User Experience

165 posts

figmaAug 11, 20182 min readCurated summary

Designer Q&A: Camellia Neri’s five catalysts for creativity | Figma Blog

Camellia Neri, Lead Illustrator at Gusto, draws creative energy primarily from childhood memories and nostalgic places. Her five inspirations—from Disneyland to San Francisco’s hidden history—teach her to value research, surprise, storytelling, collaboration, and overlooked details. Together, they form a creative practice focused on making illustrations feel both genuine and richly imagined. ## Main Street, Disneyland - Neri’s childhood memories of Disneyland began with watching a parade from her father’s shoulders. - Main Street’s detailed storefronts, gold-leaf lettering, and carefully constructed world showed her how craft creates authenticity. - She applies the same principle to illustration by researching subjects thoroughly and approaching each visual decision intentionally. ## Pee-Wee’s Playhouse - The show inspired her through its combination of comedy, puppetry, life lessons, unusual artwork, and unexpected details. - Its creators included animator Ric Heitzman, cartoonist Gary Panter, and painter Wayne White. - Neri believes strong illustrators add surprising moments and personal “easter eggs” that reveal their individuality and delight the audience. ## The Los Angeles Museum of Natural History - The museum’s taxidermy dioramas influenced her because they function like large, three-dimensional illustrations. - Carefully arranged animals, painted backgrounds, lighting, and ecosystem-specific color palettes create complete visual stories. - She sees the same qualities in effective landing pages: strong storytelling, impactful visuals, and dynamic design working together as one experience. ## Quentin Blake and Roald Dahl - Neri kept her Roald Dahl books illustrated by Quentin Blake even after giving away most of her childhood collection. - Blake’s drawings strengthened Dahl’s whimsical narratives and helped define the books’ characters and shared creative identity. - She compares the illustrator-writer relationship to a marriage, emphasizing the importance of choosing collaborators carefully and nurturing a productive partnership. ## San Francisco’s Hidden History - San Francisco’s obscure historical stories provide Neri with an ongoing source of ideas and conversation. - She illustrates these discoveries on a Medium blog and uses Figma to maintain a consistent visual brand across the project. - Her work reflects the illustrator’s role in making unseen or forgotten worlds visible, such as the city’s buried ships and other historical oddities. Neri’s approach recommends looking closely at personal memories, cultural influences, collaborators, and overlooked details. Creative inspiration can come from anywhere, but it becomes most powerful when transformed through research, craftsmanship, and a distinctive personal perspective.

User Experience Figma Graphic Design Illustration+2

figmaAug 8, 20182 min readCurated summary

On the road: How two designers got rid of their hardware baggage | Figma Blog

A simple Samsung-based setup can replace a laptop for user research, design collaboration, and even editing Figma files while traveling. By combining a Samsung phone or tablet with Chrome, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and either a DeX dock or Chromecast, designers can work from almost any monitor or TV. The approach reduces equipment, cost, and barriers to entering the design profession. ## A Lightweight Mobile Figma Setup - Recommended hardware includes: - Samsung Galaxy S8/S9 models or a Samsung Tab 2 - A DeX dock, USB-C-to-HDMI converter, or Chromecast - Bluetooth keyboard and mouse - Designers can open Figma in Chrome on a mobile device and broadcast it to a larger display. - Prototype links can be shared with users or clients, who open them on their own computers or tablets. ## Remote User Research Without a Laptop - Josh Goodwin previously carried multiple laptops and tablets loaded with Sketch or Adobe software for medical user testing. - With Figma, he can connect his phone to an available hospital monitor and let doctors interact with prototypes in their own browsers. - Feedback can be incorporated immediately during testing, allowing development teams to move faster. ## Lowering the Cost of Design Work - The setup can provide a practical alternative for students, designers in emerging markets, or anyone on a limited budget. - A smartphone and inexpensive television may be enough to design and collaborate without a high-end laptop. - Tyrale Bloomfield uses a Samsung tablet alone for creative-direction work, sometimes commenting with his fingers instead of using a mouse. ## Why Hardware Compatibility Matters - Samsung devices performed best in the authors’ testing because they adjust DPI when projecting to a larger screen, providing an appropriate amount of workspace. - The device, browser, and input hardware must correctly distinguish mouse clicks from finger touches. - Some systems interpret all input as touch, preventing essential actions such as resizing objects, using bounding boxes, or clicking and dragging. - The designers tested many phones and roughly 30 browsers before finding a reliable combination. The article’s practical recommendation is to prioritize a compatible Android device, browser, and pointing device rather than assuming any mobile setup will work. With the right combination, a browser and Internet connection can support much of a designer’s full workflow while eliminating substantial hardware baggage.

