Working in one shared file exposes students to classmates’ processes and styles. - A gallery page can showcase the finished cards. - **Level:** Beginner - **Features:** Auto Layout, Multiplayer Editing - **Make a heart** - Students create and customize a heart using the Pen Tool, Layout Grid, and the Properties panel. - The exercise builds familiarity with foundational drawing and layout tools. - An optional challenge uses Smart Animate to make the heart pulse. - **Level:** Beginner - **Features:** Pen Tool, Properties Panel, Layout Grid ## Exploring Form, Geometry, and Research - **Figma tangrams** - Students use the seven-piece tangram puzzle to explore geometry and form. - Prompts include creating recognizable animals and experimenting with abstract shapes. - A more advanced version asks students to research and build their own reusable puzzle sets. - **Level:** Beginner - **Features:** Components, rotation, alignment - **Design research paper** - Students visualize research findings in a compelling, readable format. - The class builds a collaborative library of articles that peers can read and comment on. - Reviewing the collection encourages discussion about visual hierarchy and communication design. - **Level:** Beginner - **Features:** Layout Grids, Keyboard Shortcuts ## Practicing Components and Collaboration - **Chat windows** - Students design reusable chat components for conversations and visual feedback. - The activity emphasizes customization and creating components useful in future collaborative work. - **Level:** Intermediate - **Feature:** Auto Layout - **Collaborative illustrations with constraints** - Students work together to create a consistent system of illustrations or icons. - Shared constraints—such as a bespoke geometric grid and limited color palette—encourage cohesion and creative problem-solving. - Peer support and critique are central to the exercise. - **Level:** Intermediate Educators can adapt these activities to their students’ experience levels and duplicate the accompanying Figma community files. Together, they provide a practical progression from basic tool literacy to structured collaboration and reusable design systems.

Figma User Interface Collaborative Design Auto Layout+2

figmaApr 16, 20202 min readCurated summary

Figma + Lambda School: Where the remote classroom comes together to learn | Figma Blog

Figma’s collaboration features help Lambda School recreate the engagement and hands-on interaction of an in-person design classroom online. Students learn through shared presentations, live design work, peer feedback, and visible iteration rather than passively watching lectures. Because their work remains organized in Figma, the same files also support portfolio creation and continued peer learning. ## Interactive, Collaborative Lessons - Lambda School is a nine-month, live online program offering training in web development, mobile development, data science, and UX design. - Instructors present lessons in Figma during video conferences, allowing students to: - Zoom into designs and examine details. - Scroll through examples independently. - Use visible cursors to follow specific points in a presentation. - Students create and refine designs directly in shared Figma files. - Everyone can observe work in progress, learn from classmates, provide feedback, and remix existing designs. - This mirrors the collaborative workflows students will encounter on professional design teams. ## Real-Time and Asynchronous Feedback - Students and instructors can comment, tap each other for input, and work together in the same file. - Open audio, browser-based editing, and comments let students collaborate without constantly interrupting one another. - Students can work independently while classmates observe, take notes, or leave comments for later review. - When needed, an instructor or peer can join in and directly adjust pixels alongside the student. - Voting tools, such as stars, also encourage students to recognize and respond to one another’s work. ## A Lasting Record for Portfolios - Figma automatically preserves students’ designs, revisions, and project history. - This makes it easier to assemble a professional portfolio without searching through scattered files. - Students can focus more on interviews and career preparation while still presenting their development process. - Classmates’ work remains accessible after lessons, creating an ongoing resource for inspiration and learning. - The approach supports Lambda School’s broader career mission, which includes coaching, mentors, and connections to hiring partners. Figma’s use at Lambda School demonstrates how collaborative design tools can make remote education interactive, social, and career-oriented. Programs teaching practical creative skills can benefit from combining live instruction with shared workspaces that preserve feedback, iteration, and student progress.

