Collaboration

37 posts

figmaJul 11, 20232 min readCurated summary

Explore the value of play through a new zine | Figma Blog

Finding room for play is presented as an essential part of design, helping people stay curious, experiment, and discover unexpected solutions. To explore this idea, Figma and It’s Nice That created *The Playbook*, a printed zine combining essays, advice, visual commissions, and hands-on activities. Debuted at Config 2023, it encourages readers to treat play and iteration as practical parts of creative work. ## A Collaboration About Play - *The Playbook* was produced jointly by Figma and It’s Nice That. - It explores spontaneous thinking, curiosity, and experimentation across different design practices. - The publication reflects Figma’s belief that play supports learning and helps collaborators connect ideas. ## Essays on Iteration and Collaboration - Figma Chief Product Officer Yuhki Yamashita discusses how to embrace endless iteration and work productively while ideas remain in flux. - Chief Technology Officer Kris Rasmussen examines collaborative engineering, arguing that engineers should work beyond strict role boundaries. - Together, the essays present iteration and cross-functional collaboration as central to modern product development. ## Creative Advice and Rules for Play - The zine features conversations with creatives about staying curious when possibilities feel unlimited. - Paula Scher contributes ten rules for play drawn from her career, including advice on sketching, influence, and creative experimentation. - The publication encourages readers to look for “what if?” moments that can unlock new directions. ## Interactive Activities and Visual Commissions - Readers can onboard themselves into the zine and take a quiz about their meeting-hosting style. - A design challenge built around “How might we?” offers a hands-on break from reading. - Shawna X visualizes a “lightbulb moment” in a risograph print. - Manshen Lo interprets Bruno Munari’s 12-step design methodology. - The publication combines essays and activities with a range of playful visual work. ## Printed Format and Config Debut - The Playbook was printed as an A5 zine and wrapped in compostable cellophane. - Two essays by Yamashita and Rasmussen appeared together in a complementary A6 zine. - Copies were distributed to Config 2023 attendees when they arrived. *The Playbook* treats play not as a distraction from serious design work, but as a method for learning, collaborating, and generating better ideas. Its combination of reflection and practical exercises encourages designers and teams to make experimentation a regular part of their process.

Collaboration Figma Product Development Design+1

figmaNov 14, 20222 min readCurated summary

Figma’s feedback gift guide | Figma Blog

Feedback is most effective when it is treated as a thoughtful, context-dependent exchange rather than a generic “gift.” Figma argues that good feedback depends on timing, project stage, team culture, and the relationship between the people involved. Matching feedback to the work’s level of development helps teams stay open to possibilities while still making progress toward clear goals. ## Match Feedback to the Design Stage - **Brainstorming:** Keep feedback expansive so it does not eliminate promising directions too early. - **Early concepts:** Use research and data to narrow options while preserving an open mind. - **Product reviews:** Check that the work supports product and business objectives. - **Design critiques:** Offer detailed UX and visual suggestions and encourage consistency. - **Prototypes:** Focus on usability and animation. - **High-fidelity designs:** Examine detailed decisions that may benefit from another perspective. - **Final designs:** Identify overlooked flows, use cases, or remaining gaps. - When requesting feedback, explain what type of input would be most useful at that stage. ## Adapt to Team Culture - Feedback practices should reflect where a company is in its shift toward collaboration. - Teams early in that transition may need more context, frequent critical conversations, and patience while feedback relationships develop. - Teams with an established feedback culture can rely on direct communication through proven channels. - Feedback should meet teammates where they are rather than assuming every team has the same norms. ## Respect Timing and Working Styles - Timing matters as much as content; feedback is more constructive when people are ready to receive it. - Consider project deadlines, teammates’ schedules, time zones, and personal preferences. - Avoid sending work-related messages at inconvenient hours without setting expectations. - Communicating your own working style and accommodating others’ schedules can reduce friction. Thoughtful feedback helps turn conversations into action, but it requires adapting both the message and delivery to the project, people, and culture involved.

