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.