figmaOct 22, 2025

Three New Features to Help Build Brand Momentum With Figma Buzz | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma is expanding Figma Buzz to help marketing teams create branded assets at scale while preserving design-system consistency. The October 2025 update introduces configurable templates based on component properties, plugin integrations, and built-in video trimming. Together, these features give marketers more flexibility while helping brand teams maintain control over approved designs, assets, and content. ## Configurable Templates Built on Design Systems - Brand designers can copy templates from Figma Design component sets into Figma Buzz. - Component properties automatically remain functional in Buzz. - Marketers can customize templates through the **Change layout** panel by: - Selecting layout variants - Toggling elements such as dates on or off - Switching between approved component instances - Changing colors, logos, calls to action, or illustrations - Teams can offer flexible template variations without creating and maintaining hundreds of separate files. - The result is easier template discovery and customization without compromising brand guidelines. ## Plugins for Connected Marketing Workflows Plugins are now available directly in Figma Buzz, reducing the need to move between design and marketing tools. Initial integrations focus on digital asset management, translation management, and animation, while teams can also create and publish internal plugins. ### Digital Asset Management DAM integrations let marketers access approved assets and keep designs synchronized without leaving Figma Buzz. Featured plugins include: - Air - Brandfolder - Bynder - OrangeLogic These connections support browsing and importing approved images, as well as uploading completed designs back to asset-management systems. ### Translation Management Translation-management integrations allow teams to pull localized copy directly into Figma Buzz templates. This helps marketing organizations scale campaigns globally while keeping translations connected to their visual design context. ## Video Trimming - Users can trim videos directly inside Figma Buzz. - This provides more control over how video content appears in branded assets. - It builds on earlier support for importing and exporting video. Figma positions these additions as part of its broader effort to make Buzz a scalable workspace for brand and marketing teams. Teams can use design-system-driven templates for consistency, plugins to connect existing workflows, and in-app video editing to produce polished campaign assets more efficiently.

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figmaJan 24, 2024

What’s next for Dev Mode: Annotations, Compare Changes, Plugins, and More | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma is moving Dev Mode out of free beta on January 31, 2024, while adding features designed to improve design-to-development handoff. The update introduces connected annotations, richer visual and code comparisons, customizable plugins, Jira integration, and a redesigned VS Code experience. Dev Mode will require a paid seat after the beta ends. ## Annotations for clearer handoff - Designers can add measurements, properties, specifications, and contextual notes directly to design layers. - Annotations update automatically when the associated design changes. - They appear or disappear at different zoom levels, keeping designs informative without cluttering the canvas. - Teams can use plugins to create and manage annotations in bulk. ## Visual and code-based change comparisons - The compare changes experience has been redesigned to show differences both visually and in code. - The Figma for Jira app brings design context into Jira issues. - Jira users can receive notifications when related designs change. ## Custom code generation with plugins - Codegen plugins let teams generate code for technologies such as HTML, React, Tailwind, and Bootstrap. - Organizations can customize generated output around their frameworks, design systems, component libraries, and internal APIs. - Plugins can validate design-system usage, link to documentation, and identify existing code components. - Enterprise administrators can pin plugins and configure them to run by default across organizational files. - Figma highlights custom implementations such as Razorpay’s RazorSharp plugin. ## Improvements to Figma for VS Code - The extension makes it easier to inspect designs without switching between tools. - A redesigned navigation experience replaces difficult canvas panning with a grid of frames. - Developers can open individual frames in a focused view. - Plugins can now run directly in VS Code, including private and customized tools. Teams using Dev Mode should prepare for the paid-seat requirement and evaluate annotations, plugins, Jira integration, and the VS Code extension to fit their existing handoff and design-system workflows.

