Figma

532 posts

figmaApr 8, 20202 min readCurated summary

Building on our open platform: Design in Figma, prototype with Framer | Figma Blog

Figma argues that design tools should remain open, allowing users to move their data across products rather than becoming locked into one platform. Its new Framer Web integration lets teams design collaboratively in Figma and import files into Framer for more advanced, expressive prototypes. The announcement reinforces Figma’s broader strategy of building an ecosystem around APIs, plugins, and integrations. ## An Open Platform for Flexible Workflows - Figma has prioritized data portability since its founding. - Its web-based platform and APIs allow developers to access and use Figma data in external tools. - Customers have used the API to build internal tooling, create plugins, and even use Figma as a content management system. - Figma also launched an API challenge to encourage a Sketch exporter, but withdrew it after community feedback that it resembled unpaid “spec work.” ## Supporting Specialized Design Tools - Figma recognizes that although some teams use it for the entire design process, others prefer specialized tools. - Partners such as Zeplin provide alternative approaches to developer handoff. - Figma’s position is that no single product should try to serve every workflow; an ecosystem of complementary tools can fill specialized needs. ## Importing Figma Designs into Framer - The new Framer Web integration allows users to import Figma files directly into Framer Web. - Teams can collaborate on design in Figma, then use Framer to build richer and more expressive prototypes. - Framer Web was in beta at the time, with access available through a waitlist and setup instructions provided in Figma’s documentation. ## Broader Integrations - Figma planned to launch additional integrations throughout the year. - Prototyping and user testing: Flinto, Principle, ProtoPie, and Maze. - Developer handoff: Avocode, Storybook, ZeroHeight, and Zeplin. - Collaboration and project workflows: Coda, Dribbble, Dropbox, Jira, Notion, Slack, and Trello. Figma’s recommendation is implicit: use Figma as a collaborative design foundation while choosing the best external tools for prototyping, testing, handoff, and project management.

Figma Prototyping Design Collaboration Figma Plugins+3

figmaApr 7, 20202 min readCurated summary

Keeping that tight-knit feeling, at a distance | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote work requires more than moving meetings online: teams must intentionally recreate the informal interactions that build trust and community. Its approach combines aligned leadership, recurring social rituals, playful meeting practices, and collaborative activities in Figma. The goal is to preserve connection and morale even when colleagues cannot share an office. ## Keeping the Team Close - Remote work removes spontaneous interactions such as coffee breaks, shared meals, and hallway conversations. - Teams should preserve these moments deliberately rather than treating them as unnecessary. - Meetings that could be replaced by email or Slack can still provide valuable opportunities to check in socially. ## Coordinating Leaders - Figma’s CEO brought managers together to brainstorm ways to maintain team cohesion. - Leaders shared practices such as daily morning check-ins and virtual coffees. - A dedicated Slack channel lets managers exchange ideas, articles, and resources. - Individual teams can choose different approaches while maintaining a shared sense of collective responsibility. ## Creating Moments of Joy - Figma organizes optional workouts, pet-owner meetups, and other informal gatherings. - Zoom chat is used to applaud presenters, add comments, and ask questions. - All Hands meetings end with everyone briefly turning on video to see one another. - Biweekly “Show and Tell” sessions let employees share work, stories, or personal interests. - The company introduced playful elements such as sharing favorite Zoom backgrounds. - Daily Slack prompts encourage upbeat conversation, including recommendations for weekend television. - Donut pairs employees with one or two random colleagues for informal conversations. - Coworkers have adapted walking one-on-ones into Zoom or FaceTime walks. ## Collaborative Activities in Figma - **Figma Tennis:** Participants volley images back and forth, building on each other’s designs. - **Trash Dinosaur:** Teams collaboratively assemble a dinosaur from five virtual pieces of trash. - **Virtual bookshelf:** Colleagues display favorite or currently read books. - **Word-guessing game:** A Pictionary-style activity tests drawing and guessing skills. - These activities can stand alone or be used as short, energizing additions to regular meetings. Teams working remotely should intentionally schedule informal connection, support leaders in sharing successful practices, and make room for playful collaborative experiences—not just task-focused calls.