Collaboration Figma User Experience Prototyping+2

figmaApr 27, 20222 min readCurated summary

What’s new in Figma: April 2022 | Figma Blog

Figma’s April 2022 update focuses on making FigJam more structured, customizable, and playful for collaborative workshops, brainstorms, and retrospectives. The release adds organizational and formatting tools alongside expressive features such as Washi tape and artist-designed stickers. Together, these updates aim to help teams create clearer boards while preserving the informal energy of digital collaboration. ## Structure and Customize FigJam Files - Users can organize boards with dedicated sections. - Stickies and shapes now support more colors, including custom colors. - Sticky notes can be made proportional and visually consistent with other content. - Adjustable font sizes make it easier to establish hierarchy for titles and labels. - Improved snapping helps users arrange and align objects precisely. - Multiple objects can be locked or unlocked simultaneously. ## Add More Personality to Collaborative Work - Figma made cursor chat more expressive. - New sticker packs were added, created by Figma Community artists Jiro Bevis, Diana Marmol, Rooney, and Fanny Luor. - The stickers provide playful ways to react, encourage teammates, and personalize FigJam sessions. ## Washi Tape Returns Permanently - Washi tape, previously introduced as an April Fun Day feature, became a permanent FigJam tool. - The update includes dozens of newly designed tape patterns. - Users can upload their own patterns. - The feature is intended to recreate the creative, tactile feel of decorating physical workshop materials. These changes make FigJam more adaptable for organized facilitation without sacrificing creativity. Teams can use sections, consistent formatting, and alignment tools to improve clarity, then add custom colors, stickers, and Washi tape to make collaborative sessions more engaging.

Collaboration Figma Figjam User Interface+2

figmaJan 19, 20222 min readCurated summary

From experiment to launch: how data shaped a new comments experience | Figma Blog

Figma used a series of data-driven experiments to redesign its comments experience and encourage collaboration among both editors and viewers. Although comments strongly predicted team retention and growth, they were underused because users struggled to discover them. Experiments confirmed that improving visibility increased comment creation, while an intuitive-looking relocation of the comments control unexpectedly reduced discoverability. ## Collaboration and Comments - Teams that collaborate during their first month are: - 1.75× more likely to be retained. - 6.5× more likely to become customers. - Figma identified comments as a potential “front door” to collaboration because both editors and viewers can use them. - Despite their value, comments were not widely used, prompting the data science team to investigate the gap between user needs and behavior. ## Testing Comment Discoverability - Users previously entered comment mode through an icon in the upper-left corner of the editor. - Research sessions suggested that comments were valuable but difficult to find. - Figma tested a prompt encouraging view-only developers to leave comments. - After two weeks in a 50/50 experiment: - Comment creation increased by 45% in the test group. - The rate of users returning to comments the following week did not change. - The result showed that simply making comments more visible could substantially increase usage. ## An Unexpected Result - Figma hypothesized that moving the comments entry point from the left side of the menu bar to the right would improve discoverability. - The reasoning was that the left side emphasized creation tools, while the right side contained collaboration and viewing features more relevant to cross-functional users. - Among new users, the change caused a 20% decrease in comment discovery within seven days of signup. - The failed experiment demonstrated that seemingly logical product changes can significantly harm user behavior. - It also reinforced the value of controlled experiments: product hypotheses are often wrong, and teams should expect testing to disprove many ideas. Figma’s experience illustrates that effective product development depends on combining user research with rigorous experimentation. Rather than relying on intuition about interface placement, teams should validate each change with real behavioral data and use unexpected results to guide subsequent iterations.

Collaboration Figma User Research Data Science+2

figmaApr 26, 20212 min readCurated summary

Introducing branching: space to iterate and explore freely | Figma Blog

Figma introduced branching in beta to help large design teams experiment without risking changes to shared files. The feature combines the freedom of isolated exploration with Figma’s multiplayer collaboration, while keeping the main file as the approved source of truth. Branches are auto-saved and can later be merged into the main file by editors. ## The challenge of decentralized design systems - Design systems were spread across teams and tools, creating inconsistencies and forcing designers to switch contexts. - Centralized systems improved reuse and efficiency but introduced governance challenges. - In large systems such as Netflix’s Hawkins, many contributors may update files, even when the latest changes are not approved for production. - Teams needed a way to protect shared libraries while still allowing designers to explore new ideas. ## Branching built around simplicity - Figma considered traditional workflows involving commits and nested branches too complex. - The product adopted two principles: simplicity and consistency. - Branches work within Figma’s existing multiplayer model, retaining real-time collaboration. - Work is automatically saved, eliminating the need for explicit commits. - Designers can create a branch from any file, experiment safely, and merge approved updates into the main file. ## Future plans and availability - Figma planned to expand branching with features such as reviews. - The company was also exploring a unified approach to versioning across branching and multiplayer workflows. - The beta initially launched for Organization-plan customers, with access granted gradually. Branching is intended to let organizations centralize their design systems without limiting experimentation. Teams managing shared libraries should use branches for exploratory work and merge only reviewed, approved changes into the main file.

