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The Long and Short of It: Issue no.8 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

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Figma’s Issue No. 8 reflects on how its community shaped the company’s 2024 releases and culture. The year included 180 product updates, a major Config conference, expanded tools for developers and product teams, and a refreshed brand identity. The central message is that Figma builds products through continuous dialogue with the people who use them.

A Year Shaped by the Community

  • Figma published 180 new releases in 2024.
  • More than 10,000 people attended Config.
  • Over 220 Friends of Figma groups operated worldwide.
  • The company emphasizes that users do more than receive new features: they influence how those features evolve in practice.

Expanding Figma’s Products

  • Figma refined its UI3 interface to give users more control.
  • AI tools were reworked with a more deliberate approach.
  • Dev Mode was enhanced to improve connections between design and code.
  • Figma Slides was launched to support presentations and give design work a broader stage.
  • The company highlights that the design process continues after launch, when users apply new tools to real workflows.

Config and the Future of Product Building

  • Config 2024 was Figma’s largest conference yet, held in San Francisco with more than 10,000 attendees.
  • Figma points readers toward talks and advice from Config speakers.
  • Featured guidance focuses on creating memorable presentations and sessions that genuinely inspire audiences.
  • Early-bird tickets for Config 2025 were already available.

A New Brand and Web System

  • As Figma expanded toward developers, marketers, and broader product teams, it updated its visual identity.
  • The redesign introduced a new typeface and a refreshed brand system.
  • Figma used its own tools to audit and rebuild its web system.
  • The process included streamlining components, improving workflows, refining variables and styles, and preparing the system for future growth.

Design Inspiration and Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Community templates for Figma Slides offer ways to create more engaging presentations.
  • Ableton Note designer Pablo Sánchez shares seven principles for designing surprising and memorable digital experiences.
  • One North’s Nick Villapiano argues that developers should participate actively in design rather than treating design as a handoff.
  • These examples reinforce Figma’s broader view that design is collaborative and extends across disciplines.

Figma’s year-end message is ultimately a recommendation to keep building in conversation with users. Product launches, brand systems, developer workflows, and community events become more valuable when people actively shape how they are used.