Figma Slack Remote Collaboration Zoom+2

figmaMar 31, 20202 min readCurated summary

How Students Who Design set up Figma in their online classroom | Figma Blog

Students Who Design uses Figma as the central workspace for running an online product-design course. Its system combines personal onboarding, shared file organization, reusable UI templates, recorded lectures, hands-on assignments, and asynchronous instructor feedback. The approach helps students work independently while allowing instructors to monitor progress and provide guidance in a shared environment. ## Pre-Class Setup - Students create free personal Figma accounts and familiarize themselves with the editor before class begins. - Instructors invite students to the Students Who Design team as editors. - Lectures are stored in the shared workspace, with Loom recordings providing audio narration for self-paced learning. - Projects and naming conventions organize instructor materials, sponsorship work, brand assets, and student files. - Each student creates a Master Figma file using the naming format `Intro DPD: Name`, making work easy to locate and manage. ## Teaching Through Hands-On Projects - The three-week course centers on improving Messenger: - Research and design principles - A class-wide brainstorm to prioritize feature improvements - An individual high-fidelity user flow - Students watch recorded lectures and complete assignments on weekly deadlines. - Each student duplicates a master file containing a UI kit and Messenger building blocks, reducing setup time and keeping work consistent. - Students use Pages to document their process, with recommended organization including: - Numbered pages for easy scanning - Titles describing the design stage or page contents - Dedicated areas for exploration, inspiration, and revisions - Because students work in one file throughout the course, they can create and share Figma prototypes directly with instructors. ## Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback - Figma lets instructors enter student files remotely and review progress without being physically present. - Viewing individual pages makes it easy to identify completed assignments and ongoing explorations. - Critique and feedback are treated as essential parts of the course, particularly for beginners. - The shared workspace supports asynchronous review while keeping student work, prototypes, and course materials connected. The recommended model is to establish a clear workspace structure before class, give students reusable templates, and keep all project development in one organized Figma file. This creates a flexible online classroom where students can learn at their own pace while instructors maintain visibility and provide timely design feedback.

Figma Prototyping User Interface Online Learning+2

figmaMar 30, 20203 min readCurated summary

How to run a remote brainstorm | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote brainstorming requires more deliberate structure than in-person sessions, especially when teams can no longer rely on spontaneous huddles or whiteboards. Clear goals, shared tools, advance preparation, and smaller breakout groups help remote participants contribute more comfortably and creatively. The central recommendation is to preserve space for ideas while adding enough organization to keep the session focused. ## Why Remote Brainstorms Are Different - Fully distributed teams lose many informal collaboration habits, such as quick conference-room discussions. - Brainstorms require more creative energy than routine status meetings. - Uncertainty and remote-work challenges can make it harder for people to generate and share ideas. - Remote sessions therefore need both structure and room for exploration. ## Preparing the Session ### Define the Goal - Decide whether the session should produce many new ideas or refine a few existing options. - Tailor the level and type of input requested to the project’s current phase. - Communicate the goal clearly so participants understand how they can contribute. ### Set Up the Tools - **Video conferencing:** Put the call link in the calendar invite and encourage cameras where possible to create stronger personal connection. - **Shared Figma file:** Create one central workspace with edit access for all participants. - Use separate pages or frames for different themes. - Share a dedicated brainstorming file rather than relying on scattered documents. - **Chat channel:** For ongoing work, create a Slack channel for updates, notes, and follow-up feedback. - Add the working-document link to the channel topic for easy access. ### Share Materials in Advance - Send the brainstorming file the night before or the morning of the session. - Explain what the group should accomplish. - Add initial ideas or questions for participants to review and develop. - Allow people to ask questions privately or leave comments in the file before the meeting. ## Running the Brainstorm ### Start with Context and Guardrails - Restate the goal and explain what kind of help is needed. - Expect the conversation to go off track; enthusiasm can be a positive sign. - Create a “Parking lot” in the shared document for relevant but out-of-scope ideas to revisit later. ### Use Structured Exercises and Small Groups - Structured activities are generally more effective than completely freeform discussion when everyone is remote. - Divide participants into groups of two or three during video calls. - Smaller groups make it easier for quieter people to participate. - They also reduce technical and communication problems. - In each group, appoint a lead to report key takeaways to the wider team. - Share the Figma file on screen or have participants follow along using Observation mode. - Use video-conferencing breakout rooms when available. A successful remote brainstorm combines thoughtful preparation with a collaborative shared workspace. Teams should define the desired outcome, distribute materials early, use small-group exercises, and capture tangential ideas without letting them derail the main discussion.

