The Figma prototype challenge: 15 tips in 15 days | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)
The Figma prototype challenge is a 15-day learning series designed to help designers move from basic prototyping to advanced, high-fidelity interactions. It emphasizes experimentation, user testing, developer handoff, and critique, using Figma’s newer features—especially Smart Animate and interactive components—to create more realistic prototypes with less wiring. ## Building a Foundation with Smart Animate - **Smart Animate** creates animated transitions between screens by matching layers with the same names. - It can be combined with preset transitions such as slide and push. - Matching layers with Smart Animate is useful for interfaces such as tab navigation. - Preserving consistent layer names between screens is essential for the animation to work correctly. ## Creating Reusable Interactive Components - **Interactive components** define interactions and animations between variants within a component set. - Instances become interactive immediately in prototype mode. - Component-level interactions reduce the size and complexity of larger prototypes. - They are particularly useful for demonstrating microinteractions. ## Nesting Components for More Complex Behavior - Interactive components can be nested inside one another. - Nested components allow elements such as list items to contain their own built-in interactions. - This reduces the number of prototype links required between component variants. - The approach makes complex interfaces easier to maintain and reuse. ## Applying the Techniques to a Mobile Prototype - The first week concludes by combining Smart Animate, matching layers, interactive components, and nesting. - These techniques are used to build a mobile prototype with interactive bottom navigation. - The challenge progresses from foundational transitions to increasingly complex, component-based interactions. - Figma Community files accompany the daily challenges so designers can follow along or create their own version. The practical recommendation is to learn prototyping incrementally: start with Smart Animate, preserve layer structure carefully, then introduce interactive and nested components to create sophisticated interfaces with fewer connections and more reusable behavior.