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figmaDec 10, 2023

The Long and Short of It: Issue no.2 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s “Rework your work” issue presents small improvements, AI, prototyping, and community creativity as ways to challenge outdated workflows. Its central argument is that meaningful progress often comes from improving everyday experiences while adopting tools and practices that expand what teams can accomplish. ## Small Improvements, Significant Impact - Product quality-of-life changes can have more impact than flashy features users rarely use. - Sho Kuwamoto argues that frequent, practical improvements—such as saving time or anticipating user needs—are foundational to a strong product experience. - Figma’s “Little Big Updates” emphasizes that subtle changes can create broad effects. ## Breaking Barriers with AI - FigJam’s generative AI features are designed to lower the barrier to visual collaboration while expanding creative possibilities. - AI can: - Generate custom templates and diagrams - Summarize board content - Sort sticky notes - These capabilities help product teams plan, synchronize, and brainstorm more efficiently. - The goal is not only automation, but making collaborative tools accessible to more people. ## Prototyping as a Core Practice - Prototyping is presented as an essential part of product development rather than a final presentation step. - Prototypes make design ideas tangible so collaborators can explore, critique, and refine them. - A strong prototyping culture gives designers more agency and helps the broader team gain insight earlier in the process. - Integrating prototypes throughout development can streamline workflows and improve decision-making. ## Supporting Community Creators - Figma’s Creator Fund provides grants for free widgets, plugins, and files created for the Figma Community. - Featured projects include: - Tools for building immersive environments - A design-to-code plugin - A text animation tool - These community-made resources have helped nearly a million people create in Figma. ## Reframing Design Careers - The “Rabbit hole” section encourages designers to focus less on proving their worth and more on letting the quality of their work speak for itself. - Figma cites its State of the Designer report, in which 69% of designers said their job prospects had improved. - Together, these ideas frame design as a field shaped by practical craft, evolving tools, and continued professional momentum. The issue recommends reworking established habits through incremental product improvements, thoughtful AI adoption, continuous prototyping, and support for creative communities.

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figmaJun 20, 2023

Introducing Figma’s New Dev Mode | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Dev Mode is Figma’s dedicated workspace for developers, designed to reduce friction between design and implementation. It provides familiar inspection tools, customizable code output, integrations with development workflows, and an extension for VS Code. Figma’s broader goal is to keep designers and developers working from the same, up-to-date source of truth. ## A Developer-Focused Workspace - Dev Mode works like a browser inspector for Figma files. - Developers can inspect layers and designs to find: - Measurements and implementation specs - Exportable assets - Design-system context - Connections between visual elements and code concepts - The interface is intended to feel familiar to developers who use tools such as Chrome DevTools. ## Faster, More Flexible Code Handoff - Dev Mode’s code panel includes: - A CSS box model - Modern syntax and tree views - Configurable dimension units - Customizable output for different languages and codebases - Generated code is positioned as a starting point that reduces repetitive translation from design to implementation. ## Connecting Design to the Development Toolchain - Figma’s GitHub integration links designs and components with files, issues, and pull requests. - Plugins connect Figma to tools including: - Jira, Linear, and GitHub for project tracking - Storybook for viewing coded components alongside designs - AWS Amplify Studio, Google Relay, and Anima for code generation - Teams can also build custom plugins to match their own workflows. - Design tokens and variables further improve consistency between design systems and code. ## Tracking Work Toward Production - Dev Mode is intended to support the increasingly blurred boundary between design and development. - It helps teams understand what is ready for implementation and maintain context while designs continue to evolve. - Figma emphasizes collaboration around work that remains in progress rather than waiting for designs to be fully polished. ## Bringing Dev Mode into VS Code - The Figma for VS Code extension lets developers: - Review designs - View comments and notifications - Track design changes - Inspect designs without leaving the editor - Use design-based code autocomplete - This keeps design context inside the developer’s primary coding environment. ## Availability and Pricing - Dev Mode and the VS Code extension were announced as beta features, free to all users through the end of 2023. - Beginning in 2024, Dev Mode requires a paid plan. - Dedicated Dev Mode-only access was planned at: - $25 per seat per month on Organization - $35 per seat per month on Enterprise Figma presents Dev Mode as an initial step toward tighter designer-developer collaboration. Teams should use it alongside integrations such as GitHub, Storybook, and VS Code to keep specifications, implementation context, and feedback in one continuously updated workflow.