Figma User Experience Collaborative Design Web Development+3

figmaApr 15, 20202 min readCurated summary

Look no further: New ways to search and provide context in Figma | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2020 updates aimed to make collaborative design work easier to discover and understand. Universal Search lets users find projects, teams, people, plugins, and files without relying only on file names. Links in the editor let designers connect pages, frames, and external documents, making files easier to navigate and providing more project context. ## Universal Search - Figma introduced workspace-wide search to address the difficulty of finding work as teams and content grow. - Users can search for: - Files - Projects - Teams - People - Private plugins - Results appear across categories as users type and can be filtered by category. - For users in the Figma Community beta, results also include community files, publishers, and plugins. - The feature builds on Figma’s shift toward organizing work around people, teams, and projects rather than only folders and file names. ## Links for Navigation and Context - Designers can add links to any page or frame within a Figma file. - Internal links can support navigation aids such as: - Clickable tables of contents - Indexes of design explorations - Pointers to the latest designs or early concepts - External links can connect designs to product requirement documents, specifications, user research, personas, and other project resources. - This allows a Figma file to serve as a central source of truth rather than an isolated design artifact. Together, Universal Search and Links make Figma workspaces easier to search and design files easier to navigate. Teams can spend less time locating assets and more time collaborating with the context needed to make informed decisions.

Figma Design Collaboration Plugins Web Applications+1

figmaApr 14, 20202 min readCurated summary

Research, remotely | Figma Blog

Remote research requires more than transferring in-person methods to video calls; it demands empathy, clear guidance, and intentional collaboration. Figma’s research team recommends adapting participant communication, limiting observers, documenting sessions, and using shared virtual boards to synthesize findings. Remote work also creates opportunities to reach people who would otherwise be difficult to interview in person. ## Lead with User Empathy - Recognize that participants may be facing personal or professional difficulties and may not be ready to participate. - Be willing to pause or slow research when the situation calls for it. - Avoid assuming participants are comfortable with video-conferencing tools. - Send preparation materials and detailed instructions explaining how to join the call and what the session will involve. ## Keep the Research Team Involved - Limit live participants to essential roles, such as a facilitator and note-taker, since too many observers can make participants uncomfortable. - Record interviews only after obtaining permission; recordings preserve tone and context that written notes may miss. - Hold post-session debriefs with the full research team, including people who did not attend the interview. - Share recorded status updates in Slack to communicate interview progress, emerging findings, project materials, and outstanding sessions. ## Use a Virtual Research Board Figma’s team uses shared boards to collect and synthesize research remotely. A useful board can include: - **Research questions:** The study’s goals and questions to answer. - **Participants:** Participant profiles, roles, images, and notable quotes. - **Theme board:** Grouped notes showing patterns across interviews. - **Open questions:** Issues requiring further investigation. - **Next steps:** Specific follow-up sessions, analysis, or team discussions. ## Take Advantage of Remote Research - Remote sessions can reach participants who live far from a company’s headquarters or outside typical in-person recruiting areas. - Although remote research introduces technical and interpersonal challenges, it can broaden access to geographically diverse audiences. Remote research works best when teams prioritize participant comfort, provide unusually clear instructions, and maintain shared documentation. Use remote tools not merely as substitutes for in-person work, but as a way to expand who can participate and how findings are shared.

Figma Slack User Research Usability Testing+2

figmaApr 8, 20202 min readCurated summary

Building on our open platform: Design in Figma, prototype with Framer | Figma Blog

Figma argues that design tools should remain open, allowing users to move their data across products rather than becoming locked into one platform. Its new Framer Web integration lets teams design collaboratively in Figma and import files into Framer for more advanced, expressive prototypes. The announcement reinforces Figma’s broader strategy of building an ecosystem around APIs, plugins, and integrations. ## An Open Platform for Flexible Workflows - Figma has prioritized data portability since its founding. - Its web-based platform and APIs allow developers to access and use Figma data in external tools. - Customers have used the API to build internal tooling, create plugins, and even use Figma as a content management system. - Figma also launched an API challenge to encourage a Sketch exporter, but withdrew it after community feedback that it resembled unpaid “spec work.” ## Supporting Specialized Design Tools - Figma recognizes that although some teams use it for the entire design process, others prefer specialized tools. - Partners such as Zeplin provide alternative approaches to developer handoff. - Figma’s position is that no single product should try to serve every workflow; an ecosystem of complementary tools can fill specialized needs. ## Importing Figma Designs into Framer - The new Framer Web integration allows users to import Figma files directly into Framer Web. - Teams can collaborate on design in Figma, then use Framer to build richer and more expressive prototypes. - Framer Web was in beta at the time, with access available through a waitlist and setup instructions provided in Figma’s documentation. ## Broader Integrations - Figma planned to launch additional integrations throughout the year. - Prototyping and user testing: Flinto, Principle, ProtoPie, and Maze. - Developer handoff: Avocode, Storybook, ZeroHeight, and Zeplin. - Collaboration and project workflows: Coda, Dribbble, Dropbox, Jira, Notion, Slack, and Trello. Figma’s recommendation is implicit: use Figma as a collaborative design foundation while choosing the best external tools for prototyping, testing, handoff, and project management.

