Learn how a Microsoft designer built an Icon Library in his spare time | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)
Jackie Chui, a Microsoft designer, built a browser-based library containing more than 4,000 company icons in just three weeks. The tool unified icons across design applications, made them searchable through designer tags and engineering class names, and supported reverse searches using pasted icons. Its success came from focusing on practical user needs, leveraging familiar web technologies, and distributing a simple first version quickly. ## Researching Users and Existing Tools - Jackie interviewed Microsoft designers and observed their workflows to identify problems with existing icon management. - He evaluated IconJar, which offered organization and copy/paste functionality but lacked: - Shared, crowdsourced tagging - Browser and cloud access - Windows compatibility - These limitations led him to build a custom internal solution after hours. ## Designing and Building the Library - Jackie first created the interface in Sketch, borrowing ideas from IconJar and applying Microsoft’s Fabric design language. - With existing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript experience, he used Meteor.js to build both the frontend and backend. - A Meteor React tutorial helped him adapt a simple to-do-list database into an icon database. - Working on a concrete problem allowed him to learn development concepts while building the product. ## Extracting and Organizing Icons - Microsoft’s icons were stored in a font file, requiring users to copy and paste special Unicode icon characters into their designs. - Jackie extracted the icon files and retrieved each icon’s Unicode character. - He found Microsoft documentation containing the corresponding engineering class names. - The names were collected in Excel, converted to JSON, and imported into the application. - The resulting library let designers search for icons and copy their characters from one central location. ## Distribution and Adoption - Jackie hosted the application on Microsoft Azure. - He initially emailed the link to his team, after which word-of-mouth spread it throughout the design studio. - Users helped identify bugs and suggest features for version two. - The library quickly became part of many designers’ regular workflows. ## Future Plans - Jackie planned to convert all 4,000-plus icons into Figma components with a single click. - This would let Microsoft teams organize and search icons directly in Figma rather than through a separate browser tool. - He also hoped to release the converter more broadly so anyone could turn an icon font file into Figma components. The project demonstrates that an effective internal tool can start with focused user research, modest technical foundations, and a rapid first release. A browser-based, searchable library is a practical way to eliminate design-tool silos and create a shared source of truth for icons.