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figmaMar 1, 2023

The Future of Design Systems is Automated | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Design systems are moving from static libraries toward automated, extensible ecosystems powered by plugins, widgets, and AI. These tools can automate repetitive work, expand Figma’s capabilities, and increasingly generate or recommend design solutions using existing system components. The article argues that automation will change designers’ responsibilities, but not eliminate the need for human judgment, creativity, and strategy. ## Plugins and Widgets as Design-System Extensions - Plugins have a long history in design and publishing software, dating back to tools such as HyperCard and QuarkXPress. - They created a broader ecosystem in which users could build and share custom effects, brushes, styles, and workflows. - In modern design systems, plugins generally serve two purposes: - Automating repetitive existing tasks. - Extending product capabilities through analytics, testing, accessibility checks, and other functionality. - Widgets add collaborative and visual tools directly to the design workspace, helping teams organize information and communicate around design systems. ## Automating Repetitive Tasks - Plugins can reduce manual work involved in maintaining and applying design-system assets. - Automation allows designers to spend less time on mechanical operations and more time on problem-solving and decision-making. - The broader trend reflects a shift from tools merely supporting designers to tools actively performing parts of the design process. ## Extending Design-System Capabilities - Plugins can provide capabilities that are not included in a core design application. - Examples include: - Gathering usage and library analytics. - Testing designs. - Improving accessibility. - Connecting design workflows to other tools and systems. - This extensibility enables teams to adapt their design environment to specialized organizational needs. ## AI-Assisted Design - Earlier experiments, such as Airbnb’s 2017 work on generating code from low-fidelity wireframes, demonstrated the potential of machine-learning-assisted design. - More recent tools such as Diagram’s Genius can analyze Figma files and suggest designs using components from an organization’s design system. - These developments suggest that AI is beginning to make earlier prototypes practical. - AI tools may eventually help generate interfaces, recommend components, complete workflows, or produce code from design input. ## Changing Roles and Responsibilities - Automation raises concerns about whether designers and developers will be replaced by software. - The article frames this as a question about how tools shape professional practice, rather than simply whether they eliminate jobs. - As routine production becomes automated, human designers may focus more on: - Defining problems. - Making judgments and trade-offs. - Establishing product direction. - Applying empathy, taste, and contextual understanding. - The future of design therefore depends on how practitioners adapt alongside increasingly capable tools. Design teams should treat plugins, widgets, and AI as ways to expand human capability rather than substitutes for design thinking. The most effective systems will combine automation for repetitive work with human oversight, creativity, and strategic judgment.

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figmaJul 26, 2022

What’s new in Figma: July 2022 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s July 2022 updates focus on strengthening collaboration, expanding global support, and making community resources easier to discover. The company introduced research on effective teamwork, launched a fully localized Japanese experience, and redesigned Figma Community browsing and search. Together, these changes aim to help teams collaborate more effectively and find useful resources faster. ## Research on Effective Collaboration - Figma studied more than 100 teams composed of designers, product managers, engineers, researchers, and writers. - The resulting report, *What Makes Collaboration Click?*, identifies five behaviors associated with better product outcomes: - Co-creation - Rapport - Role clarity - Feedback - Reflection - Figma also announced a livestream featuring product research leaders Cristen Torrey and Andrew Hogan to discuss the findings. ## Figma Expands in Japan - Figma launched a fully localized Japanese product interface, website, and help center. - The company opened a Tokyo office and hired local leadership to support Japanese users and the regional Figma Community. - The expansion reflects Figma’s international user base, with 80% of users located outside the United States. - Figma also introduced the Japanese-focused social account **@FigmaJapan**. ## Improving Figma Community Discovery - Figma redesigned Community browsing to help users navigate its large collection of shared resources. - Users can now more easily distinguish among: - Figma and FigJam products - Use cases such as design systems - Resource types such as files, templates, widgets, and plugins - Search received expanded filtering and sorting options. - Results can be sorted by trending, most popular, or most recent resources. - The changes are intended to make creators’ contributions more discoverable and help users find relevant assets more quickly. Figma’s July improvements combine better collaboration guidance with practical product changes, particularly stronger international support and more efficient Community search and discovery.

