How to do content design / UX writing in Figma | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma enables content designers and UX writers to work alongside visual designers instead of contributing only after interfaces are defined. Its web-based, real-time collaboration makes content decisions visible, supports earlier iteration, and helps teams design what a product looks like and communicates at the same time. The post presents five lessons for using Figma to integrate content into the design process.

Use Real Content to Inform the UI

• Add real or near-real copy as soon as a screen, modal, or interaction is created.
• Testing actual content early reveals:
  • Whether the interface communicates the intended message
  • Whether there is enough space for the copy
  • Whether the UI needs to be redesigned
• Designing content and UI together prevents late-stage copy changes from breaking established interactions or flows.
• This is particularly valuable when content designers join a project after visual design has already begun.

Start Content-First with Written Conversations

• Model interactions as real-world conversations before designing them visually.
• Use a dedicated Figma frame or comments to script exchanges between the system and the user.
• Role-playing conversations helps teams:
  • Identify goals and edge cases
  • Understand flow and information hierarchy
  • Use natural, human language instead of system terminology
• These scripts may not become a final blueprint, but they provide a useful reference throughout iteration.

Map the Entire User Journey

• Content designers need visibility into the complete journey, including what happens before and after a specific screen.
• Map the journey collaboratively in Figma, then document the content needs beneath each stage.
• This encourages visual design to begin with the user’s content and context.
• Shared files make the process more iterative than isolated slide decks, sketch files, or physical whiteboards.
• Real-time visibility also helps engineers, product owners, and designers understand the content designer’s contribution across the journey.

Collaborate and Document with Comments

• Figma comments provide a shared space for discussing content and recording the reasoning behind content decisions.
• Because the work is visible in the same file as the UI, collaborators can respond to copy choices in context rather than reviewing content separately.
• The provided excerpt ends before this section’s detailed examples and remaining lessons.

Figma is most effective for UX writing when teams use it from the beginning: write realistic content, model conversations, map journeys, and collaborate directly within the design file.