Figma Prototyping Design Collaboration Figma Plugins+3

figmaApr 7, 20202 min readCurated summary

Keeping that tight-knit feeling, at a distance | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote work requires more than moving meetings online: teams must intentionally recreate the informal interactions that build trust and community. Its approach combines aligned leadership, recurring social rituals, playful meeting practices, and collaborative activities in Figma. The goal is to preserve connection and morale even when colleagues cannot share an office. ## Keeping the Team Close - Remote work removes spontaneous interactions such as coffee breaks, shared meals, and hallway conversations. - Teams should preserve these moments deliberately rather than treating them as unnecessary. - Meetings that could be replaced by email or Slack can still provide valuable opportunities to check in socially. ## Coordinating Leaders - Figma’s CEO brought managers together to brainstorm ways to maintain team cohesion. - Leaders shared practices such as daily morning check-ins and virtual coffees. - A dedicated Slack channel lets managers exchange ideas, articles, and resources. - Individual teams can choose different approaches while maintaining a shared sense of collective responsibility. ## Creating Moments of Joy - Figma organizes optional workouts, pet-owner meetups, and other informal gatherings. - Zoom chat is used to applaud presenters, add comments, and ask questions. - All Hands meetings end with everyone briefly turning on video to see one another. - Biweekly “Show and Tell” sessions let employees share work, stories, or personal interests. - The company introduced playful elements such as sharing favorite Zoom backgrounds. - Daily Slack prompts encourage upbeat conversation, including recommendations for weekend television. - Donut pairs employees with one or two random colleagues for informal conversations. - Coworkers have adapted walking one-on-ones into Zoom or FaceTime walks. ## Collaborative Activities in Figma - **Figma Tennis:** Participants volley images back and forth, building on each other’s designs. - **Trash Dinosaur:** Teams collaboratively assemble a dinosaur from five virtual pieces of trash. - **Virtual bookshelf:** Colleagues display favorite or currently read books. - **Word-guessing game:** A Pictionary-style activity tests drawing and guessing skills. - These activities can stand alone or be used as short, energizing additions to regular meetings. Teams working remotely should intentionally schedule informal connection, support leaders in sharing successful practices, and make room for playful collaborative experiences—not just task-focused calls.

