figmaJul 10, 2025

In Good Company: How Retailers Use Figma to Elevate E-commerce | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

The article argues that successful e-commerce depends on cohesive, trustworthy digital experiences that connect customer needs, operational systems, and brand values. It highlights how Nuuly, Ruggable, and GitHub use Figma to improve collaboration, maintain consistency, and create more engaging shopping experiences. Nuuly’s example shows how thoughtful design systems can simplify highly complex business processes for customers and employees alike. ## Nuuly: Simplifying Clothing Rental - Nuuly aims to make clothing rental an everyday habit, giving subscribers flexibility to experiment with their style. - Its business requires complex behind-the-scenes systems for: - Circular inventory management - Cleaning and repairs - Rental logistics - Nuuly built two separate design systems: - One for the customer-facing experience - One for internal rental-management tools - Both systems use flexible color and typography tokens so the brand can evolve seasonally. - The “My Nuuly” feature makes more than 26 rental statuses understandable by showing customers what is happening now and what to expect next. - In 2023, Nuuly migrated to Figma and consolidated 16 fragmented design files into two shared libraries. - Figma’s prototyping and collaboration tools helped the team: - Work faster - Communicate interaction details more clearly to developers - Stay aligned across departments - Content, photography, and other teams also adopted Figma, FigJam, and Figma Slides for brainstorming, reviews, and customer-journey improvements. ## Ruggable: Creating Consistent Digital Experiences - Ruggable’s UX leadership encountered siloed workflows across social advertising, the homepage, and product-detail pages. - These disconnected processes produced inconsistent digital experiences. - The article presents Ruggable as an example of how shared design practices can connect marketing and e-commerce touchpoints, though the supplied text ends before describing its specific solutions. ## GitHub and Design Business Company: Designing for Developers - The article also introduces a collaboration between GitHub and Design Business Company. - Their goal was to create a storefront specifically tailored to developers. - The partnership illustrates how brands can use design to add personality and delight while remaining aligned with their audience’s expectations. By combining scalable design systems with cross-functional collaboration, retailers can make complicated services feel simple, improve internal efficiency, and deliver a more consistent brand experience across every digital surface.

e-commercefigmadesign-systemsprototyping+2

figmaJul 25, 2023

Shopify’s secret for staying ahead of the game | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Shopify encourages teams to pursue bold, unconventional ideas instead of settling for incremental improvements. The company challenges standard practices in product discovery, planning, and decision-making, using visual collaboration tools to create more creative and inclusive discussions. Its approach suggests that deliberately disrupting familiar workflows can produce stronger, more original outcomes. ## Challenge Documentation-First Product Work - Traditional roadmapping often begins with a written document outlining the problem and proposed direction. - Shopify’s Katarina Batina argues that this method can reinforce habits rather than clarify the real problem or uncover broader opportunities. - Starting in a collaborative visual workspace such as FigJam helps teams “break their brains” out of linear thinking. - Roadmap templates make metrics, key problems, proposed solutions, principles, assumptions, and dependencies explicit. - This structure allows teams to explore possibilities more freely instead of simply reacting to a finished document. ## Plan How You Plan - Shopify adapted a FigJam template for an annual in-person planning session among largely remote colleagues. - Team members completed the template beforehand, creating a shared baseline for discussion. - During the meeting, they updated the plan in real time as strategic decisions were made. - The shared workspace preserved the outcomes digitally, avoiding the need to photograph scattered sticky notes. - The team considered this approach its most effective planning session to date. ## Democratize Strategic Discussions - Shopify treats design tools as the primary setting for discussing strategic product decisions. - Visual collaboration gives people more ways to express ideas than written documents alone. - This is especially important for employees who may have strong ideas but do not excel at articulating them in prose. - In large meetings, participants can communicate through links, images, project snapshots, and sketches rather than relying entirely on text. - The approach makes decision-making more inclusive and helps teams develop a forward-looking vision. ## Sketch Ideas Instead of Overexplaining Them - The article begins a further section arguing that sketching can help teams develop ideas that are difficult to express verbally. - The provided text ends before this section is completed. Shopify’s broader recommendation is to intentionally disrupt familiar processes: replace rigid documents with visual exploration, make planning collaborative and continuous, and give teams multiple ways to communicate ideas.

