Figma

532 posts

figmaMar 26, 20252 min readCurated summary

Figma Localizes Product and Support for Spanish Market | Figma Blog

Figma is launching a fully localized Spanish experience for users in Spain, including translated products, culturally adapted interfaces, and dedicated support. The move reflects Spain’s strong adoption of Figma and the company’s broader strategy to serve its largely international user base. Spanish becomes Figma’s second fully localized language after Japanese, with more languages planned later this year. ## Spanish Localization Goes Beyond Translation - Figma is adapting its product experience for Spanish-speaking users through: - Full product translation - Culturally relevant user interfaces - Dedicated Spanish-language support - The rollout begins March 27 and is expected to finish by April 17. - Figma says it aims to understand the specific needs of Spanish businesses and product teams. ## Figma’s Strong Presence in Spain - Nearly half of Spain’s IBEX 35 companies use Figma, including: - Amadeus - Banco Sabadell - Cabify - SEAT - Repsol - Telefonica - Spanish users created more than 1.5 million Figma files in 2024. - Nearly 34,000 files are edited daily across the country. - The Barcelona Friends of Figma community has more than 2,000 active members, making it Figma’s largest community chapter. ## Benefits for Spanish Teams - Companies such as Telefonica and Cabify expect the Spanish interface to improve collaboration and make Figma more accessible. - Localization is intended to help designers, developers, and broader product teams communicate and work more efficiently. - The effort supports Figma’s shift toward serving the entire product development process, not only traditional design roles. ## Part of Figma’s Global Expansion - About 85% of Figma’s monthly active users are outside the United States. - Approximately half of its revenue comes from non-U.S. markets. - Around one-third of users identify as developers, while nearly two-thirds work outside traditional design roles. - Spanish localization arrives alongside Figma’s expanding product ecosystem, including: - FigJam, launched in 2021 - Dev Mode, launched in 2023 - Figma Slides, launched in 2024 - New AI capabilities and other product development tools Figma’s Spanish launch is both a response to Spain’s established user community and a broader investment in international growth. By combining language support with localized product experiences, Figma aims to reduce barriers for Spanish teams while preparing to add more languages throughout the year.

Figma Figjam Product Design Dev Mode+4

figmaMar 25, 20253 min readCurated summary

Everything You Need to Know About Figma for Government | Figma Blog

Figma for Government is now FedRAMP Moderate certified, allowing U.S. federal agencies to use Figma’s collaboration and design tools in a secure, privacy-focused environment. The platform is intended to help agencies replace siloed workflows with a shared process spanning ideation, design, prototyping, and development. Figma argues that improving how digital services are built is essential to creating more accessible, consistent, and effective experiences for citizens. ## FedRAMP Certification and Product Availability - Figma for Government meets the federal government’s security and privacy requirements at the Moderate level. - The offering includes: - Figma Design - FigJam - Dev Mode - Figma Slides, planned for a future release - The certification builds on Figma’s earlier commitment to achieving FedRAMP status. ## Why Figma Built a Government Offering - Government agencies increasingly need to provide healthcare, assistance, and other services through seamless digital experiences. - Federal digital-first policies emphasize accessibility, consistency, and ease of use. - Siloed tools and disconnected teams can reduce efficiency and produce less usable products. - Figma for Government aims to give agencies secure access to the same collaborative workflows used by leading private-sector organizations. ## Government Use Cases and Examples - More than 100 government agencies and contractors already use Figma to modernize their processes. - Examples include: - The National Park Service creating an app for 431 parks and monuments. - Amtrak streamlining systems for more than 20,000 employees and 28 million passengers. - Agencies working on passport, visa, taxpayer, and citizenship services. - The official United States Web Design System design kit contains 42 components built with variables and smart layouts. - A shared Figma link gives teams a common source of truth for viewing, editing, and commenting on work. ## Collaborative Planning with FigJam - FigJam supports real-time and asynchronous collaboration for distributed teams. - Agencies can use it to: - Brainstorm ideas - Build project roadmaps - Map user journeys - Align stakeholders around strategy - Keeping planning materials in one shared workspace helps teams communicate across locations and time zones. ## Design Alignment with Figma - Designers, developers, product managers, executives, and other stakeholders can access the latest design files. - Teams can move efficiently from wireframes to prototypes, reviews, and refinements. - Shared feedback reduces delays and keeps everyone aligned on design direction. - Design systems help agencies maintain consistency, quality, and recognizable brand identities. ## Connecting Design and Development with Dev Mode - Dev Mode provides a shared space for designers and engineers. - It is designed to reduce misunderstandings about design intent, changes between iterations, and how designs map to code. - By connecting design and development workflows, agencies can reduce clarification work and move products toward implementation more efficiently. Figma for Government is best suited to agencies seeking a secure, centralized environment for collaborative digital-service development—from early planning through engineering handoff and implementation.