User Experience Figma Android User Research+3

figmaAug 6, 20182 min readCurated summary

Master the art of design portfolios with this free online Skillshare class | Figma Blog

The post introduces a free Figma and Skillshare course designed to help aspiring product designers create stronger portfolios and improve their chances of landing a job. It argues that an effective portfolio should present not only polished results, but also the designer’s process, learning, adaptability, and outcomes. The course covers portfolio creation from initial content choices through interviews and peer feedback. ## Why Portfolios Matter - Applying for a first product design role can be difficult because the field includes many specialties and interview expectations. - A portfolio is central to the job search and should represent work both accurately and memorably. - New designers should be deliberate about what they include and how they frame their experience. ## What the Course Covers The free Skillshare class addresses: - Which information belongs in a design portfolio. - How to create a clear and effective visual presentation. - How to structure projects as case studies. - How to maintain a consistent professional story across: - An online presence - Applications - Interviews - How to iterate on portfolio designs and collaborate with peers in Figma. - How to invite mentors into Figma projects for practical feedback. ## Understanding Product Design Roles - Product design can combine: - User research - User experience design - Prototyping - User testing - Visual design - Smaller companies often expect designers to handle several of these responsibilities. - Larger organizations may divide product design into specialized roles. - Designers should identify their strengths and interests while remaining open to adapting as tools, methods, and industry needs change. ## Showcasing Process and Growth - Portfolios should highlight: - The design process - Key decisions - Lessons learned - Project outcomes - A final visual result alone does not demonstrate how a designer thinks or works. - Employers value candidates who show curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to learn. - Sharing projects with classmates and mentors can provide useful critique and improve the portfolio. The practical recommendation is to use the course—or the linked written guidance—to build a portfolio that tells a complete story: what you did, why you did it, what you learned, and what changed as a result.

User Experience Figma Prototyping Product Design+4

figmaJul 25, 20182 min readCurated summary

Introducing: Design Dictionary from Figma | Figma Blog

Figma introduced its Design Dictionary to make design terminology more accessible and improve communication across teams. The resource addresses the field’s dense vocabulary, which can confuse newcomers and hinder collaboration between designers, engineers, product managers, copy editors, and stakeholders. Launched with 70 terms and open to community contributions, the dictionary is intended to evolve alongside the design industry. ## Design’s Specialized Language - Design terminology draws from art, printmaking, publishing, usability, and typography. - Terms help experts discuss detailed concepts precisely. - The same vocabulary can intimidate people who are new to design or work alongside designers. ## The Need for Cross-Functional Understanding - Modern digital products involve many roles in design work: - Engineers translate designs into production code. - Copy editors add and refine content. - Stakeholders review and approve designs. - Product managers coordinate the broader process. - Collaboration becomes harder when teams use design terms inconsistently or do not understand them. - Figma experienced this challenge after hiring employees from business, analytics, support, engineering, and other non-design backgrounds. ## The Design Dictionary - Figma created the dictionary as a practical glossary for learning core design terminology. - The initial release included 70 terms. - It was open-sourced so the wider design community could benefit from and contribute to it. - The resource was expected to expand as design practices and industry language evolved. ## Community Contributions - Figma invited readers to suggest terms that cause confusion in their organizations. - Examples included “White Space,” “Stroke,” and “Lorem Ipsum.” - Users could submit new ideas and corrections through a link in the dictionary. Figma’s Design Dictionary is recommended as a shared reference for teams working across design and product development. Its broader goal is to create a common language that makes cross-functional design collaboration clearer and more effective.

User Experience Figma Design Systems Open Source+2

figmaJun 5, 20182 min readCurated summary

#FigmaTip Roundup 8.0 | Figma Blog

This edition of Figma’s #FigmaTip Roundup collects quick workflow improvements from the design community. It focuses on making projects easier to identify visually and navigating layers and selections more efficiently. Together, the tips show how small organizational and keyboard-shortcut habits can speed up everyday Figma work. ## Customizing Project Thumbnails - Create a single frame on the first page of a project, sized approximately **620 × 320 pixels**. - Design a visually distinctive thumbnail inside the frame, using relatively large text. - Match the frame’s color with the canvas background so the thumbnail appears polished and cohesive. - This makes projects easier to recognize quickly in Figma’s project view. ## Navigating the Layers Panel - The roundup highlights keyboard shortcuts for moving through and managing layers. - The supplied article text does not include the details of this embedded tip, but its purpose is to reduce reliance on manually clicking through the layers panel. ## Speeding Up Selection and Layer Management - **Tab / Shift-Tab:** Select the next or previous sibling layer. - **Return / Shift-Return:** Enter or exit groups and frames while maintaining selection context. - **Command + ] / Command + [:** Move a layer up or down in the stacking order. - **Option + Command + ] / Option + Command + [:** Move a layer to the top or bottom of the stacking order. The practical recommendation is to combine a deliberately designed project thumbnail with regular use of selection and layer shortcuts. These simple techniques improve both project organization and editing speed without changing the underlying design process.