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figmaJun 27, 2022

What’s new in Figma: June 2022 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s June 2022 updates focus on making the platform more collaborative, extensible, and accessible. The major launch is widgets—interactive canvas objects that teams can use together—alongside easier access to plugins, improved API documentation, and expanded availability for students through Google Chromebooks. Together, these changes position Figma as a broader platform for design, development, education, and teamwork. ## Collaborative Widgets in Figma - Widgets are interactive objects embedded directly on the Figma canvas. - Unlike plugins, which primarily support individual automation, widgets enable real-time team interaction. - Potential uses include: - Voting and polls - Time tracking - Design annotations - Status indicators - Task management - Featured widgets include: - **Asana** for discussing tasks and adding follow-up actions - **Jira** for turning designs into development tasks - **RAG Status** for showing red, yellow, or green project status - **Navigate** for guiding stakeholders through designs ## Easier Access to Extensions - Figma made plugins and widgets more discoverable within the editor. - Users can now search for and install extensions directly from the Figma toolbar. - Updates to the Figma Community also make it easier to try and explore available extensions. ## Redesigned API Documentation - Figma introduced redesigned developer documentation to simplify building on its platform. - Improvements include: - New navigation - Better organization of resources - Copyable code blocks - Additional code samples and practical guides ## Expanding Access Through Chromebooks - Figma partnered with Google for Education to bring Figma and FigJam to Chromebooks. - School districts can deploy and manage Figma Organization licenses through Google Admin Console. - The program is offered free to participating schools, potentially reaching tens of millions of U.S. students. - Schools could apply for the beta beginning in summer 2022. Figma’s update recommends exploring widgets and community extensions for collaborative workflows, while the redesigned developer resources provide a clearer path for building custom tools and integrations.

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figmaMay 10, 2022

Figma Community Awards 2022 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma introduced its first-ever Community Awards to recognize the plugins, widgets, templates, UI kits, and other resources that help designers collaborate and work more efficiently. With more than 1,600 resources published daily, the awards highlight how the community builds practical and creative tools for Figma and FigJam. Winners were selected through community nominations and voting, then announced at Config. ## Purpose of the Awards - The awards celebrate community members who “imagine, design, and build” together. - Recognized resources support workflows ranging from accessibility and UI design to workshops, ideation, and team bonding. - The program included ten award categories. ## 2022 Award Winners - **Plugin for extending Figma’s utility:** *Similayer* by Dave Williames, for selecting similar layers using multiple properties. - **Plugin for adding content:** *Content Reel* by Eugene Gavriloff and Microsoft, offering reusable text, images, and icons. - **Widget for teams:** *FigJenda* by PG Gonni, an interactive workshop and meeting agenda compatible with the FigJam timer. - **Widget for utility or fun:** *Rock Paper Scissors* by Alex Einarsson. - **Team bonding template:** *Remote Design Sprint* by Miranda Mazzara, Danila Gallardo, and Aerolab. - **Ideation template:** *Customer Journey Map* by Fuad Aslan. - **UI kit:** *Ant Design Open Source* by Mr Biscuit and Vinh Bui, an open-source design system. - **Icon set:** *css.gg* by Lona and Astrit, containing more than 700 CSS, SVG, and Figma icons. - **Educational resource:** *Micro interactions - Prototyping* by Rusmir Arnautovic. - **Graphic resource:** *Sketch Elements Brushes Set* by Streamline. ## How the Awards Worked - Community members could nominate resources through Figma Community profiles. - Nominations were open from April 14–22, followed by finalist announcements on May 2. - Voting took place from May 2–10. - Each resource could be nominated only once, but users could nominate as many different files, plugins, or widgets as they wished. - Nomination totals were kept private to preserve fairness. ## Recognition for Creators - Winners were honored during the awards ceremony at Config on May 11. - They received a physical Figma Community Award and Figma merchandise. - Creators were encouraged to promote their resources and use **#FigmaCommunityAwards**. The awards demonstrate how central community-created resources are to the Figma ecosystem. Designers were encouraged both to recognize tools that improve their work and to publish their own resources for others to discover and use.