Figma Design Systems Prototyping Figjam+4

figmaMar 24, 20252 min readCurated summary

Making the Move to UI3: A Guide to Figma’s Next Chapter | Figma Blog

Figma will retire UI2 on April 30, 2025, making UI3 the standard interface. The redesign prioritizes canvas space, streamlines workflows, and enables features that will only be available in UI3, ahead of Config. Although users may need time to rebuild muscle memory, Figma argues that the changes ultimately make the product more intuitive and efficient. ## UI3 Becomes the New Standard - Figma is ending support for UI2 on April 30. - New features and experiences planned around Config will be available only in UI3. - Figma says it has incorporated user feedback before the full transition. - Recent refinements include: - Replacing the redundant “Reset others” icon - Simplifying boolean-operation labels - Removing duplicate actions from the overflow menu - Updating the mask icon for clarity - Restoring a tidy-up experience closer to UI2 - After the transition, the Properties panel will become a major focus for further improvements. ## Adjusting to the Redesigned Interface - The author initially hesitated because established workflows and muscle memory make interface changes difficult. - After using UI3, they found the redesign more effective rather than merely different. - Reported adjustment times vary: - Some users adapted within a few hours. - Others needed about a week to rebuild muscle memory. - The overall response presented in the article is that UI3 quickly becomes familiar and comfortable. ## Smart Eyedropper Selection - The eyedropper shortcut remains **I**, but the tool now understands more than raw color values. - It stays active while inspecting the canvas and supports switching between color models such as: - Hex - HSB - RGB - When hovering over a color, style, or variable, Figma can identify and display the underlying style or variable instead of only showing a hexadecimal value. - UI3 also allows users to create variables directly where they are working, reducing interruptions to the design workflow. UI3 is positioned as a necessary transition rather than an optional visual refresh. Users should begin adapting before April 30, while taking advantage of its improved variable handling, streamlined controls, and more canvas-focused layout.

Figma Design Systems Prototyping User Interface+1

figmaMar 18, 20252 min readCurated summary

How Teams Tap Into the Power of Design with Figma Slides | Figma Blog

Figma Slides has moved out of open beta with new features designed to combine presentation simplicity with Figma’s high-fidelity design and collaboration capabilities. The platform aims to help designers and cross-functional teams create polished, brand-consistent decks while giving them more control over storytelling and presentation workflows. ## Figma Slides Leaves Open Beta - Available to users with Full, Dev, or Collab seats. - New features include: - Improved video controls, including blur effects, scrubbing, and playback-speed adjustments. - Components for maintaining consistency across brand assets and customer logos. - Object-level slide and fade animations. - `.PPTX` import and export for working with external collaborators. - Existing Figma capabilities—such as auto layout, custom fonts, brand libraries, and embeddable prototypes—are available within the slides experience. - Figma positions Slides as a shared storytelling workspace rather than merely a traditional presentation tool. ## Fine-Tune Designs with Templates and Components - Teams can build decks from templates connected to their existing Figma design systems and brand libraries. - Merkle uses curated templates for UI/UX presentations, research, data visualization, and client-specific work. - Reusable components reduce design decisions and help teams produce higher-quality decks more consistently. - Decagon redesigned its sales deck around its brand identity, using custom visuals, layouts, and an appendix of adaptable slides. - Custom templates let teams tailor presentations to specific customers, priorities, and business goals while preserving brand consistency. ## Control the Narrative - Figma Slides supports audience-specific storytelling by making it easy to rearrange slides and review the full deck in grid view. - The article emphasizes distilling a presentation into a clear central idea rather than adding unnecessary visual elements. - Templates can adapt to different contexts, such as fundraising stages, audiences, products, and founder profiles. - The ideal structure may vary: some decks lead with insights, while others introduce the team early to establish credibility. Figma Slides is best suited to teams that want presentation speed without giving up design precision. Its combination of reusable systems, collaborative editing, flexible storytelling, and `.PPTX` compatibility makes it a practical option for internal reviews, sales presentations, and client-facing decks.