Figma Slack Remote Collaboration Brainstorming+2

figmaMar 1, 20202 min readCurated summary

The Dropbox guide to building creative culture | Figma Blog

Culture shapes team happiness, belonging, productivity, innovation, and business outcomes. The Dropbox design team argues that creative culture should be built intentionally rather than left to develop by accident. Its Team Values Toolkit turns abstract beliefs into shared values, observable behaviors, reinforcing habits, and an iterative process. ## Culture as Intentional Practice - Culture is how teams act on their beliefs. - It exists at company, organizational, team, and working-group levels. - Although culture forms inevitably, intentional design helps creative teams innovate and deliver stronger work. - Dropbox developed Culture Kits to help teams make culture concrete and actionable. ## Defining Beliefs and Shared Values - Team members share stories about meaningful work experiences to uncover their individual values. - Including everyone’s perspective helps prevent culture from reflecting only dominant viewpoints or top-down directives. - The team then identifies recurring themes and combines related ideas into shared values, such as grouping “teamwork,” “partnership,” and “clear goals” under “collaboration.” - Shared values should support the team’s goals and connect with broader company values where appropriate. ## Turning Values into Behaviors - Values become useful when translated into specific actions. - Teams should discuss how their values guide: - Decision-making - Conflict and tension - Collaboration - Feedback - Day-to-day working relationships - These behaviors make cultural principles visible in actual team practices. ## Establishing Reinforcing Habits - Teams should define communication styles, norms, and processes that encourage desired behaviors. - For collaboration, this might include cross-functional practices and regular feedback. - The relationship between values, behaviors, and reinforcement creates a shared social contract. - Consistent habits determine how culture is experienced and understood by the team. ## Evaluating and Iterating - Cultural change takes time, so teams should preserve practices that work and remove those that do not. - Teams should define ways to assess whether their culture supports both people and outcomes. - Regular events, such as quarterly offsites, provide opportunities to revisit and refine the framework. - Like a product, culture should be continuously tested and improved. A healthy creative culture requires more than choosing inspiring values; teams must practice and reinforce them consistently. The Team Values Toolkit offers a structured way to build that culture collaboratively and keep adapting it over time.

Figma Team Collaboration Design Process Dropbox+1

figmaFeb 26, 20202 min readCurated summary

Reflections on Config, our first user conference | Figma Blog

Config, Figma’s first user conference, brought more than 1,000 participants together to learn, collaborate, and strengthen the design community. Rather than imposing a rigid agenda, Figma invited users to shape the event through workshops, talks, and roundtables. The conference highlighted open design, deeper community connection, and the importance of using technology to support—not replace—human relationships. ## A Conference Built by the Community - Figma created Config as a physical gathering where users and employees could exchange ideas directly. - Attendees discussed team culture, mentorship, design ethics, and other issues affecting the design industry. - Many sessions came from community submissions, encouraging participants to contribute rather than simply listen. - Sessions were also recorded for people who could not attend in person. ## Open Design and Shared Creativity - A central theme was “open design”: sharing, remixing, and building on one another’s work. - Devon Zuegel explored how open-source principles apply to urban planning and physical infrastructure. - Jason Kunesh described how Chicago students helped create a design system when the city’s design team lacked resources. - Miguel Solorio explained how Microsoft incorporated the broader community into its design process. ## Technology as a Tool for Connection - Craig Mod warned that technology can encourage isolation, even as it makes communication easier. - He argued that digital tools should help people connect more deeply with their surroundings rather than escape them. - May-Li Khoe discussed challenging established norms while supporting the communities she cares about. - Both talks encouraged attendees to consider their responsibility to build stronger, more inclusive communities. ## Continuing the Conversation - Figma presented Config as an ongoing community dialogue rather than a one-time event. - The company thanked attendees, speakers, and employees for making the conference possible. - Figma encouraged everyone to watch the recorded sessions and stay engaged with future discussions. Config’s main lesson was that design becomes more powerful when it is shared openly and grounded in community. Future conferences and design initiatives should prioritize participation, collaboration, and meaningful human connection.