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figmaMar 28, 2022

Localization, languages, and listening | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma is expanding internationally by adapting its product and organization to local users. The company’s strategy combines listening to designers worldwide, localizing languages, opening regional offices, and hiring local teams. It highlights Japan, EMEA expansion, and the difficult engineering work behind RTL language support as steps toward making design accessible to everyone. ## Learning from Designers Worldwide - Around 80% of Figma’s weekly active users were outside the United States from the company’s early days. - Customer visits around the world helped Figma understand that different regions have distinct needs and expectations. - These experiences shaped Figma’s vision: “Make design accessible to all.” - The company sees international growth as requiring humility, direct feedback, and a willingness to learn from local communities. ## Launching in Japan - Figma incorporated in Japan, opened its first Asian office in Tokyo, and appointed Hiro Kawanobe as its local leader. - Customer conversations revealed that Figma’s English-only product limited adoption. - Figma began localizing its product into Japanese, targeting a localized experience by the end of 2022. - It also planned to hire local staff across sales, marketing, community, and customer support. ## Expanding Across EMEA - Figma is increasing its European presence with offices in London, Paris, and Berlin. - Regional employees will help the company better understand and support customers across EMEA. - Figma intends to expand language support in ways that are useful and meaningful to local communities. ## Building RTL Language Support - Figma introduced support for right-to-left languages, a feature users had requested since the company’s early days. - Implementing RTL required substantial custom engineering because Figma uses: - A custom rendering stack optimized for performance - Its own text-rendering engine - Custom handling for bidirectional text and cursor behavior - Arabic and other RTL scripts create additional complexity through: - Characters whose forms change based on their position in a word - Ambiguous boundaries between writing directions - Complex diacritics and font behavior - Difficulties with text wrapping and navigation - Community plugin developers helped test the implementation, ensure compatibility with existing RTL content, and identify critical bugs during the beta. ## Growing Through Feedback - Figma acknowledges that international expansion may involve cultural mistakes or imperfect translations. - The company asks users to provide feedback so it can improve its products and approach. - Hiring continues in Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, and other locations to support its global growth. Figma’s international strategy is not limited to translating the interface. Its broader recommendation is to combine localization, local teams, technical investment, and continuous listening to build products that genuinely serve users in different regions.

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figmaOct 27, 2021

Behind the build: a Q&A with developer Tru Narla | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

The post profiles Tru Narla, a software engineer and creator of FigJam’s Soundboard widget. Her project adds playful audio interactions to FigJam boards and demonstrates how accessible the widget platform can be for developers. Despite API limitations, documentation, experimentation, community support, and livestreaming helped her turn a side-project idea into a published product. ## Soundboard for FigJam - Soundboard lets users add fun sounds to FigJam boards. - Tru initially wanted to support user-recorded audio and preset sounds, but widget limitations prevented audio recording. - The idea came from wanting to create an interactive experience focused specifically on sound. ## Building the Widget - Tru began by reading the documentation and studying demo projects. - Much of the development involved trial and error and reducing the project’s scope to fit the available APIs. - A private Slack community for widget developers helped her share code, troubleshoot bugs, and stay motivated. - She found widget development easier and more enjoyable than expected. ## Inspiration and Motivation - Tru draws ideas from Twitter and everyday experiences. - She records potential project ideas and prefers building tools she would personally use. - Publishing a finished project was a major motivation after repeatedly starting—but not completing—side projects. - Streaming the development process on Twitch provided additional accountability and encouragement. ## Future Projects and Platform Potential - Her next project is an interactive piano with clickable keys and keyboard shortcuts mapped to different notes. - She is also considering multiplayer games, though they require more planning and development time. - Tru is excited by FigJam’s growing ecosystem of plugins and widgets and the possibilities still open to developers. - She particularly likes the new code embed feature and imagines using it for tutorials, system design, and code explanations. - She would also like to see running code displayed in a sandbox within FigJam. Tru’s experience suggests that developers can begin with a small, playful idea, use the available documentation and community resources, and gradually expand their ambitions as the FigJam platform evolves.

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figmaOct 26, 2021

What’s new in Figma: October 2021 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s October 2021 updates focus on making collaboration more flexible, prototyping faster, and design work easier to scale. FigJam gained widgets, plugins, templates, code blocks, advanced shapes, and open sessions, while Figma introduced interactive components and several workflow improvements. Together, these features aim to balance structured teamwork with experimentation and spontaneous collaboration. ## Work Better Together in FigJam - **Widgets** can be added directly to FigJam files to support activities such as: - Taking team selfies with Photo Booth - Checking team sentiment with Alignment Scale - Mapping organizational structures with Org Chart - **Plugins** help users develop and synthesize ideas more efficiently: - Tour Guide turns jam boards into slideshow presentations. - Color Picker expands color options for stickies and shapes. - Unsplash provides access to image libraries. - The FigJam toolbar now provides access to: - Plugins and widgets - Templates for brainstorming, workshops, research, and other activities - Code blocks and new shapes for technical collaboration - **Open sessions** allow visitors to join FigJam files without creating an account. ## Bring Designs to Life with Interactive Components - **Interactive components** create reusable interactive elements, reducing the amount of manual prototyping required. - Designers can experiment and iterate more quickly while collaborating with their teams. - Interactions inherited from main components are hidden on instances, making complex prototypes easier to understand and edit. - Additional prototyping improvements include: - `Shift + E` to switch between Design and Prototype tabs - Canvas visibility for interactions, allowing everyone to inspect and explore them - An option to disable keyboard navigation in prototype viewers for more realistic user testing - Copying and pasting prototype interactions to reduce repetitive work ## Explore and Design at Scale - Figma emphasizes supporting design systems while still leaving room for experimentation and new ideas. - The update introduces **branching**, presented as a way to help teams manage and explore design-system work at scale.