Figma Slack Remote Collaboration Zoom+2

figmaMar 31, 20202 min readCurated summary

How Students Who Design set up Figma in their online classroom | Figma Blog

Students Who Design uses Figma as the central workspace for running an online product-design course. Its system combines personal onboarding, shared file organization, reusable UI templates, recorded lectures, hands-on assignments, and asynchronous instructor feedback. The approach helps students work independently while allowing instructors to monitor progress and provide guidance in a shared environment. ## Pre-Class Setup - Students create free personal Figma accounts and familiarize themselves with the editor before class begins. - Instructors invite students to the Students Who Design team as editors. - Lectures are stored in the shared workspace, with Loom recordings providing audio narration for self-paced learning. - Projects and naming conventions organize instructor materials, sponsorship work, brand assets, and student files. - Each student creates a Master Figma file using the naming format `Intro DPD: Name`, making work easy to locate and manage. ## Teaching Through Hands-On Projects - The three-week course centers on improving Messenger: - Research and design principles - A class-wide brainstorm to prioritize feature improvements - An individual high-fidelity user flow - Students watch recorded lectures and complete assignments on weekly deadlines. - Each student duplicates a master file containing a UI kit and Messenger building blocks, reducing setup time and keeping work consistent. - Students use Pages to document their process, with recommended organization including: - Numbered pages for easy scanning - Titles describing the design stage or page contents - Dedicated areas for exploration, inspiration, and revisions - Because students work in one file throughout the course, they can create and share Figma prototypes directly with instructors. ## Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback - Figma lets instructors enter student files remotely and review progress without being physically present. - Viewing individual pages makes it easy to identify completed assignments and ongoing explorations. - Critique and feedback are treated as essential parts of the course, particularly for beginners. - The shared workspace supports asynchronous review while keeping student work, prototypes, and course materials connected. The recommended model is to establish a clear workspace structure before class, give students reusable templates, and keep all project development in one organized Figma file. This creates a flexible online classroom where students can learn at their own pace while instructors maintain visibility and provide timely design feedback.

Figma Prototyping User Interface Online Learning+2

figmaMar 30, 20203 min readCurated summary

How to run a remote brainstorm | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote brainstorming requires more deliberate structure than in-person sessions, especially when teams can no longer rely on spontaneous huddles or whiteboards. Clear goals, shared tools, advance preparation, and smaller breakout groups help remote participants contribute more comfortably and creatively. The central recommendation is to preserve space for ideas while adding enough organization to keep the session focused. ## Why Remote Brainstorms Are Different - Fully distributed teams lose many informal collaboration habits, such as quick conference-room discussions. - Brainstorms require more creative energy than routine status meetings. - Uncertainty and remote-work challenges can make it harder for people to generate and share ideas. - Remote sessions therefore need both structure and room for exploration. ## Preparing the Session ### Define the Goal - Decide whether the session should produce many new ideas or refine a few existing options. - Tailor the level and type of input requested to the project’s current phase. - Communicate the goal clearly so participants understand how they can contribute. ### Set Up the Tools - **Video conferencing:** Put the call link in the calendar invite and encourage cameras where possible to create stronger personal connection. - **Shared Figma file:** Create one central workspace with edit access for all participants. - Use separate pages or frames for different themes. - Share a dedicated brainstorming file rather than relying on scattered documents. - **Chat channel:** For ongoing work, create a Slack channel for updates, notes, and follow-up feedback. - Add the working-document link to the channel topic for easy access. ### Share Materials in Advance - Send the brainstorming file the night before or the morning of the session. - Explain what the group should accomplish. - Add initial ideas or questions for participants to review and develop. - Allow people to ask questions privately or leave comments in the file before the meeting. ## Running the Brainstorm ### Start with Context and Guardrails - Restate the goal and explain what kind of help is needed. - Expect the conversation to go off track; enthusiasm can be a positive sign. - Create a “Parking lot” in the shared document for relevant but out-of-scope ideas to revisit later. ### Use Structured Exercises and Small Groups - Structured activities are generally more effective than completely freeform discussion when everyone is remote. - Divide participants into groups of two or three during video calls. - Smaller groups make it easier for quieter people to participate. - They also reduce technical and communication problems. - In each group, appoint a lead to report key takeaways to the wider team. - Share the Figma file on screen or have participants follow along using Observation mode. - Use video-conferencing breakout rooms when available. A successful remote brainstorm combines thoughtful preparation with a collaborative shared workspace. Teams should define the desired outcome, distribute materials early, use small-group exercises, and capture tangential ideas without letting them derail the main discussion.