User Experience Figma User Interface Keyboard Shortcuts

figmaJun 4, 20182 min readCurated summary

With websites, what comes first: The copy or design? | Figma Blog

Website projects often become slow, repetitive exchanges between copywriters, designers, and stakeholders. The post argues that copy and design should be developed together rather than sequentially, using a shared, cloud-based workspace like Figma. Real-time collaboration reduces revisions, meetings, delays, and confusion while producing better web assets. ## The Problems with Separate Copy and Design Workflows - Copywriters may work in Google Docs while designers work in Sketch or another separate tool. - Teams repeatedly exchange drafts after discovering that text does not fit the design. - Design critiques, copy reviews, and stakeholder feedback can force additional redesigns. - Remote collaboration makes the process even more cumbersome; the author describes printing designs, writing edits by hand, scanning them, and sending them back. - Siloed tools make the project difficult to track, even for project managers. ## Developing Copy and Design Together in Figma - The author outlined the main copy points for each page in a Google Doc. - Designers created Figma frames representing the website pages. - Marketing and design worked simultaneously, progressing from high-fidelity wireframes to final designs. - Copy could be edited directly while viewing it in its intended visual context. - Designers spent less time handling communication and more time focusing on the design itself. ## A Shared Source of Truth - Stakeholders could access the latest copy and designs through a single project URL. - Team members could leave comments and review version history without exporting or emailing files. - The same designs could be used for user testing, allowing everyone to connect feedback with the current work. - Fewer meetings were needed, and the remaining meetings became more efficient. - Last-minute updates no longer required a separate scramble before milestone reviews. The practical recommendation is to replace sequential, tool-separated workflows with real-time collaboration between writers, designers, and stakeholders. Treating copy and design as interconnected parts of one process can make website projects faster, clearer, and less frustrating.

User Experience Figma Web Design Sketch+4

figmaMay 8, 20182 min readCurated summary

Figma Styles beta: A new way to apply text and layer attributes | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2018 Styles beta introduced a modular system for applying text and layer attributes consistently across documents. Instead of bundling typography, color, and alignment into complex combinations, Styles separated them so each could be managed and updated independently. The feature also allowed different styles within a single text field, making design systems easier to maintain for both individuals and teams. ## Modular Text and Layer Styles - Styles could be created separately for: - Text properties - Fills and colors - Layout grids - Effects - Strokes - Styles were available through team libraries, helping teams share current versions. - Team members could enable shared Styles and receive notifications when they changed. ## Reducing Text Style Complexity - Traditional tools combined font, color, and alignment into a single text style. - A project with three text formats and three colors could require nine separate styles, even before accounting for alignment. - Changing a color—such as an inaccessible light-gray link color—required manually updating every affected style. - Figma separated form, color, and alignment so each attribute could be edited independently. - Updating a source fill style automatically propagated the change throughout the design. ## Applying Multiple Styles Within Text Fields - Other design tools often restricted a text field to one style. - Formatting part of a sentence as a link or section heading could break its connection to the original style. - Figma allowed users to highlight portions of text and apply different text or fill styles. - These partial styles retained their links to the source styles and updated when those styles changed. ## Beta Rollout - The private beta was intended to reduce daily styling problems and support scalable team design systems. - Migration was planned to begin with smaller teams before larger ones. - The migration was one-way, so teams needed to consider the change before participating. Figma recommended Styles as a more flexible foundation for consistent design systems, especially for teams managing shared typography and visual attributes at scale.

User Experience Figma Design Systems Accessibility+2

datadogMar 23, 20182 min readCurated summary

What product designers can learn from explanatory journalism

Explanatory journalism offers product designers a useful model: prioritize important context over the latest information, prevent context from being lost, and explain decisions clearly to different audiences. The author argues that thorough research and documentation make design communication more concise and persuasive. A well-maintained “papertrail” becomes the foundation for better decisions and explanations. ## Favor the Important Over the New - Constantly updating feeds encourage people to value recent information over significant information. - Designers face the same bias when reacting to the latest: - Support ticket - Meeting summary - Customer call - Feedback should be collected in one place and labeled by source so it can be weighted appropriately. - Tracking how many customers or teams request something helps identify common needs and prioritize them. ## Prevent Context Collapse - Sharing tools make it easy to distribute mockups and updates, but recipients may lack the background needed to evaluate them properly. - Product decisions often draw on many sources: - Customer support conversations - Product managers’ customer meetings - Sales requirements - Design research interviews - Executive goals - Designers should assemble this context over time and preserve it in one accessible location. - During reviews, the designer must explain not only the proposed solution but also how it responds to—or intentionally excludes—the concerns of each audience. ## Use the Available Space - Digital publishing and podcasts are not constrained by the same space limitations as traditional media, making background and context easier to provide. - The author describes design work as two phases: - **Expansion:** Gather research, precedent, data, requirements, and evidence. - **Contraction:** Distill that material into concise explanations and decisions. - A thorough, organized research record makes short summaries, presentations, and conversations more accurate and effective. - Links from concise explanations to the underlying research preserve context without overwhelming the main narrative. ## Build and Maintain a Design Papertrail - Documentation benefits the designer even when nobody else reads every detail. - A papertrail should be: - Created during the research process - Kept up to date - Revisited regularly - Used as the canonical source for design decisions - The work focuses primarily on product usability, workflows, and interaction design, while product managers may focus more on pricing, prioritization, timelines, and business considerations. The practical recommendation is to document broadly, organize the evidence, and explain selectively. Designers who maintain strong context will make better decisions and communicate them more effectively.