Figma Design Systems User Experience Collaboration+3

figmaMar 17, 20252 min readCurated summary

Karri Saarinen: 10 Rules for Crafting Products That Stand Out | Figma Blog

Linear CEO Karri Saarinen argues that exceptional products stand out through deliberate craft, not merely speed or feature delivery. Quality must be embedded in leadership, team structure, collaboration, and product decisions. The goal is not perfection, but a consistently high quality bar that earns users’ attention and trust. ## Quality Starts with Leadership - Leaders must explicitly prioritize craft and create the conditions for teams to pursue it. - Declaring quality important is insufficient; companies need to explain how it supports the business. - Design can make complex products more approachable, as Saarinen observed at Coinbase. ## Build Small, High-Quality Teams - Smaller teams reduce excessive debate and preserve execution quality. - Hire people who already demonstrate strong craft rather than focusing only on measuring output. - High standards should be established through the quality of the team’s work. ## Eliminate Handoffs - Product managers, designers, and engineers should share responsibility instead of working in isolated stages. - Removing “handoff to development” prevents teams from treating quality as someone else’s responsibility. - Understanding implementation constraints helps everyone contribute to the final result. ## Avoid Rigid Product Silos - Too many specialized teams can create inconsistent quality and fragmented cultures. - Rotating responsibilities keeps ideas fresh and prevents teams from becoming narrowly focused. - Users care about the overall product experience, not the organization chart. ## Treat the Specification as the Starting Point - Meeting requirements is only the minimum standard, not the definition of a great product. - Teams should add care and judgment beyond what the specification explicitly demands. - Craft is what turns a technically functional product into a memorable one. ## Quality Is Not Perfection - Products should pass a clear quality bar before reaching customers, even if they are not flawless. - Beta users can help teams iterate from a solid initial release toward greater polish. - Defects are measurable, but excellence is often judged qualitatively through user perception and organic praise. ## Design with Strong Opinions - Products work best when designed for a specific audience and purpose. - Flexible products that serve everyone moderately well often fail to excel at anything. - A clear point of view strengthens the product’s value proposition and helps earn user trust. The practical recommendation is to make quality a company-wide operating principle: hire carefully, keep teams connected, exceed the basic specification, and design decisively for a particular user.

Figma User Experience Product Design Software Development+2

figmaMar 13, 20253 min readCurated summary

Dylan Field and Garry Tan on design, AI, and the power of “locking in” | Figma Blog