Figma Slack Remote Collaboration Brainstorming+2

figmaMar 10, 20203 min readCurated summary

Extend what’s possible with plugins for you and your team | Figma Blog

Figma’s post argues that plugins can turn repetitive, team-specific design tasks into fast, reusable workflows. Examples from GitHub, Atlassian, and Uber show how teams use plugins for component management, theming, realistic content, critique, and collaboration. The conclusion is that when no public plugin fits a specialized need, teams should build bespoke tools—and potentially combine them into a unified plugin. ## Building a Unified Plugin at GitHub Brian Lovin began creating plugins at GitHub after noticing how much time designers spent on repetitive operations. - A **borders utility** toggled the visibility of divider layers within list-item components. - This allowed GitHub to maintain one flexible component instead of multiple components for every divider size and placement. - A **color-theming plugin** helped designers manage light, dark, and high-contrast themes. - It searched functionally named styles and quickly switched entire designs between themes. - A **data population plugin** pulled live API data into designs. - It mapped avatars, usernames, and names to appropriately named component layers. - These tools were consolidated into a single “mono plugin,” giving the team one interface for several workflow improvements. ## Product-Specific Content at Atlassian Atlassian created the **ADG Data Generator** to prevent designers from using generic or misleading placeholder content. - Designers can generate data appropriate to specific products: - Jira projects and ticket numbers - Bitbucket branches and commit messages - The plugin keeps related content logically connected, such as matching project names with project descriptions. - For user imagery, it generates realistic but entirely artificial faces instead of using stock photos of real people. - Atlassian shared the generator’s source code with the broader community. ## Collaboration and Critique at Uber Uber’s design team developed more than four plugins to improve collaboration, consistency, and speed. - A **mobile design critique plugin** creates a QR code and URL for the selected Figma frame. - Critique participants can open the design on their own phones and experience it at the intended mobile scale. - This gives each reviewer a better sense of how the design feels in-hand than viewing it on a shared large screen. ## A Pattern for Identifying Plugin Opportunities The examples show that useful plugins often emerge from recurring friction rather than from abstract experimentation. - Look for repetitive tasks that require many clicks. - Target workflows tied to a company’s own products, components, data, or design system. - Automate tasks involving large sets of styles, layers, or content. - Combine related utilities into one accessible team tool when multiple plugins begin to accumulate. Teams should start by identifying a specific, repeated workflow problem and build the smallest tool that removes it. Over time, those focused tools can become a broader internal plugin tailored to the team’s design system and processes.

Design Systems Accessibility Figma Plugins Api Integration+3

figmaMar 3, 20202 min readCurated summary

Finding confidence in design decisions | Figma Blog

Design confidence is not an innate quality but something built through reflection, information, practice, and support from others. Designers must balance data, experience, taste, instinct, and stakeholder perspectives, which can create persistent self-doubt. The article argues that confidence grows by gathering relevant evidence and repeatedly confronting difficult situations. ## Reframing Early Fears - Reflecting on childhood or earlier experiences with insecurity can reveal how confidence was developed in the past. - Sharing these stories with peers encourages empathy and helps people see their struggles from a more generous perspective. - The suggested exercise is to: - Recall a skill or activity that once felt intimidating. - Identify the steps, support, or practice that helped build competence. - Discuss the experience in a small group. ## Building Confidence Through Data - A lack of confidence may indicate that there is not yet enough information to make a well-grounded decision. - Designers can gather confidence-building evidence through: - Research and validation - Conversations with peers and experts - Input from people experiencing the problem directly - Feedback from stakeholders - Collecting these perspectives helps designers understand more variables and make solutions feel increasingly clear. ## Building Confidence Through Experience - Confidence also comes from repeatedly practicing the difficult thing until it becomes familiar. - Experience is gradual and nonlinear; designers revisit similar problems over time and apply previous lessons in increasingly nuanced ways. - Both successes and failures create emotional connections that strongly influence future confidence. - Some challenges—such as giving difficult feedback or making decisions in unfamiliar situations—cannot be solved through more research alone and require courage and repetition. ## Applying the Exercises - Identify an area where confidence is currently lacking. - Decide whether the primary need is more data, more experience, or both. - Share the challenge with trusted peers and use their perspectives to clarify the next step. - Treat confidence as an ongoing practice rather than a feeling that must exist before taking action. Confidence grows when designers combine informed investigation with repeated action, supported by a community that can provide perspective and encouragement.