Figma Design Systems Open Source Design Tools+2

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.

Figma Design Systems Prototyping Collaboration+3

figmaJan 29, 20202 min readCurated summary

Test designs early and often with the new Maze integration | Figma Blog

Figma’s new Maze integration lets teams test interactive prototypes with real users before development, making research faster and less expensive than waiting for production A/B tests. By importing a Figma prototype link into Maze, teams can measure usability across individual tasks or complete user flows. The post also recommends practical research habits to ensure tests produce reliable, actionable insights. ## Earlier Testing with Figma and Maze - Maze provides quantitative UX insights from real users, supporting both small-scale interviews and tests involving thousands of participants. - Teams can copy and paste a Figma prototype link into Maze to begin testing during the design phase. - The integration helps product teams identify usability problems before committing to development. - At launch, Maze offered Figma users 30% off paid plans for three months with the code `MAZE_LOVES_FIGMA`. ## Define Measurable Goals - Establish what success means before building the prototype. - Use specific metrics, such as requiring 80% of participants to complete tasks successfully and fewer than 2% to misclick. - Tailor goals to the purpose and scope of each test. ## Pilot the Test First - Run the test internally with teammates, friends, or family before involving real users. - Confirm that tasks are understandable, the prototype works correctly, and the success criteria are meaningful. - A pilot functions like a beta release, revealing problems before testing at scale. ## Include Users and Non-Users - Existing customers can provide informed feedback and may be enthusiastic early adopters. - Target customer segments most likely to use the proposed feature. - Include people unfamiliar with the product to avoid bias and gain fresh perspectives. ## Write Neutral Tasks - Avoid leading instructions such as “click here,” “go to,” or “navigate to.” - Focus tasks on the outcome users should achieve rather than the specific interface steps. - Avoid internal product terminology so the test measures intuitiveness rather than participants’ ability to follow directions. ## Collaborate on Analysis - Reviewing results as a team helps build agreement around findings and next steps. - Maze supports collaboration through instantly generated reports and shareable URLs. - Involving the broader product team can make research insights easier to act on. Teams should use the Figma–Maze workflow to validate designs early, measure outcomes against clear goals, and involve collaborators in interpreting the results.

Figma User Experience Prototyping User Testing+3

figmaJan 27, 20202 min readCurated summary

Figma on Figma: How we built our website design system | Figma Blog

Figma built its website design system to address inconsistent pages, duplicated solutions, and a difficult maintenance process. By auditing existing patterns, consolidating visual styles, and creating reusable components in Figma and Contentful, the marketing team established a flexible system that supports consistency without limiting creativity. The result is faster production: teams can move from concept to a live page in as little as one day, often without writing new code. ## Taking Inventory - The team cataloged existing fonts, sizes, colors, layouts, column widths, and other visual patterns in a shared Figma file. - This revealed: - Repeated patterns that could be unified - One-off components that did not belong in the style guide - Large page elements that could be broken into smaller reusable parts - The team applied an atomic approach, combining small “atoms” and “molecules” into flexible page “organisms.” - Similar but inconsistent elements were standardized: - Twelve heading sizes became H1–H3 styles - Body and technical text received defined styles - Long-form content gained pull-quote and block-quote styles - The refined components were organized into a shared library so even people unfamiliar with Figma’s brand could create cohesive pages. ## A Simplified, Flexible Design System - In about a month, the team created a robust style guide and component library integrated with Contentful. - The system standardized: - Typography - Spacing and padding - Line heights - Colors - Grid behavior - Designers could assemble pages from ready-made building blocks rather than recreating common elements. - Frequently paired elements and complete sections were turned into larger reusable components called “FLEGOs,” combining Figma and LEGO. - These components were designed to work together in many combinations, supporting different content and page layouts. ## Faster Marketing Production - Most of Figma’s core marketing site now uses the design-system framework. - Contentful allows the team to build and publish pages without requiring new code for each page. - A product marketer and web producer created the “What’s New” page by: - Wireframing with FLEGOs - Collaborating on copy in Figma - Building the final page from CMS components - The page went from idea to launch in under 48 hours, demonstrating how reusable components accelerated the process. Figma’s experience shows that a website design system should be both standardized and flexible. Auditing existing work, consolidating repeated patterns, and making components accessible through design and content tools can improve consistency while significantly reducing production time.