AI is expanding what designers and product builders can explore, but it has not eliminated the need for human judgment, context, or craft. Dylan Field argues that design will become even more important as teams use AI to generate ideas and prototypes faster, while still needing expertise to turn them into thoughtful, polished products. The central challenge is closing the gap between making something work and making it work well. ## AI Expands the Design “Idea Maze” - Current AI systems primarily function as tools that augment people in specific tasks, rather than as general intelligence. - They lower the barrier to participating in design while also raising the ceiling on what experienced creators can accomplish. - AI allows teams to explore more branches of an “idea maze,” generating greater breadth during ideation. - However, meaningful progress still requires depth: teams must investigate, refine, and evaluate promising directions. ## The Value of Rapid Feedback and “Vibe Coding” - Terms such as “getting locked in,” “I’m cooking,” and “vibe coding” describe the flow state created by rapid experimentation. - Faster feedback loops help people move ideas from their heads onto the screen more fluidly. - Figma’s emphasis on play reflects the goal of making creative expression accessible and enjoyable, even for non-experts. - AI tools are increasingly effective at helping users start and prototype quickly. - The unresolved problem is helping users move from an exciting prototype to a finished, reliable product—an issue shared by both design and code-generation tools. ## Design Is More Than Functionality - Founders and teams increasingly recognize design as a source of product value. - The important question is no longer only whether software works, but how it works. - User experience, clarity, quality, and the overall interaction determine whether a product feels successful. ## Why Human Designers Still Matter - AI has developed along partly separate tracks: diffusion models address visual creation, while language models focus on reasoning and code generation. - It remains unclear how effectively these approaches can be combined into systems capable of true design. - Field describes design as “art as it applies to problem solving,” requiring more than producing an image or implementing a short specification. - Designers contribute context involving culture, brand, product experience, and the broader problem being addressed. - As software creation becomes more automated, the ability to supply judgment and context may make design an even more critical role. AI is best understood as a force multiplier for exploration and iteration, not a replacement for design expertise. Teams should use it to accelerate experimentation while preserving the human work required to select, shape, and finish products well.

Figma AI Large Language Models Software Design+4

figmaMar 12, 20252 min readCurated summary

How eBay Built a Bridge Between Brand and Product with Figma | Figma Blog

eBay rebuilt its design-system documentation to unite brand, product, accessibility, and engineering guidance in one evolving experience. Its new Evo system is centered on the 300-plus-page Playbook, which replaces scattered, manually maintained files with a centralized source of truth. By making Figma the starting point for content and automating validation and publishing, eBay reduced documentation updates from days to minutes and encouraged teams to treat documentation as part of their normal workflow. ## Rebuilding from the Ground Up - Before Evo, documentation was spread across separate Figma files, developer resources, and accessibility guidelines. - Designers manually updated static files and submitted tickets for changes to be published. - eBay’s OneExperience team chose to rebuild the process internally rather than patch the old system or rely on an external agency. - The goal was a system integrated with everyday design and development work, rather than documentation maintained as a separate task. ## Bringing Brand and Product Together - The new Playbook combines brand guidance, design-system documentation, technology resources, and accessibility information in one destination. - It acts as a centralized source of truth for both internal teams and agency partners. - Component pages include design, development, and accessibility views. - Component availability and implementation status are updated from library metadata instead of manually maintained tables. ## Component Status Across Platforms - eBay created an internal Component Status API to track components across its libraries. - The API records component names, versions, availability, and implementation status across: - Published Figma libraries - Native platform libraries - Open-source web-component libraries - Figma components store relevant metadata in their descriptions. - Developers can verify whether a component exists in their framework, whether it matches the Figma version, and whether the Playbook documentation is current. ## Automating Documentation Updates - eBay built a custom Figma plugin and exporter that powers the documentation workflow. - Components, guidelines, and accessibility notes originate in Figma. - Updates are linted, validated, and published directly from Figma without manual CMS work. - Changes that previously took days can now appear on the Playbook site in under two minutes. - Faster publishing makes documentation easier to iterate on and helps teams view it as a living part of their workflow rather than an administrative burden.