Product Design Design Thinking User Research Data Driven Design+2

figmaMar 1, 20202 min readCurated summary

The Dropbox guide to building creative culture | Figma Blog

Culture shapes team happiness, belonging, productivity, innovation, and business outcomes. The Dropbox design team argues that creative culture should be built intentionally rather than left to develop by accident. Its Team Values Toolkit turns abstract beliefs into shared values, observable behaviors, reinforcing habits, and an iterative process. ## Culture as Intentional Practice - Culture is how teams act on their beliefs. - It exists at company, organizational, team, and working-group levels. - Although culture forms inevitably, intentional design helps creative teams innovate and deliver stronger work. - Dropbox developed Culture Kits to help teams make culture concrete and actionable. ## Defining Beliefs and Shared Values - Team members share stories about meaningful work experiences to uncover their individual values. - Including everyone’s perspective helps prevent culture from reflecting only dominant viewpoints or top-down directives. - The team then identifies recurring themes and combines related ideas into shared values, such as grouping “teamwork,” “partnership,” and “clear goals” under “collaboration.” - Shared values should support the team’s goals and connect with broader company values where appropriate. ## Turning Values into Behaviors - Values become useful when translated into specific actions. - Teams should discuss how their values guide: - Decision-making - Conflict and tension - Collaboration - Feedback - Day-to-day working relationships - These behaviors make cultural principles visible in actual team practices. ## Establishing Reinforcing Habits - Teams should define communication styles, norms, and processes that encourage desired behaviors. - For collaboration, this might include cross-functional practices and regular feedback. - The relationship between values, behaviors, and reinforcement creates a shared social contract. - Consistent habits determine how culture is experienced and understood by the team. ## Evaluating and Iterating - Cultural change takes time, so teams should preserve practices that work and remove those that do not. - Teams should define ways to assess whether their culture supports both people and outcomes. - Regular events, such as quarterly offsites, provide opportunities to revisit and refine the framework. - Like a product, culture should be continuously tested and improved. A healthy creative culture requires more than choosing inspiring values; teams must practice and reinforce them consistently. The Team Values Toolkit offers a structured way to build that culture collaboratively and keep adapting it over time.

Figma Team Collaboration Design Process Dropbox+1

figmaFeb 26, 20202 min readCurated summary

Reflections on Config, our first user conference | Figma Blog

Config, Figma’s first user conference, brought more than 1,000 participants together to learn, collaborate, and strengthen the design community. Rather than imposing a rigid agenda, Figma invited users to shape the event through workshops, talks, and roundtables. The conference highlighted open design, deeper community connection, and the importance of using technology to support—not replace—human relationships. ## A Conference Built by the Community - Figma created Config as a physical gathering where users and employees could exchange ideas directly. - Attendees discussed team culture, mentorship, design ethics, and other issues affecting the design industry. - Many sessions came from community submissions, encouraging participants to contribute rather than simply listen. - Sessions were also recorded for people who could not attend in person. ## Open Design and Shared Creativity - A central theme was “open design”: sharing, remixing, and building on one another’s work. - Devon Zuegel explored how open-source principles apply to urban planning and physical infrastructure. - Jason Kunesh described how Chicago students helped create a design system when the city’s design team lacked resources. - Miguel Solorio explained how Microsoft incorporated the broader community into its design process. ## Technology as a Tool for Connection - Craig Mod warned that technology can encourage isolation, even as it makes communication easier. - He argued that digital tools should help people connect more deeply with their surroundings rather than escape them. - May-Li Khoe discussed challenging established norms while supporting the communities she cares about. - Both talks encouraged attendees to consider their responsibility to build stronger, more inclusive communities. ## Continuing the Conversation - Figma presented Config as an ongoing community dialogue rather than a one-time event. - The company thanked attendees, speakers, and employees for making the conference possible. - Figma encouraged everyone to watch the recorded sessions and stay engaged with future discussions. Config’s main lesson was that design becomes more powerful when it is shared openly and grounded in community. Future conferences and design initiatives should prioritize participation, collaboration, and meaningful human connection.