Figma Design Systems Component Library Atomic Design+2

figmaJan 8, 20202 min readCurated summary

Bringing the community together in Figma | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2020 priorities centered on strengthening its global community as the company and user base expanded. The company planned to connect users through in-person events, improved support, collaborative product features, and a richer platform for sharing design resources. Its broader goal was to make design more accessible and collaboration more effective for entire product teams. ## More Opportunities to Meet in Person - Figma launched Config, its first user conference, in San Francisco on February 6, 2020. - The event emphasized community-created programming, including talks on open-source design, developing future designers, design confidence, and redesigning Chicago.gov. - Figma also planned more local events and user groups in cities around the world. - Users were encouraged to participate either in person or online, and community leaders could help organize events in their cities. ## Expanded Global Customer Support - More than 80% of Figma’s active users were outside the United States, while its support team primarily covered North American and European business hours. - Figma moved its support technology to Zendesk to better serve customers globally. - Planned improvements included: - A new Help Center for self-service product information - Community forums for peer-to-peer support - Streamlined internal processes for faster responses ## Product Features for Entire Teams - After launching features such as Plugins, Auto Layout, Smart Animate, OpenType support, and Design System Analytics in 2019, Figma promised a larger 2020 product roadmap. - The company would continue reducing repetitive design work and improving creative productivity. - Figma also aimed to better support engineers, product managers, and other members of product teams—not just designers. - Files at larger organizations averaged six collaborators, highlighting the importance of team-based workflows. ## Building a More Open Design Community - Figma introduced the beta of Figma Community in October 2019 to let creators publish files for others to inspect, remix, and learn from. - More than 300 creators had already shared around 600 files, including templates, educational guides, and public libraries. - In 2020, Figma planned to expand the number of contributors and resources so both professional and aspiring designers could discover ideas and learn from shared work. Figma’s roadmap combined product development with community-building: expanding events, improving global support, enabling broader team collaboration, and making shared design resources easier to discover and reuse.

Figma Design Systems Auto Layout Plugins+4

figmaDec 18, 20192 min readCurated summary

Measuring the value of design systems | Figma Blog

Design systems can substantially reduce the time designers spend recreating assets, searching for references, and making repetitive visual decisions. Figma’s controlled experiment found that designers completed tasks **34% faster** when they had access to a relevant, up-to-date design system. The result represents an upper bound for real-world savings, since design systems are not always perfectly aligned with the work at hand. ## Why Design Systems Create Time Savings - Designers avoid recreating common elements from scratch. - Shared libraries reduce the need to search through old design files. - Predefined assets minimize small, repetitive decisions about: - Typography - Placement - Colors - Component structure - The accumulated savings can give designers more time for strategic and creative work. ## The Experiment - Designers were asked to complete two comparable tasks for a bank account aggregation app: - Designing a screen for viewing account transactions and trends. - Designing a flow for connecting a new account. - Each participant completed both tasks, but had access to a design system for only one. - For the task without the system, designers could reference older design files. - The tasks were balanced so each participant served as their own control. - Researchers alternated task order, allowed participants to familiarize themselves with the assets, and avoided prescribing specific design solutions. - Completion time was measured, while designers chose when their work was sufficiently complete. ## The 34% Improvement - Participants with access to the design system completed their objective **34% faster**. - The system was specifically relevant, current, and applicable to the assigned tasks. - Because of those ideal conditions, Figma considers 34% a likely maximum rather than an average real-world benefit. - Figma’s broader goal was to help design teams use analytics to keep libraries relevant and understand the value they provide. ## Maintaining the System’s Value - Design systems are most valuable when they reflect the work designers actually need to do. - Quantitative usage data can help teams identify which components are useful, compare libraries, and decide where maintenance is needed. - Figma introduced Design System Analytics to provide insight into library and component usage, supporting better decisions about shared assets. A design system should be treated as an actively maintained productivity tool, not merely a repository of reusable components. Teams can maximize its value by measuring adoption and keeping its assets current and relevant.