Figma Design Systems Accessibility API+3

figmaMar 10, 20253 min readCurated summary

From Screen to Zine: Meet the Makers Using Figma for Digital DIY | Figma Blog

Figma is helping a new generation of creators revive zine culture by combining digital speed with the handmade spirit of print. The article highlights designers, musicians, and community organizers using Figma to document underground scenes, produce physical artifacts, and collaborate remotely. Its flexibility, plugins, and collaborative canvas make it especially useful for highly iterative, visually experimental work. ## Figma and the revival of zines - Zines have historically given fringe communities and subcultures a way to publish outside mainstream media. - The article profiles several creators using Figma for digital DIY projects: - Dance Data’s 97-page *Underground Fanzine*, created by Jesse Pimenta and Cheyce Batchelor. - Figma’s AAPI employee resource group, which created *AZINE*. - Dominique Saiegh, who designs cassette and CD packaging. - Sebastián Ortega, who creates assets for online radio station SutroFM. - Tara Ridgedell and Gonzalo Guerrero, who run remote risograph workshops through Secret Riso Club. - These projects use digital tools to build real-world connections and preserve ephemeral music and cultural communities. ## The history and spirit of zine culture - Modern zines began as science-fiction fan magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. - Their history continued through: - Beat-generation small presses in the 1950s and 1960s. - Punk music zines and copy-shop publishing in the 1970s and 1980s. - Riot Grrrl and broader zine culture in the 1990s. - E-zines, blogs, and websites in the 2000s. - A renewed interest in printed zines, festivals, and libraries from the 2010s onward. - Dance Data’s publication deliberately recreates the scrappy, Xerox-inspired aesthetic associated with punk-era zines. - Printing the zine gives readers a lasting physical record of an underground music scene whose parties and collectives are often temporary. ## Designing a 1990s-inspired publication in Figma - Pimenta and Batchelor produced the zine in approximately three months. - Figma’s canvas provided a broad overview of the publication, while Auto Layout helped organize and reorder content efficiently. - Figma’s speed supported an iterative process in which every interview spread could have a distinct visual identity. - Pimenta drew inspiration from rave flyers, computer newsletters, technology magazines, and Archive.org’s *The Magazine Rack*. - The desired aesthetic combined hacker culture, cyberpunk imagery, retro computer graphics, and old-school clip art. ## Plugins for a photocopied, experimental look - **Noise & Texture** added gritty, speckled effects resembling 1990s photocopies. - **Photopea** enabled image manipulation, including noise and threshold filters. - **Skew Skew** distorted typography into irregular shapes that suggested warped Xerox reproductions. - These tools, combined with retro rave references, helped the digital design resemble handmade print work. ## Preparing digital work for print - Pimenta had to export individual pages at four times their intended size, convert them into print-ready PDFs, and then resize the final document. - Exporting was slow because the publication contained thousands of small assets. - The project illustrates both Figma’s usefulness for complex editorial design and the practical challenges of converting a large digital file into a physical zine.

Figma Figma Plugins Graphic Design Pdf+2

figmaFeb 18, 20252 min readCurated summary

In Good Company: How Publishers Use Figma to Help Design the News | Figma Blog

Publishers are adapting to digital-first journalism by redesigning products, developing new visual identities, and experimenting with formats that attract and retain readers. The article argues that Figma helps media organizations coordinate designers, editors, engineers, and executives while maintaining accuracy, clarity, and accessibility. The New York Times’ redesigned app illustrates how collaborative prototyping can support a broader subscription ecosystem without losing journalism’s central role. ## The shift toward digital-first publishing - Legacy publishers face accelerating change as audiences move from print to web and mobile. - Subscription models are becoming more important amid an unpredictable advertising market, although many readers remain reluctant to pay for online news. - Media teams must build stronger relationships with readers while exploring new products and formats. - Figma supports this work by keeping multidisciplinary teams aligned during design and experimentation. ## The New York Times’ redesigned app - Relaunched in October 2024, the app reflects The Times’ strategy of connecting multiple products, including News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter, and The Athletic. - The redesign places the **Today** section and the latest news at the center of the experience. - A top navigation system makes other verticals easier to discover, with each product receiving its own home screen. - Rather than creating one “super app” feed, the design gives each section a distinct visual identity: - Lifestyle uses image-heavy grids with headline overlays, based on a component called a “poster.” - Opinion uses stylized headlines to communicate its different editorial perspective. - The overall concept treats journalism as the central “sun,” with other products orbiting around it. ## Figma as a newsroom collaboration space - The project involved section editors, engineers, senior management, product designers, and The Times’ storytelling group. - Teams used Figma asynchronously to explore layouts combining text, images, video, and audio. - Designers could share interactive prototypes directly instead of preparing as many presentation decks or relying on screen-sharing meetings. - The shared workspace helped stakeholders see colleagues’ work immediately and participate in shaping the app’s editorial formats. The article’s broader recommendation is that collaborative design tools can help publishers manage complex digital transformations while preserving strong editorial identities.

