figmaJun 3, 2021

Pride 2021: Getting back out there | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s 2021 Pride post presents Pride as both a celebration of LGBTQ+ identity and a continuation of the community’s history of resistance. Clancy Slack describes how Figma’s Pride Employee Resource Group creates space for authenticity and belonging, especially after the isolation and injustice of 2020. As in-person events began returning, Figma invited the broader design community to express Pride through posters made and shared in Figma Community. ## Figma’s commitment to community and belonging - Figma’s mission of making design accessible extends to building inclusive communities. - Figma Community connects hundreds of thousands of users who collaborate and create together. - Employee Resource Groups help Figmates connect around shared identities and experiences. - The Pride ERG, founded in 2019, provides LGBTQ+ employees with a space to be open, authentic, and supported. - During Maker Week, the group explored Pride iconography and collaboratively designed original artwork. ## Pride’s history and renewed significance - Pride offers LGBTQ+ people a rare opportunity to celebrate openly, feel safe, and connect with their community. - The occasion commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and the history of resistance to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and police raids. - The pandemic and widespread reminders of injustice made community and solidarity especially important in 2020. - With vaccinations increasing and cities preparing for in-person parades, Pride represented a hopeful return to public celebration. ## A call for Pride posters - Figma encouraged designers, artists, and makers to create Pride posters using the platform. - Participants were asked to publish their work to Figma Community with the hashtag **#pride**. - Posters could be printed for local parades or used to celebrate Pride at home. - Figma planned to feature selected designs in a curated Community collection. - The post highlighted employee-created designs, including messages such as “Show your true colors” and “Love is Love.” - A Figma template provided standard sizing and printing guidance. Figma’s central recommendation is to use creative collaboration to strengthen visibility, connection, and LGBTQ+ community celebration—bringing Pride back into public spaces while keeping its history and purpose in view.

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figmaMar 24, 2021

Completing a transit map | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma invites the community to help complete a digital transit map of the San Francisco Bay Area created in memory of transit advocate Courtney Garg Brousseau. After Courtney’s death, Figma employees recreated his unfinished project from limited reference images, with his family’s permission. The resulting Figma Community file is intentionally open for others to expand, correct, and remix. ## Courtney’s Transit Map Project - Courtney was a passionate public-transit advocate who was building a Bay Area transit map in Figma. - His design was inspired by iconic New York City subway maps. - After learning of his death, Figma worked with his family to preserve and continue the project. - Because the original Figma file was unavailable, Figma rebuilt the map from a small number of images. ## An Incomplete Community File - Figma published the recreated map as a Figma Community file with Courtney’s family’s permission. - The map still contains missing details because the reconstruction was based on limited source material. - The project reflects Figma Community’s collaborative model: people can share existing work and build upon it. - The map is intended for people interested in public transit, cartography, and design. ## How to Contribute Readers can help by: - Opening the transit map in Figma Community. - Clicking **Duplicate** to copy it into their drafts. - Adding to or refining the map. - Publishing their contribution back to the Figma Community. The article also directs readers to information about Courtney’s life, legacy, and nonprofit work. Ultimately, Figma presents the transit map as a collaborative memorial. Designers and transit enthusiasts are encouraged to complete and improve Courtney’s work while keeping his interest in accessible public transportation alive.

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figmaMar 17, 2021

By the numbers: one year of remote work | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s shift to remote work prompted an experiment to understand how teams collaborate when offline workflows move online. By introducing a template picker with remote-work-focused files, Figma increased collaboration and helped users discover more features and community resources. The findings suggest that curated templates can make remote collaboration easier and encourage broader cross-functional participation. ## Moving Offline Workflows Online - Figma increasingly used its platform for brainstorming, research, team building, and other activities previously handled in person. - The growth team hypothesized that templates designed for remote work could reduce collaboration challenges and increase activity beyond traditional design work. - Figma built a template picker offering blank presets and curated templates, then tested it with a portion of its existing user base. ## Results of the Template Experiment - Users who received the template picker had a **5% higher collaboration rate**, measured by edits or comments in shared files. - The picker improved feature discovery: - **10% more users** discovered frame presets. - **90% more users** used files from the Figma Community when creating files. - The benefits applied to both designers and cross-functional collaborators. - Popular templates covered design-specific activities, such as remote design sprints, as well as broader uses like whiteboarding and team-building. ## Collaboration Across Teams and Locations - After a year of remote work, Figma observed more collaboration across regions and time zones. - Designers worked more closely with cross-functional colleagues. - Teams began involving collaborators earlier in the design process. - User feedback on social media and requests for additional templates indicated that people valued and actively wanted these resources. Figma’s experience shows that thoughtfully curated templates can turn a collaboration tool into a broader virtual workspace, helping distributed teams work together more effectively.

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figmaOct 29, 2019

Let’s create Figma’s first user conference together | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced its first user conference, scheduled for February 6, 2020, in San Francisco. The event was designed as an in-person extension of Figma’s growing online community, giving users opportunities to learn from one another, share practical experiences, and build connections. Figma invited the community to help shape the program through speaker proposals and attendee applications. ## A conference built around the Figma community - Figma’s user base had grown from a small beta community to hundreds of thousands of active users worldwide. - The company emphasized that users had always learned from one another through inspiration, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration. - Following the launch of Figma Community, the conference would provide an offline space for users to connect and exchange ideas. ## Community-led programming - The event would feature: - Lightning talks - Workshops - Roundtables - A limited number of keynotes - Sessions could range from 15 minutes to one hour. - Users could submit their own ideas or nominate someone else to speak. - Suggested topics included: - Interesting projects built with Figma - Lessons learned through difficult experiences - Peer discussions - Collaborative activities using Figma - Proposal submissions were due by November 20, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. PST. ## Small, diverse attendance - Figma planned to keep the conference relatively small to encourage meaningful conversations. - The company sought diversity across ability, age, education, ethnicity, gender, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. - Because capacity might be limited, Figma could use a lottery system to help create a representative attendee group. - Applicants would receive notification after the deadline and have one guaranteed week to purchase a pass. ## Cost and scholarships - Tickets cost $299. - Figma offered scholarships so that financial constraints would not prevent participation. - Attendee applications were also due November 20, 2019. Figma’s announcement positioned the conference as a collaborative event shaped by its users. Prospective speakers and attendees were encouraged to apply and help create an inclusive, community-driven gathering.

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