Figma Design Systems Data Science Design System Analytics+1

figmaDec 17, 20192 min readCurated summary

Made in Figma, 2019: Design by the numbers | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2019 usage data shows design becoming more collaborative, measurable, and broadly practiced. Anonymized data reveals strong preferences for cool colors, widely available sans-serif fonts, bold typography, and desktop and mobile frame presets. It also shows that design files increasingly serve as shared spaces for cross-functional teams rather than isolated work by individual designers. ## Color and Typography Trends - The most popular non-gray color was teal `#009688`, followed by dark blue-gray `#455A64` and `#263238`. - These cool tones contrasted with Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year, Living Coral (`#FF6F61`). - Montserrat, Open Sans, and Lato were the three most-used fonts. - Google Fonts accounted for six of the top ten fonts, largely because they are readily available in Figma. - SF Pro Text, SF Pro Display, Proxima Nova, and Arial also ranked highly; notably, Arial surpassed Helvetica among system fonts. - Roboto, Figma’s default font, was excluded from the rankings. - Font usage was highly concentrated: 90% of usage came from the top 11 fonts, including Roboto. - Font Awesome ranked 31st, while Times New Roman ranked 55th. The first serif font, Playfair Display, appeared at number 22. - Designers were 13 times more likely to adjust font weight than italicize text, and one-third of files used bold or heavy styles. ## Frame and Device Preferences - Figma offered 36 preset frame options, and 33% of files began with one of them. - The 1440 × 1024 desktop frame was the most popular preset. - iPhone X and iPhone 8 frames followed closely, showing strong interest in both desktop and mobile design. - The ordering was notable given that Windows has much greater global usage than macOS. ## Collaboration Across Teams - Figma’s data reflects its goal of making design an open, collaborative process. - In larger organizations, files averaged six collaborators. - Collaborators could include designers, developers, product managers, writers, and other stakeholders. - A file typically began with one person working independently. - After an average of 19 days, the first collaborator was invited to review, comment, or contribute. ## Overall Direction The data suggests that 2019 design work was shaped by accessible tools, reusable conventions, and increasing teamwork. While designers favored familiar fonts, cool color palettes, and strong type weights, Figma files were also becoming shared product-development spaces involving people beyond design.

Figma Design Systems Prototyping Collaborative Design+2

figmaDec 4, 20192 min readCurated summary

Design more, resize less, with Auto Layout | Figma Blog

Figma’s Auto Layout brings structural concepts from CSS flexbox into a free-form design environment. It reduces repetitive resizing and repositioning by making frames respond automatically to their content, while preserving designers’ ability to explore layouts freely. The result is a workflow that feels closer to production code without sacrificing visual experimentation. ## Bridging Design and Development - Traditional Figma designs require manual updates when content changes, such as resizing a button and repositioning neighboring elements. - HTML/CSS and SwiftUI handle these relationships automatically, but are less suited to rapid, free-form design exploration. - Auto Layout combines both approaches by adding flexible, code-inspired layout behavior as a property of any Figma frame. ## How Auto Layout Works - Items inside an Auto Layout frame are arranged vertically or horizontally. - The frame automatically sizes itself based on its contents. - Frames can include padding, fills, strokes, and corner radii, allowing designers to create buttons without extra layers. - Changing button text automatically resizes the button and adjusts surrounding elements. - Spacing is controlled at the container level rather than independently between every pair of items. ## Lists, Menus, and Design Systems - Auto Layout simplifies repeated interface elements such as lists and menus. - Items can be reordered through drag and drop instead of manually repositioning them. - Existing components and design-system elements can be converted using **Shift + A** or the Option menu. - The feature supports more generic components that adapt to different content instead of requiring separate variants. ## Nested Frames and Safeguards - Auto Layout frames can be nested to build complex interfaces, similar to nested HTML `div` elements. - Designers can edit content or move elements in and out of layout frames. - Figma includes safeguards against unintended actions, such as placing a large image inside a button. - Holding **Command** on macOS or **Ctrl** on Windows overrides these safeguards when needed. Figma recommends trying Auto Layout through its playground file, video, and documentation. The initial release was presented as a starting point, with further improvements expected based on user feedback.