Figma Design Systems User Experience Prototyping+3

figmaFeb 10, 20252 min readCurated summary

Making Metrics Matter | Design Systems 104 | Figma Blog

Design systems create measurable business value, not just reusable components and documentation. Figma argues that tracking adoption, usage, consistency, and time savings helps teams prove that value and identify where systems need improvement. The evidence is significant: designers with access to a design system completed tasks 34% faster, while some companies reported time savings of up to 50%. ## Measuring the Value of Design Systems - Figma’s research found that design-system users completed tasks **34% faster** than those without access. - For a team of seven designers, this efficiency is comparable to adding **3.5 designers’ worth of capacity each week**. - Participants also felt more confident because the system helped ensure their work aligned with the broader product. - Vanguard reported design updates happening **50% faster** with effective systems. ## Adoption and Usage as Business Signals - Creating components and documentation is only the starting point; measuring actual adoption reveals whether the system is delivering value. - Headspace reported: - **20–30% time savings** on straightforward tasks. - Up to **50% savings** on complex projects through tokens and variables. - Swiggy cut feature rollout time in half after implementing stronger tracking. - These results connect design-system usage to improved consistency, efficiency, and scalability. ## Reading the Signals Organizations should choose metrics that reflect their goals, including: - **Library and component usage:** Track which components, variables, and styles are frequently used. - High usage identifies the system’s most valuable “workhorses.” - Low usage can reveal elements that need improvement, replacement, or deprecation. - Tracking time saved through component reuse provides a concrete benefit that can help secure stakeholder support. A practical approach is to measure not only what a design system contains, but how consistently and effectively teams use it.

Figma Design Systems Design Tokens Metrics+2

figmaJan 27, 20252 min readCurated summary

The Long and Short of It: Issue no.9 | Figma Blog

Issue no. 9 of Figma’s blog presents six “memos” about preserving craft, purpose, and creativity amid blurred roles, rapid product cycles, and emerging technology. The collection argues that digital creation should become more personal, emotionally resonant, adaptable, expressive, and inclusive. Rather than prescribing one method, the memos invite teams to question established approaches as they plan for 2025. ## Personalize the Web - Product Designer Chia Amisola argues that the internet has become increasingly standardized as it serves broader audiences. - She calls for a more personal and poetic web, inspired by the resurgence of small, handcrafted websites. - The accompanying essay, “Making space for a handmade web,” suggests that participating in this movement can begin simply by creating a site of your own. ## Build an Emotional Competitive Moat - Head of Insights Andrew Hogan argues that product differentiation cannot rely on features alone. - As software becomes more ubiquitous, emotional resonance can make an app feel distinctive and meaningful. - Teams should treat emotional response as part of product strategy and put “resonance on the roadmap.” ## Leave Room to Depart from the Roadmap - Director of Product Avantika Gomes challenges the idea that successful products must follow a fixed vision or predefined sequence of solutions. - Unexpected changes and discoveries can shape a product as much as its original roadmap. - Teams should avoid becoming overly attached to specific solutions and create room to pivot when circumstances or user needs change. ## Reclaim Creative Coding - Developer Jake Albaugh encourages developers to use the web’s expressive capabilities more fully. - He points to creative coding and the work of Henry Desroches as examples of how code can support experimentation and artistic expression, not just functional interfaces. ## The Value of Generalists - Content Strategist Carly Ayres revisits the discussion around generalists and hybrid roles. - As collaboration increasingly crosses design, development, writing, analysis, and product management, people who operate across disciplines may become especially valuable. ## Expand the Definition of Design - Another memo makes the case for greater inclusivity in design. - It suggests that the industry should reconsider narrow assumptions about who design serves and what design work includes. The collection’s practical message is to build with greater openness: make room for individuality, emotional connection, unexpected direction, creative experimentation, and broader participation. Teams planning new products should treat their process as adaptable rather than predetermined.