e-commercefigmafigjamux-design+2

figmaSep 2, 2020

Making Design Within Reach for online shoppers | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Design Within Reach (DWR) redesigned its e-commerce site to recreate the personalized showroom experience online, responding to changing consumer expectations and increased online shopping during COVID-19. In partnership with BASIC®, DWR adopted a transparent, collaborative workflow using Figma, conducted extensive customer research, and launched a responsive site with live sales support. The redesign increased sales and established a scalable design system for Herman Miller’s broader family of brands. ## A Transparent Agency Partnership - DWR partnered with BASIC® to combine the agency’s e-commerce expertise with DWR’s internal brand and product knowledge. - Both organizations worked as one co-creative team rather than in separate workstreams. - Shared Figma files allowed designers in different companies and time zones to collaborate in real time. - Continuous access to the latest files eliminated version-control issues and effectively created 14-hour workdays across teams. - Figma prototypes also made it easy for executives and other stakeholders to review progress through shareable links. ## Bringing the Showroom Experience Online - The redesign was informed by 110 hours of customer research and testing with more than 200 participants. - Interactive Figma prototypes enabled rapid usability testing and iteration. - The site launched in July 2020 with responsive layouts and video chat connecting shoppers with sales associates. - Customers using the new live chat features were nine times more likely to complete an online purchase. - DWR saw an immediate increase in purchases after launch instead of the typical temporary decline following a major website release. ## A Scalable Design System - The redesign became the foundation for Herman Miller’s first design system spanning multiple brands. - DWR and BASIC® created a shared set of reusable components and a consistent visual language. - Developers can implement standardized components more quickly. - Content authors can assemble pages by dragging in prebuilt components, updating images, and editing text. - Cloud-based Figma libraries make it easier to share assets and scale the system across internal teams and external partners. DWR’s experience suggests that combining close agency collaboration, user-centered research, real-time design tools, and reusable components can make complex showroom-style retail experiences effective online while preparing a brand for future growth.

e-commercefigmadesign-systemsux-design+3

figmaNov 19, 2017

5 international cities with up-and-coming UI/UX design communities | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

The article argues that UI/UX innovation is no longer concentrated in Silicon Valley. Global conferences, meetups, education programs, and remote work are helping design communities grow in cities with distinct cultural and economic environments. It highlights São Paulo, Shenzhen, Riga, and the beginning of Lima’s profile as promising international design hubs. ## Global Design Is Becoming More Distributed - Silicon Valley’s influence can create a narrow view of the technology industry. - Design communities are expanding worldwide through: - UX conferences and local meetups - Remote work - Educational and internship programs - Growing collaboration between designers and developers - The article presents these cities as opportunities for graduates, digital nomads, and remote freelancers seeking active design communities. ## São Paulo, Brazil - São Paulo’s cultural diversity and progressive social environment support experimentation in technology and design. - The **Design Thinking para Startups** Meetup had more than 5,000 members discussing design sprints and Value Proposition Design. - **Front UX** focuses on improving collaboration between designers and developers. - UX/UI consultancy **Key Ideas** works with major clients including Nestlé, Samsung, and Colgate. - The city is portrayed as an emerging design powerhouse shaped by its large, educated population and craft-oriented culture. ## Shenzhen, China - Shenzhen transformed from a fishing village of roughly 30,000 people into a metropolis of approximately 11 million after becoming a Special Economic Zone. - By 2017, it had around: - 6,000 design firms - 100,000 design professionals - Its design scene spans digital products and many other creative disciplines. - UNESCO recognized Shenzhen as a cultural and creative center. - Industry observers predicted that Shenzhen could become a global innovation leader comparable to Silicon Valley. ## Riga, Latvia - Riga combines historic architecture with a growing contemporary creative and technology sector. - The annual **UX Riga** conference brings international speakers, workshops, and roughly 450 attendees. - The **UX/UI Riga** Meetup had 667 members discussing e-commerce UX and practical prototyping. - Riga-based startup DigiPulse attracted international attention by launching an early version of a digital cryptocurrency vault. - The city demonstrates how smaller European capitals can build globally connected design communities. ## Lima, Peru - Lima is introduced as a major coastal Latin American city, ranking behind Mexico City and São Paulo in metropolitan population. - Its Spanish Baroque and colonial architecture provide a distinctive cultural setting for its emerging design and technology scene. - The supplied excerpt ends before the article details Lima’s specific design organizations, companies, or programs. The broader recommendation is to look beyond established technology centers: emerging cities can offer strong professional networks, distinctive perspectives, and meaningful opportunities for UI/UX designers.

e-commerceprototypingdesign-thinkingui-ux-design+4