Figma Design Systems HTML Responsive Design+3

figmaNov 21, 20192 min readCurated summary

Humanity at work: Gusto brings a new brand to life with Figma | Figma Blog

Gusto used Figma to turn a brand refresh into a company-wide effort centered on the human experience of work. The collaboration brought marketing, brand, product, and non-design teams into the same workspace, helping them align on the new identity and apply it consistently across Gusto’s platform. Figma’s real-time collaboration, commenting, libraries, and components helped translate the brand into a scalable product system. ## Why Gusto Rebranded - Formerly ZenPayroll, Gusto serves more than 100,000 small businesses with payroll, benefits, and HR tools. - Although customers valued the product, Gusto felt its existing brand did not reflect the human way it served them. - The refresh aimed to unify brand awareness, product development, and customer experience. - Gusto viewed its brand as the sum of every user interaction, not something owned solely by marketing or brand design. ## Bringing the Whole Company Into the Process - A major challenge was aligning roughly 1,000 employees around the new brand. - Gusto chose Figma as a shared workspace where employees could: - See work develop in real time - Communicate and share ideas - Comment directly on designs - Take ownership of the rebrand - Figma also helped non-designers understand the design process and appreciate design decisions. ## Connecting Brand and Product Teams - Brand and product design teams worked as equal partners through brainstorming sessions and workshops. - They jointly developed: - Color palettes - Typography - Brand starter templates - Product applications of the new identity - In collaborative sessions such as “Refresca,” designers applied the new brand to different product areas together in Figma. - Early collaboration made it easier to carry the brand consistently through the entire product experience while highlighting meaningful moments in distinctive ways. ## Building a Scalable Design System - Gusto wanted a reliable “system of record” for how its products should look. - The product design team created a UI kit using Figma libraries and components. - The kit was based on the brand team’s guidelines and provided reusable foundations for multiple products. - This system helped designers work consistently and scale the new brand as Gusto grew. Gusto’s experience shows that a successful rebrand requires more than new visual guidelines. Shared tools and close collaboration can align an entire company, connect brand strategy to product design, and create a cohesive customer experience.

Figma Design Systems Collaborative Design User Interface Design+2

figmaNov 19, 20192 min readCurated summary

Opening up the data behind your design systems | Figma Blog

Figma introduced Design System Analytics to help organizations understand how their libraries and components are used across teams. The feature provides usage trends, library comparisons, and component-level data so design system teams can improve what they maintain, guide migrations, and measure adoption without monitoring individual designers. Customer examples show analytics turning usage data into practical design system decisions. ## Improving Components Through Usage Data - Teams can identify components that are widely used, rarely used, or frequently detached. - Microsoft uses this information to determine which Fluent components need maintenance or may no longer be important. - Google found that its button component was detached more than any other component, revealing that the master component was too complex. - The Material Design team responded by creating a simpler button option while preserving flexibility for designers. ## Tracking Library Adoption and Migration - Design System Analytics compares usage trends between libraries over time. - Squarespace planned to replace an older shared library with a new version using Auto Layout. - Analytics helps the team: - Monitor adoption of the new library across teams - Identify which teams are using it - Ensure the old library is gradually deprecated - Reports include component insertions, active teams, total instances, and detachments. ## Understanding Component Usage Across Teams - Analytics allows teams to examine how individual shared components are being used. - Pluralsight planned to use the reports to understand how designers work with components from its design system. - Because reports are available to anyone within an organization, designers and managers can independently investigate usage patterns and learn from other teams’ examples. ## Measuring Design System Impact Earlier - Figma positions analytics as a way to measure design system adoption earlier in the product development process, rather than waiting until implementation. - The article introduces Bukalapak as an example of a company that had previously measured adoption during development, though the provided text ends before describing the full outcome. ## Expanded Capabilities - The original 2019 feature focused primarily on components and library usage. - As of February 2025, Figma Library Analytics also includes styles and variables for Organization and Enterprise customers. - Enterprise customers can access expanded functionality through the Library Analytics API. Design System Analytics is intended to provide feedback for improving and evolving design systems, not to police individual designers. Teams can use the data to prioritize maintenance, simplify components, track migrations, and make adoption measurable.

Figma Design Systems Auto Layout Component Libraries+1