Figma Design Systems Open Source Design Tools+2

figmaFeb 5, 20202 min readCurated summary

New ways to create, collaborate, and share more openly | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2020 product direction centers on three priorities: faster creation, more inclusive collaboration, and a broader design community. At Config 2020, the company announced seven features aimed at reducing repetitive work, preserving context across teams, and making design knowledge easier to share. These updates build on Figma’s focus on a reliable, high-performing platform. ## Focus for 2020: Creation, Collaboration, and Community - **Creation:** Automate repetitive design tasks and help users work faster. - **Collaboration:** Include everyone involved in the product process. - **Community:** Give designers more opportunities to publish, learn, and share. - Platform reliability and performance remain foundational investments. ## Faster Design Workflows - **Auto Layout improvements** - Components can stretch to fill their containers. - Buttons resize automatically with their text. - Lists can be rearranged more easily. - These capabilities support responsive designs across device types. - **Redesigned Font Picker** - Prioritizes frequently used fonts, organization fonts, and favorites. - Provides faster font search. - Identifies fonts already used in a file to improve consistency. - **Selection Colors** - Allows fills, strokes, and text colors to be updated together in one action. - Also supports changing these color categories independently. - **Expanded prototype interactions** - Adds triggers for keyboards, gamepads, and accessibility controllers. - Enables prototypes for keyboard shortcuts, game menus, and other device-specific interactions. ## Collaboration Across Product Teams - **Text hyperlinks** - Text can link to external web pages, pages within a Figma file, or frames in the Editor. - Useful for linking requirements documents and building navigable tables of contents. - **Plugin Inspector API** - Lets plugins display important information in Figma’s properties panel. - Can surface action items or identify plugin-generated content, such as maps, for easier updating. - **Prototype-only sharing** - A new permission allows users to share a prototype without exposing the underlying design file. - The feature was planned for Figma Professional and Organization plans. ## Sharing with the Design Community - Figma continued developing its Community platform as a public space for publishing live files. - Community files can be inspected, remixed, and used for learning. - Within its first months, more than 400 creators had published over 1,000 files, including wireframes, icon sets, design systems, device frames, slide templates, and illustrations. Together, these updates position Figma as more than a design editor: it aims to become a faster creation tool, a shared workspace for product teams, and an open learning platform for the broader design community.

Figma Design Systems Prototyping Collaboration+3

figmaJan 29, 20202 min readCurated summary

Test designs early and often with the new Maze integration | Figma Blog

Figma’s new Maze integration lets teams test interactive prototypes with real users before development, making research faster and less expensive than waiting for production A/B tests. By importing a Figma prototype link into Maze, teams can measure usability across individual tasks or complete user flows. The post also recommends practical research habits to ensure tests produce reliable, actionable insights. ## Earlier Testing with Figma and Maze - Maze provides quantitative UX insights from real users, supporting both small-scale interviews and tests involving thousands of participants. - Teams can copy and paste a Figma prototype link into Maze to begin testing during the design phase. - The integration helps product teams identify usability problems before committing to development. - At launch, Maze offered Figma users 30% off paid plans for three months with the code `MAZE_LOVES_FIGMA`. ## Define Measurable Goals - Establish what success means before building the prototype. - Use specific metrics, such as requiring 80% of participants to complete tasks successfully and fewer than 2% to misclick. - Tailor goals to the purpose and scope of each test. ## Pilot the Test First - Run the test internally with teammates, friends, or family before involving real users. - Confirm that tasks are understandable, the prototype works correctly, and the success criteria are meaningful. - A pilot functions like a beta release, revealing problems before testing at scale. ## Include Users and Non-Users - Existing customers can provide informed feedback and may be enthusiastic early adopters. - Target customer segments most likely to use the proposed feature. - Include people unfamiliar with the product to avoid bias and gain fresh perspectives. ## Write Neutral Tasks - Avoid leading instructions such as “click here,” “go to,” or “navigate to.” - Focus tasks on the outcome users should achieve rather than the specific interface steps. - Avoid internal product terminology so the test measures intuitiveness rather than participants’ ability to follow directions. ## Collaborate on Analysis - Reviewing results as a team helps build agreement around findings and next steps. - Maze supports collaboration through instantly generated reports and shareable URLs. - Involving the broader product team can make research insights easier to act on. Teams should use the Figma–Maze workflow to validate designs early, measure outcomes against clear goals, and involve collaborators in interpreting the results.

Figma User Experience Prototyping User Testing+3