Figma User Experience Web Development Product Development+2

figmaJan 22, 20252 min readCurated summary

Documentation That Drives Adoption | Design Systems 103 | Figma Blog

Clear documentation turns a design system from an abstract set of rules into a practical tool teams can use consistently. The article argues that effective documentation must explain both how to implement components and why design decisions were made. When treated as a living resource, it improves adoption, onboarding, cross-functional communication, and product consistency. ## Documentation Bridges Design and Development - Razorpay’s teams often missed details such as button states and text-field error behavior before adopting its Blade design system. - Custom, hard-coded implementations made it easy for teams to omit important states or interactions. - Designers and developers may use different terminology, leading to: - Inconsistent naming conventions - Misaligned component properties - Different expectations about product behavior and appearance - Documentation connects design intent with technical implementation. - It should capture the reasoning behind decisions, not merely catalog available components. ## Benefits of Effective Documentation - Helps teams understand design principles and implementation details. - Encourages consistent decisions across products and platforms. - Speeds up onboarding for new team members. - Creates a shared language between designers and developers. - Reduces the risk that a carefully built design system will go unused. ## Choosing a Source of Truth - The first documentation decision is determining where information should live, rather than deciding what to write first. - Maintaining consistency becomes more difficult as design systems and organizations grow. - Static PDFs stored in shared drives quickly become outdated and disconnected from daily workflows. - Modern teams can choose among dedicated documentation sites and collaborative workspaces. - The best source of truth should fit the organization’s tools, processes, and scale. ## Custom Documentation Sites - Custom sites are particularly useful for large organizations. - They can integrate deeply with existing design and development tools and organizational processes. - A dedicated site provides a centralized, discoverable location for design principles, components, usage guidance, and implementation details. Effective design-system documentation should be centralized, searchable, and continuously maintained so that it remains aligned with both the system and the teams using it.

Figma Design Systems Design Tokens Dev Mode+3

figmaJan 20, 20252 min readCurated summary

A first look at Config 2025: Two cities, one global community | Figma Blog

Config 2025 expands Figma’s annual product-building conference into a global, two-city event. A three-day conference in San Francisco will offer extensive programming and community spaces, while a new one-day London event will bring Config to Europe. Both events emphasize flexible participation, practical inspiration, and meaningful connections among designers, developers, and product teams. ## San Francisco Conference - Runs May 6–8, beginning with Config Commons on Howard Street near Moscone Center. - Config Commons will serve as a place to collect badges, meet attendees, and connect with the community. - Moscone Center will host: - More than 75 speakers - Over 50 sessions - Multi-track programming on May 7 and 8 - Attendees can customize their schedules by combining talks, installations, networking, and collaborative projects. - Figma is redesigning the venue to encourage more spontaneous conversations and “aha” moments. - The expanded Maker Space will include a dedicated stage for Figma community leaders to present their work. - Multiple badge check-in locations will be available at partner hotels and Config Commons. - In-person and virtual registration options are offered. ## London’s First Config Event - Takes place May 14 at ExCeL London. - The day-long program includes more than 15 speakers across 10 sessions. - In-person tickets have sold out, but virtual registration remains available. - London was selected because of its strong design history and growing technology community. - The event follows Config’s successful community connection in Singapore and extends the conference’s collaborative format to Europe. ## A More Connected Global Community - Figma’s goal is to make Config accessible to product-building communities on both sides of the Atlantic. - The two locations combine large-scale programming with spaces designed for networking, experimentation, and peer learning. - The conference format prioritizes attendee choice rather than requiring participants to follow a single schedule. Config 2025 is positioned as both a conference and a community experience. Those attending in person can expect a more interactive venue design, while virtual attendees can participate remotely from either city’s program.