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figmaOct 20, 2021

​​Open sessions: jam with anyone, anywhere | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

FigJam’s Open sessions let people join collaborative files without creating Figma accounts, removing friction for workshops, interviews, and meetings. Hosts retain control over access: sessions close after 24 hours by default, visitors are removed afterward, and hosts can end or restart sessions at any time. The feature is designed primarily for one-off collaborations with internal or external participants. ## Removing Barriers to Participation - Account creation can delay workshops, interviews, and other collaborative activities. - Open sessions allow occasional participants—including clients, candidates, research users, and cross-functional colleagues—to join immediately. - Participants can contribute without setup or an existing Figma account. ## How Open Sessions Work - Hosts choose when and how to open a FigJam file. - Visitors are removed automatically when the session ends. - Each session expires after 24 hours by default. - Hosts can close a session early or start another session for the same file. ## Common Use Cases - **Workshops:** Invite clients or research participants to collaborate directly in FigJam. - **Interviews:** Share a file with candidates in advance so they can present their work; technical interviews can use the CoderPad widget. - **Cross-functional meetings:** Include stakeholders in planning meetings, retrospectives, brainstorming sessions, and feedback discussions. - **One-off jams:** The feature is intended for both large-group events and one-on-one sessions. ## Availability - Open sessions were available across all plans while FigJam was in beta. - Beginning February 1, 2022, the feature became available on FigJam Professional and Organization plans. Open sessions are best suited to temporary collaboration where ease of access matters more than requiring every participant to maintain an account.

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figmaOct 18, 2021

Introducing new FigJam prices and a more open platform | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

FigJam is expanding from a beta whiteboard into a more accessible, customizable collaboration platform. Figma announced free and paid pricing, lower-friction participation through Open sessions, and a broader ecosystem of widgets, plugins, embeds, templates, shapes, and code blocks. The goal is to help entire organizations use FigJam for meetings, workshops, visual thinking, and everyday productivity. ## More accessible pricing and participation - Starting February 1, 2022, FigJam’s Starter plan will remain free. - The free plan includes: - Unlimited personal whiteboards - Three shared whiteboards - Unlimited collaborators - Paid plans provide unlimited shared whiteboards: - FigJam Professional: $3 per editor per month - FigJam Organization: $5 per editor per month - **Open sessions** let anyone join a FigJam session for 24 hours without logging in, making one-off workshops and planning meetings easier to host. ## Widgets for collaboration and meetings Widgets allow teams to customize FigJam and support social, facilitation, and productivity workflows. - **Team connection:** Donut offers water-cooler prompts and drawing games; other widgets include Rock Paper Scissors and Connect Four. - **Meeting facilitation:** - Simple Vote collects feedback after brainstorming. - Alignment Scale checks whether participants agree. - **Productivity support:** - Table imports Google Sheets data into FigJam. - Stark for FigJam provides accessibility checklists and guidance. - Org Chart helps map departments and plan headcount. - Figma planned to expand widgets with kanban boards, timelines, inline text editing, and improved media embedding. ## Plugins for faster creation - Plugins focus on helping users express and create ideas more quickly, while widgets emphasize collaborative interaction. - More than 40 plugins were already available. - Vimeo was developing a Vimeo Record plugin for recording screen captures and voice-over explanations directly in a FigJam file. - Other examples include: - Tour Guide for animated presentations - Create Sticky from Text for converting text into sticky notes - Stamp Counter for quickly counting votes ## A broader, community-built platform - Figma opened FigJam’s widgets and plugins platform to developers after an initial community beta. - The company positioned this open ecosystem as a way to let users shape how FigJam works for different teams and use cases. - Additional platform improvements announced included embedded content such as videos and documents, new shapes and code blocks, and templates accessible from the FigJam toolbar. FigJam’s strategy is to combine broad access with extensibility: keep basic collaboration free, remove barriers for guests, and let teams adapt the workspace through community-built tools.