Collaboration Figma Design Systems Version Control+2

figmaApr 20, 20212 min readCurated summary

Introducing FigJam | Figma Blog

FigJam is Figma’s online whiteboard for collaborative brainstorming and early-stage design. Figma argues that remote work and the shift toward cross-functional collaboration have created a need for more informal, shared online spaces—not just tools for producing finished designs. FigJam addresses this with a lightweight, approachable environment that connects directly to Figma. ## Why Figma Built FigJam - Remote work has reduced in-person collaboration and increased reliance on online tools. - People were already using Figma for activities beyond interface design, including games, icebreakers, meal planning, and brainstorming. - These uses showed that teams wanted a place to share ideas and connect without necessarily designing products. - Figma concluded that these interactions needed a dedicated space where non-designers felt welcome while designers still felt at home. - The product also supports Figma’s broader goal of making design accessible to everyone by involving more people earlier in the design process. ## FigJam’s Role in Early-Stage Design - FigJam is described as a lightweight, easier-to-learn version of Figma for ideation and brainstorming. - Teams can use it to: - Define user problems - Gather inspiration - Explore product ideas - Map user flows - Build and document processes - Multiplayer tools include sticky notes, emojis, drawing tools, stamps, and cursor-based chats. - Shapes, lines, and connectors make diagramming and systems thinking easier. ## Collaboration and Connection - Built-in audio lets teams discuss ideas without switching to a phone or video call. - FigJam integrates seamlessly with Figma, allowing work to move from initial concepts through final prototypes in one ecosystem. - Expressive features such as emojis, stamps, and cursor chats are intended to make collaboration feel warmer, more spontaneous, and more enjoyable. - The product is designed to combine practical functionality with the informal energy of “hanging out” together online. ## Early Users and Pricing - Teams at Stripe, Netflix, Salesforce, Twitch, and Discord tested FigJam during its development. - Discord’s design leadership praised it as a focused, uncomplicated version of Figma suitable for brainstorms, retrospectives, and similar activities. - FigJam was free for everyone through the end of 2021. - Planned 2022 pricing included free and paid plans costing $3 and $5 per editor per month. FigJam’s central promise is to give distributed teams an inviting, collaborative space where product ideas can emerge before formal design work begins.

Collaboration Figma Figjam Design Thinking+3

figmaMar 30, 20212 min readCurated summary

Behind the feature: building multi-account | Figma Blog

Figma’s account switcher addresses a simple but widespread need: users often move between work, freelance, personal, and hobby projects. The feature lets people switch between separate workspaces while maintaining one public identity in Figma Community. Figma concluded that supporting multi-account use required rethinking the relationship between private creation, workspace boundaries, and public sharing. ## A Growing Need for Multiple Workspaces - Figma had expanded beyond product design into brainstorming, presentations, maps, vector art, wedding planning, and fan art. - Users increasingly relied on Figma both inside and outside their companies. - Many people had distinct roles—employee, freelancer, and hobbyist—but no straightforward way to move between them. - User feedback consistently identified multiple-account support as a major request. ## The Account Switcher - The new account switcher allows users to toggle easily between different Figma accounts and workspaces. - It replaces cumbersome workarounds for separating professional and personal projects. - Users can keep work projects and personal files distinct while remaining within a unified Figma experience. ## Separating Creation from Sharing - Designing and collaborating may require switching freely between accounts. - Sharing work introduces different concerns, including ownership, attribution, comments, and public identity. - Users can maintain a single public Figma Community profile and handle while changing jobs, companies, or creative contexts. - This preserves a consistent public brand without mixing personal work with company projects. Figma’s multi-account design treats account switching as more than a convenience feature: it establishes a foundation for separating workspaces while unifying a user’s public presence.

