figmaJan 25, 2022

Little Big Updates: fixes and features for a better workflow | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s “Little Big Updates” introduces 32 small but meaningful improvements aimed at making Figma and FigJam faster, more accessible, and easier to navigate. The updates cover text editing, keyboard shortcuts, component publishing, libraries, exporting, and FigJam collaboration. Together, they streamline common workflows and reduce friction for designers and teams. ## Faster Editing and Accessibility - Text editing is up to 10 times faster in Figma and FigJam. - macOS accent-menu support is available by long-pressing letters. - HEIC image uploads are supported, making it easier to use iPhone photos. - Bullets remain consistent across mixed text styles. - Home and End keys navigate to the beginning or end of text areas. - External-link interstitials have been removed to preserve workflow continuity. - Retina screenshots pasted from Chrome will use the correct dimensions. - Text highlights on blue FigJam backgrounds are now more visible. ## Canvas Navigation and Keyboard Shortcuts - `⌘L`/`Ctrl+L` copies links to files and selected frames in the desktop app. - `⌘R`/`Ctrl+R` renames elements while the interface is hidden. - Holding `⌘`/`Ctrl` while clicking selects top-level frames directly. - Quick actions (`⌘+/` or `Ctrl+/`) can show or hide the FigJam UI. - Quick actions can also unlock all objects. - Hovering over the FigJam toolbar reveals additional keyboard shortcuts. - Connector text now supports new lines with Return or Enter. - Objects continue snapping to the grid while being dragged. ## Design Tools and Components - Vector network regions can be filled with different colors. - Components and instances can be searched when inserting (`Shift+I`) or swapping. - Any component can be published via its right-click menu. - Components can be searched in the publishing modal. - Published files now have a distinct icon for easier identification. - Invalid components can be located directly from the publishing modal. - The publishing modal allows users to choose which components appear in the asset list. - Unpublished changes can be published directly from the relevant interface. - A “Return to instance” option is available when selecting a main component. - SVG strokes on parent objects export correctly. - Libraries can be accessed directly from organization subscription settings. ## FigJam Improvements - FigJam shapes support more flexible resizing. - Right-clicking an element copies a direct link to it. - Stamps can be dragged directly from the stamp wheel. - The red shape color is now a truer red. - Team libraries are prioritized in the library-selection modal. - Connector text editing is simpler with standard Return or Enter behavior. The updates demonstrate how incremental improvements to shortcuts, performance, publishing, and collaboration can substantially improve everyday workflows. Designers and teams can explore the changes through Figma’s accompanying Community file.

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figmaJan 25, 2022

Little Big Updates: Dispatches from Quality Week | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s Quality Weeks dedicate focused time to bugs, edge cases, and features that technically work but feel broken. The post argues that software quality is not defined only by code correctness: browser behavior, user expectations, perceived responsiveness, and inconsistent support can all make a product feel buggy. Small fixes—sometimes only a few lines of code—can therefore have disproportionately large effects. ## Quality Week and the macOS Accent-Menu Bug - Figma periodically holds Quality Weeks to address forgotten bugs, oddities, and issues outside normal feature work. - A macOS accent-menu problem caused letters to repeat or fail to appear. - The issue involved the complex sequence of keyboard and text-input events handled by the operating system and browser before Figma received them. - Molly developed a fix of fewer than ten lines that worked in Firefox and Safari and supported both keyboard and mouse input. - Chrome, Figma’s most widely used browser, still exhibited the problem, showing that a technically correct fix may not solve the user-facing issue for most customers. - She also reported the underlying browser issue to Chrome developers for a possible future fix. ## The Difference Between a Technical Bug and a Real Bug - In theory, a bug consists of: - How the software is supposed to behave. - How its current behavior differs. - Real-world systems make those definitions ambiguous: - Intended behavior may not be clearly defined. - A perfect fix may be impractical or impossible. - Some problems require choosing a new, less-buggy direction rather than restoring the old one. - Historical examples such as Y2K, the Pentium FDIV error, and the Mars Climate Orbiter failure demonstrate that identifying a problem and knowing its cause does not automatically make it easy to resolve. - Figma treats issues as worthy of attention when they materially affect users, even if they do not fit a strict engineering definition of “bug.” ## When Missing Support Feels Like a Bug - HEIC image support illustrates the difference between “never implemented” and “broken” from a user’s perspective. - Figma’s inconsistent handling of HEIC files—especially images dragged from iPhones and iPads—made the product feel unreliable. - Sawyer added support in 98 lines of code. - The new support exposed a second usability problem: large, high-resolution HEIC files could take many seconds to process, during which the canvas appeared to ignore the drop. - Jackie identified that a loading state could communicate progress and prevent users from assuming the feature had failed. - The example shows that fixing one problem can reveal another, and that perceived responsiveness is part of product quality. Figma’s approach is to prioritize issues based not only on technical correctness but also on how users experience the product. Quality work should address the small inconsistencies that make software feel unreliable, particularly when a modest implementation can remove substantial frustration.

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