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figmaSep 12, 2021

Announcing Schema, Figma’s design systems conference | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced Schema, a virtual conference dedicated to building, scaling, and contributing to design systems. The event reflects the shift from static, siloed style guides toward collaborative tools, shared visibility, and cross-functional participation. Schema aims to help practitioners exchange practical lessons while recognizing that organizations of every size are still refining their systems. ## The Evolution of Design Systems - Early design-system workflows relied on PDF style guides and developers translating design decisions into code. - These processes were often separated across teams and tools, making collaboration and alignment difficult. - Modern systems emphasize collaboration, visibility, flexible tooling, and shared understanding. - Design systems now involve contributors beyond traditional design roles, including developers and other design-adjacent collaborators. ## Why Figma Created Schema - Design systems include more than libraries, components, and styles. - Successful systems also depend on: - Clear communication - Measurement and demonstrating impact - Community participation - Processes that encourage contribution - Figma wanted to create a space where practitioners could share how they build and manage systems at different organizational scales. ## Event Details and Audience - Schema was scheduled for October 7, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. PT. - The conference was entirely virtual. - It targeted: - Design systems and design operations leaders - Teams formalizing their first design system - Organizations managing systems at scale - Teams extending Figma workflows through APIs, plugins, and custom tooling - Live attendance was limited, with applications accepted through October 4. Talks were also planned for free release in the Figma Community. ## Conference Themes - **Build:** Practical approaches to creating design systems of different sizes. - **Scale:** Strategies for adoption, measuring return on investment, and expanding system capabilities through tools and plugins. - **Contribute:** Methods for developing internal communities and empowering teams to improve the system. Schema was positioned as an opportunity for practitioners to learn from companies both large and small. Its central recommendation is that design systems should be treated as collaborative, evolving products supported by communication, measurement, tooling, and broad participation.

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figmaJul 23, 2020

Announcing Config Europe: a call for speakers | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced Config Europe, a free virtual conference taking place on September 17, 2020. After its San Francisco event showed both the value of community connection and the limitations of an in-person format, Figma chose an online conference to make participation more accessible. The company invited community members—especially first-time speakers—to submit talks, panels, lightning rounds, and workshops. ## From In-Person Conference to Virtual Event - Figma’s first Config conference brought together 1,200 attendees in San Francisco, with additional viewers online. - Sessions covered topics including design systems and open source’s influence on urban planning and infrastructure. - Plans to take Config to cities worldwide were paused as the global situation changed. - Figma ultimately decided that a virtual format could still fulfill Config’s mission of amplifying community voices and enabling people to learn and share. ## Call for Speakers - Speakers could submit proposals by **July 31, 2020**. - First-time speakers were explicitly welcomed and encouraged. - Accepted speakers would receive: - IT support and equipment - Help from product specialists and editors - Opportunities to develop talks, panels, lightning rounds, or workshops - Proposals not selected for Config Europe might be considered for other Figma opportunities, such as livestreams or blog posts. ## Conference Content Tracks The agenda was organized around four main themes: - **Building and maintaining design systems** - Starting and scaling systems - Creating components and style guides - Getting teams to adopt shared systems - **Figma deep-dives** - Improving workflows with plugins, Auto Layout, components, and other features - **Process, culture, and team-building** - Recruiting, hiring, team culture, and remote-work practices - **Opening up design** - Making design more inclusive, accessible, and participatory for non-designers ## Attending Config Europe - The event was free and open to anyone, anywhere. - Figma planned to publish the agenda and open registration on **August 20, 2020**. - Prospective attendees could sign up to receive updates when registration became available. Figma’s recommendation was to submit ideas through the Config Europe speaker portal or register for event updates. The announcement emphasized that the virtual conference was intended to preserve the collaborative spirit of Config while making it accessible to a broader global community.

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