Collaboration Figma Workspaces Multi Account+2

figmaOct 19, 20202 min readCurated summary

How Kimberly-Clark brings your favorite paper products into your home | Figma Blog

Kimberly-Clark responded to slowing growth, competition, and rising costs by prioritizing its digital presence. By adopting Figma as a collaborative, browser-based design platform, the company replaced fragmented workflows with a shared source of truth and faster stakeholder feedback. This collaboration produced measurable results, including a 71% increase in signups after redesigning a form. ## Digital transformation at global scale - Kimberly-Clark manages more than 400 consumer websites across 175 countries. - Its digital systems support pricing, manufacturing, distribution, merchandising, sales, and operations. - The company needed a more efficient way to create and localize consistent digital experiences for brands such as Kleenex, Scott, and Huggies. ## Problems with the previous design workflow - Designers spent weeks working individually in proprietary Mac applications. - Files had to be uploaded to separate cloud prototyping tools for review. - Stakeholder feedback created repeated edit-and-review cycles. - Developer handoff was difficult when developers did not use Macs. - These delays slowed the launch of new products and digital experiences. ## Figma as a collaborative design platform - Figma consolidated design, prototyping, feedback, and editing in one browser-based tool. - Files were no longer stored locally, and invited stakeholders could view or edit them easily. - Feedback meetings became real-time working sessions rather than discussions held after designs were completed. - Brand, marketing, design, and other teams could participate directly and see changes immediately. - The approach created a shared “single source of truth” and improved alignment. ## Redesigning for measurable user impact - The UX team tracked metrics such as bounce rates, returning visitors, time on site, and signup rates. - One website’s signup form contained 13 fields because marketing wanted extensive information upfront. - The teams collaborated in Figma to reduce the form to five fields. - After launch, signups increased by 71%. - Faster collaboration helped the company resolve design problems quickly and move products to market sooner. ## Next steps - Kimberly-Clark planned a design system connected across Figma, Storybook, and its code repository. - The company viewed its digital transformation as the beginning of a more design-led phase ahead of its 150th anniversary. The case suggests that collaborative design tools are most valuable when paired with user-focused metrics: they can improve internal workflows while directly increasing customer engagement.

Collaboration Figma Design Systems User Experience+3

figmaSep 6, 20202 min readCurated summary

Figma’s new EMEA HQ | Figma Blog

Figma announced a new London office serving as its EMEA headquarters, part of its broader hybrid-work strategy. The hub is intended to improve support for users through better time-zone coverage, stronger local partnerships, and access to diverse talent. Although the office’s in-person opening was delayed by COVID-19, Figma planned to continue building regional connections remotely. ## A Regional Hub for a Global User Base - Figma’s hybrid model combines remote work with centralized hubs. - London was selected as the EMEA headquarters to bring the company closer to users across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. - An office represents more than physical workspace: it provides shared time zones, local market knowledge, and stronger relationships with regional design communities. - In 2020, 81% of Figma’s weekly active users lived outside the United States. ## Expanding Support Across EMEA - Figma recognized that its existing US-centered time-zone coverage was insufficient for international users. - The company established a product-specialist team in Amsterdam in early 2019. - Figma had engaged with communities and customers in cities including London, Paris, Helsinki, Kyiv, Moscow, Jakarta, and Singapore. - The London team had grown to 14 remotely working employees and supported customers such as Deliveroo, Zalando, Spotify, and Booking.com. ## Opening During the Pandemic - Figma postponed the in-person opening until it was safe for employees to return to offices. - The company emphasized that regional expansion could continue even without immediate physical gatherings. - Figma introduced Config Europe, its first virtual user conference, as a way for users and employees to share knowledge and maintain community connections. Figma’s London hub reflects a strategy of combining remote flexibility with regional offices that improve customer support, hiring, and community engagement. The company’s experience also demonstrates that international presence can be developed virtually while in-person work remains limited.