Figma Design Systems User Experience Product Design+1

figmaJan 8, 20252 min readCurated summary

When To Off-Road the Product Roadmap | Figma Blog

Product roadmaps provide direction, but they should not become rigid commitments. Figma’s experience building Dev Mode shows that rapidly changing technology and user feedback often require teams to abandon planned work, pivot, or restart entirely. The best products are shaped by these course corrections rather than harmed by them. ## Why Traditional Roadmaps Need Flexibility - AI tools, agents, and coding assistants are accelerating product development and raising user expectations. - Six-to-twelve-month plans can become outdated before execution is complete. - Prescriptive roadmaps risk keeping teams committed to assumptions that are no longer valid. - Modern product development requires more experimentation, iteration, and willingness to change direction. ## Dev Mode’s Pivot from Code Generation - Figma initially envisioned Dev Mode as a way to automate the conversion of designs into code. - User feedback revealed that many developers already had reusable code for their design systems. - Developers often needed help assembling existing components rather than generating new CSS or code. - Figma shifted its focus to **Code Connect**, which lets teams customize the code snippets shown in Dev Mode using their existing design-system code. - The change delayed launches and frustrated people who had invested months in the original plan, but it better addressed user needs. ## Course Correction as a Product Strength - Figma argues that great products are often defined by twists and pivots. - Loom and Slack are cited as examples of companies that began with very different product concepts before finding their current direction. - Figma avoids letting sunk costs dictate future decisions. - Teams may abandon or restart projects when research, internal testing, or beta feedback shows that the product is not working. ## Learning Through Real-World Feedback - After Dev Mode’s 2023 beta, user feedback became more important than following the original roadmap. - Figma released more than 200 fixes and new features in a single month. - Rapid iteration can be frustrating, but it helps teams move toward outcomes that genuinely work for users. - Valuable information can come from user research, internal dogfooding, rapid prototypes, and beta programs. Teams should treat roadmaps as adaptable guides rather than fixed contracts. When evidence challenges the plan, experiment quickly, revisit assumptions, and be willing to go “off-road” to build the product users actually need.

Figma AI Design Systems CSS+4

figmaJan 8, 20252 min readCurated summary

It’s Time We Expand Our Definition of Design | Figma Blog

Figma argues that design should no longer be viewed as the exclusive domain of professional designers. Marketers, developers, product managers, and other collaborators already make visual and communication decisions every day, but often lack the confidence or tools to do so effectively. Expanding access, simplifying workflows, and changing organizational mindsets can help more people participate meaningfully in design. ## Design Tools as Spaces of Belonging - Figma files can feel intimidating to non-designers, much like entering an unfamiliar gallery or professional critique. - Simply inviting someone into a design tool does not guarantee that they will feel comfortable contributing. - Tools can help create belonging by making collaboration more approachable and welcoming. ## Everyday Work Is Design - The author describes repeatedly creating thumbnails, event invitations, and other assets in marketing, product, and sales roles to avoid design bottlenecks. - These activities involve visual communication, creativity, and decisions about how audiences understand and engage with information. - Products such as FigJam, Dev Mode, and Figma Slides are already helping marketers, developers, and other partners work more confidently. - The larger shift requires organizations and individuals to recognize that design participation is not limited by job title. ## Making Design More Inclusive - Teams can support “everyday designers” through: - Templates that provide a reliable starting point. - Simpler, more accessible tools. - Features for staying on brand and finding approved assets. - Assistance with copy exploration and approval workflows. - Organizations should also educate, validate, and celebrate colleagues who want to improve their design skills. - As work becomes faster and more collaborative, these forms of support become increasingly important. Figma’s broader recommendation is to treat design as a shared organizational practice. By giving non-designers better guidance, accessible tools, and permission to contribute, teams can produce stronger work while helping more people feel that they belong in the design process.

Figma Design Systems Figjam Collaborative Design+2