Collaboration Figma Design Tools Web Design+2

figmaJun 23, 20202 min readCurated summary

How to evaluate design tools | Figma Blog

Choosing a design tool should be treated as a structured team project, not a simple feature comparison. The right choice depends on factors such as team size, remote distribution, workflow, collaboration needs, and existing pain points. Figma recommends a phased process that typically takes about a month and combines stakeholder input, defined criteria, hands-on testing, and documented feedback. ## Phase 0: Lay the Groundwork - Treat the evaluation like a product launch or design sprint and include it in the team’s quarterly planning. - Create a workback schedule, allowing roughly: - Two weeks for preparation - Two weeks to test tools on short-term projects - Set a firm decision deadline so the process can end early if one tool clearly stands out. - Identify stakeholders across design, product, development, marketing, and project approval teams. - Consider forming a cross-functional working group with regular check-ins and a shared communication channel. - Document milestones, formal feedback, and informal observations in a shared workspace. - Set expectations that adopting a new tool may require several weeks of ramp-up before productivity returns to normal. ## Phase 1: Define the Problem - Clarify what the team actually needs before comparing specific products. - Consider team characteristics such as: - Size and expected growth - Whether members work in one office or remotely - Onboarding and scalability requirements - Identify concrete pain points in the current workflow, including moments where collaboration breaks down. - Gather feedback from people outside the immediate design team, especially developers, product managers, and marketers. - Focus on specific scenarios such as developer handoff rather than vague dissatisfaction. ## Phase 2: Establish Evaluation Criteria - Convert the team’s needs and pain points into a small number of priority themes. - Productivity is one important theme, covering activities such as: - Individual design work - Sprint planning - Design critiques - Developer handoff - Match criteria to the team’s circumstances: - Large teams may prioritize consistency, shared libraries, and design-system support. - Fast-growing teams may emphasize onboarding and scalability. - Distributed teams may place greater weight on collaboration and communication. The practical recommendation is to invest in preparation before testing tools. A documented, stakeholder-informed evaluation helps teams choose software that fits their real workflows and reduces the disruption and cost of a poorly planned migration.

Collaboration Figma Design Systems Design Tools+2

figmaJun 17, 20203 min readCurated summary

How to get closer with your developer | Figma Blog

Bringing engineers into product design early helps teams uncover technical constraints, explore better solutions, and move faster. Rather than waiting until designs are polished, designers should use early, exploratory collaboration to expose assumptions and edge cases. The post recommends partnering closely with one engineer through ideation using straw man mocks, brainstorming, and clearly defined questions. ## Technical Knowledge Improves Ideation - Engineers can identify technical constraints and unexpected edge cases early. - This input helps designers avoid solutions that seem promising but are difficult or costly to build. - Early collaboration does not eliminate creativity; it makes ideas more thoughtful and grounded. - Sharing unfinished work can be more productive than protecting designs until they appear complete. ## Establish a Close Engineering Partnership - For Coda’s Packs Tables feature, Helena Jaramillo worked closely with one engineering partner, Gil. - Packs Tables connected services such as Spotify, Google Calendar, and Gmail to Coda documents. - Because the feature had to work across multiple APIs, close engineering collaboration was essential. - The broader team was involved, but having a consistent partner enabled faster brainstorming and continuous feedback. ## Start with Straw Man Mocks - Straw man mocks are quick, rough visual proposals intended to generate discussion rather than finalize a design. - They should: - Be fast to create, since early assumptions are often incorrect. - Ask more questions than they answer. - Present multiple directions instead of prematurely narrowing to one solution. - Designers should first imagine how the feature might work if it were easy, then test those assumptions with an engineer. - Useful questions include: - What assumptions or misconceptions are we making? - What are we overlooking? - Which directions are interesting? - Which directions are technically difficult, and what trade-offs would they involve? ## Brainstorm Through Visualization - Early brainstorming should involve both designers and engineers, not just a finished design review. - Teams can use wireframing kits, high-fidelity components, paper sketches, iPads, or screen sharing. - During Packs Tables, Helena and Gil used whiteboarding to explore UI ideas and clarify potential problems. - The goal at this stage is alignment and exploration—not polished interface design. ## Define Key Questions - Key questions act as principles for making later decisions. - They help teams address foundational issues before debating individual solutions. - Answering questions about constraints, resources, priorities, and desired outcomes makes detailed decisions easier. - Helena and Gil recorded their key questions in a Coda document and reviewed them with the engineers involved in the project. Designers should treat engineers as creative partners from the beginning of a project. Rough mocks, shared brainstorming, and agreed-upon guiding questions create a faster path to feasible, thoughtful solutions.

Collaboration Product Design API Wireframing+2

figmaJun 15, 20202 min readCurated summary

Beyond mocks: co-designing journeys, diagrams, and more | Figma Blog

Design is more than producing interface mocks; it also involves shaping customer experiences, processes, culture, and community. Segment’s product design team demonstrates how designers can collaborate with researchers, product managers, engineers, and other colleagues using shared visual artifacts. These co-designing practices create organizational sources of truth, improve decision-making, and strengthen team connections. ## Mapping the Customer Journey with UX Research - A designer and UX researcher mapped Segment’s end-to-end customer experience, from discovery and sign-up through scaled implementation. - The journey was organized around different customer tiers and enriched with analytics. - An interactive prototype included clickable customer stories. - The resulting file became both a reference point for the company and an onboarding resource. ## Diagramming Data Architecture - Designers, researchers, customer success managers, and infrastructure engineers collaborated to visualize how data moves through Segment. - The diagram showed where data is transformed, enriched, and cleaned. - It helped the team identify existing strengths and areas needing improvement. - The artifact became foundational for planning future products and served as another organizational source of truth. ## Retrospecting on the Design System - Segment’s open-source Evergreen design system is used by teams beyond design, making cross-functional feedback especially important. - Designers and engineers held a remote retrospective in Figma using virtual sticky notes. - Participants documented pain points and identified opportunities for improvement. - The exercise informed the following quarter’s OKRs and helped the team co-design a roadmap for Evergreen. ## Building Community Through Collaboration - Co-designing can support social connection as well as product and process work. - For International Women’s Day, remote EPD teammates collaborated in Figma to create personalized appreciation notes for female-identifying colleagues. - The team also adapted the practice for virtual birthday cards and other celebrations. - These activities helped preserve meaningful workplace rituals while working remotely. The article encourages teams to expand co-design beyond product mocks. Shared journeys, diagrams, retrospectives, and collaborative community activities can make complex work visible, align diverse teammates, and create stronger connections.

Collaboration Figma Design Systems User Experience+3

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.

Collaboration Figma Design Systems Prototyping+3

figmaOct 14, 20193 min readCurated summary

Bringing new life to Figma’s brand | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2019 brand refresh expanded an existing visual language rather than replacing it. The process centered on collaboration, using research and Figma itself to create a brand that could feel both professional and playful. The result emphasized curiosity, vibrancy, honesty, boldness, and the imperfect process of making. ## Evolving an Existing Brand Language - Figma found that its original brand foundations were strong but had been created when the company was much smaller. - The refresh expanded the limited brand guide with additional rules for areas such as blog imagery and illustration. - Existing elements, including geometric shapes, were given new applications while remaining recognizable. - The goal was continuity: the new identity should feel like an extension of Figma’s original character. ## Defining Figma’s Personality - The team treated Figma as a person to clarify how the brand should behave and communicate. - Four personality traits became the main guideposts: - **Curious:** clever, playful, imaginative, and eager to explore. - **Vibrant:** dynamic, confident, energetic, and enthusiastic. - **Honest:** inclusive, empathetic, approachable, and willing to learn. - **Bold:** powerful, unexpected, nonconforming, and authentic. - These traits were intended to let the brand shift between consumer and enterprise audiences, and between reserved and playful expressions. ## Shapes That Represent Collaboration - Figma’s new illustrations use shapes as characters that interact, cooperate, disagree, or simply coexist. - Their positioning creates different compositions and communicates collaboration. - Illustrations vary in complexity: - Simple visuals support learning and clarity. - More abstract arrangements are used when the context allows greater expression. - Basic shapes can combine into complex images, making the construction process visible. - The illustrations deliberately show work in progress, including edited or manipulated elements, rather than presenting only polished final results. - This imperfect quality reflects the messy, evolving nature of design and encourages people to share how they make things. ## A Typeface with Hidden Character - Figma selected **Whyte** by Swiss type foundry Dinamo as its new brand typeface. - The team preferred Whyte’s **inktrap** version, which contains notches historically used in metal type to control pooled ink. - These details are subtle at small sizes but become visible when enlarged, giving the typography an illustrative quality. - The typeface supports Figma’s desired balance between conventional clarity and nonconforming personality. ## Refreshing Figma with Figma - The team created the entire refresh in Figma rather than relying on Photoshop or Illustrator. - Working in its own product challenged the designers to develop new workflows and creative techniques. - Collaboration was central, and Figma’s capabilities sometimes pushed ideas further than initially planned. - The tool became both the subject of the rebrand and the medium through which the new identity was developed. The refresh demonstrates how a growing company can strengthen its brand by extending existing principles, defining a clear personality, and making the creative process itself part of the identity.

Collaboration Figma Typography Illustration+3

figmaSep 3, 20194 min readCurated summary

How we do design critiques at Figma | Figma Blog

Figma argues that design critiques should be motivating, useful, and psychologically safe—not intimidating or discouraging. After identifying problems in its own critique process, the team redesigned critiques around clear goals and several formats suited to different stages of design work. The result is a more flexible practice focused on unblocking designers, improving quality, sharing context, and encouraging collaboration. ## Improving the Critique Process Figma began by “critiquing critiques” and gathering feedback from its design team. Common problems included: - Overcrowded meetings - Shallow or unactionable feedback - Complex problems squeezed into short time limits - Groupthink, excessive agreement, and reluctance to be honest - Critiques that failed to help designers move forward The team documented issues in a shared Figma file, identified the productive and creative energy in that workshop, and continued iterating through a dedicated Slack channel. ## Goals of Design Critique The team aligned on four primary purposes: - **Unblocking problems and generating ideas:** Helping designers overcome difficult problems or explore early possibilities. - **Elevating quality:** Improving visual design, interaction details, and broader product direction. - **Encouraging consistency:** Reusing established patterns and identifying when new patterns are needed. - **Sharing context:** Keeping the design team informed about company, product, and project developments. ## Standard Critiques Standard critiques are structured sessions in which a designer presents work and receives feedback from peers. They are most useful when the presenter explains the project’s context, goals, and specific questions before discussion begins. - The facilitator keeps the discussion focused and balanced. - Feedback should be concrete, honest, and actionable. - Participants should critique the work rather than the person. - The format works best when the group size and scope are limited. ## Jams and Workshops Jams and workshops are collaborative formats for situations that need ideas rather than evaluation. - Designers work together actively instead of simply commenting on a presentation. - They are useful for early-stage exploration, brainstorming, and complex problems. - The shared activity reduces the pressure placed on one presenter. - Their informal, energetic quality can produce the kind of creative collaboration Figma wanted in regular critiques. ## Pair Design Pair design places two designers together to solve a problem collaboratively. - One designer can explain their thinking while the other contributes ideas and challenges assumptions. - The format encourages deeper discussion and immediate iteration. - It is particularly useful for focused problems that benefit from sustained attention. - Pairing can produce more actionable feedback than a large-group discussion. ## Silent Critiques In a silent critique, participants review work and write feedback before discussing it aloud. - Everyone has time to inspect the work carefully. - Written comments reduce the influence of the most vocal participants. - The approach helps limit groupthink and “+1” feedback. - Discussion can focus on patterns and themes that emerge from the individual responses. ## Paper (“Print-Out”) Critiques Paper critiques use printed screens or designs placed around a room for participants to annotate. - Designers can review work at their own pace. - Feedback is often more detailed and specific than verbal comments. - The physical format encourages participants to engage directly with the work. - It is useful for reviewing multiple screens or flows without a presentation dominating the session. ## FYI Critiques FYI critiques are informational rather than feedback-driven. - A designer shares work mainly to provide context or visibility. - Participants are not expected to solve the problem or offer extensive critique. - This format avoids turning every design review into a decision-making meeting. - It helps the team stay informed while preserving critique time for work that needs active input. ## Principles for Effective Critiques Figma’s recommendations emphasize adapting the format to the work and creating a constructive environment: - Define the purpose of the session in advance. - Invite only people who can contribute relevant perspective. - Share context and specific questions before asking for feedback. - Match the critique format to the project’s stage and needs. - Use a facilitator to manage time, participation, and focus. - Encourage direct, respectful, actionable feedback. - Avoid groupthink and uncritical agreement. - Separate critique from final decision-making when appropriate. - Keep sessions focused enough that participants can engage deeply. - Treat the process as something to continually evaluate and improve. The practical recommendation is to stop treating critique as a single meeting format. Teams should establish clear goals, experiment with methods such as workshops, pair design, silent reviews, and FYI updates, and regularly assess whether critiques are genuinely helping designers feel inspired, challenged, and empowered.

Collaboration Figma Product Design Slack+1