User Experience Product Design Interaction Design Social Media+4

figmaMar 13, 20183 min readCurated summary

How to hit the road as a UI/UX digital nomad | Figma Blog

Digital nomadism can offer UI/UX designers freedom and new experiences, but it requires careful preparation and reliable communication. The article’s central advice is to secure clients, establish the basics of a freelance business, and plan for dependable internet before leaving. Once abroad, designers should build local connections and maintain client trust through consistent updates and clear expectations. ## Prepare Before You Leave - Secure clients or an employer before booking a one-way ticket. - Building relationships while still nearby makes hiring easier and reduces financial pressure. - Meet prospective clients in person when possible to understand their communication styles and business needs. - Grow a client network by: - Attending design meetups and tech events. - Posting freelance services on Craigslist. - Completing initial projects before explaining long-term travel plans. - Regularly reminding professional contacts that you are accepting work. ## Set Up the Freelance Business Complete administrative tasks before traveling, since registering and managing a business from abroad can be difficult. - Consider forming an LLC for potential business deductions. - Open a separate business checking account. - Create a portfolio website with contact information. - Prepare business cards and other promotional materials. - Work with an accountant to manage taxes. - Register the business name. ## Plan for Reliable Internet Internet access is essential for conference calls, email, and collaborative design work. - Research WiFi quality at each accommodation and check reviews for complaints. - Ask hosts to provide a connection-speed test if necessary. - Carry a backup SIM card or mobile-data option. - Warn clients in advance if connectivity may be unreliable. - Use cloud-based collaboration tools such as Figma to share files, collect comments, and avoid repeatedly exporting designs. - Open Figma files before losing connectivity if offline work may be necessary. ## Build a Digital Nomad Community Traveling can be isolating, so designers should intentionally connect with other remote workers. - Join Facebook communities such as Digital Nomads Around the World, Female Digital Nomads, or Digital Nomad Girls. - Consider destinations with established remote-work communities, including: - Hanoi - Chiang Mai - Ubud - Look for cities with strong WiFi, coworking spaces, coffee shops, and a reasonable cost of living. - Structured programs such as Roam and Remote Year can provide a more organized experience. ## Maintain Client Trust Across Time Zones Distance makes transparency and regular communication especially important. - Send clients frequent progress updates; one designer mentioned sending daily emails. - Schedule recurring calls, such as every two days, to answer questions and maintain alignment. - Set clear expectations around availability, time zones, and possible connectivity problems. - Balance work with travel so the nomadic lifestyle does not become an exhausting remote office. A successful UI/UX digital nomad lifestyle depends less on spontaneity than on preparation, dependable infrastructure, and disciplined client communication. Secure work and business systems first, then choose destinations and routines that support both productivity and the freedom to travel.

User Experience Figma Remote Work Digital Nomad+1

figmaFeb 26, 20182 min readCurated summary

Figma prototyping: now with transitions | Figma Blog

Figma’s 2018 update introduced transitions to its prototyping tool, allowing designers to create more realistic, communicative app experiences. Users could connect frames with dissolve, slide, or push animations, customize duration and easing, and preview results directly in the toolbar. The update aimed to reduce ambiguity among designers, engineers, clients, and other stakeholders. ## Why Transitions Matter - Prototypes help teams evaluate high-fidelity app experiences before development. - Animation between frames can significantly affect how an interface feels. - Adding transitions reduces back-and-forth by communicating interaction details more clearly. - The feature was developed in response to extensive community feedback. ## New Transition Features - Apply **dissolve, slide, or push** effects between frames. - Set animation durations down to a few milliseconds. - Adjust easing so animations accelerate or slow down at different points. - Preview frame transitions in the prototyping toolbar. - Use transitions to reproduce platform-specific interactions, such as iOS-style motion. ## Existing Prototyping Advantages - **Live design:** Prototypes remain synchronized with the underlying web-based designs, eliminating the need to re-export after edits. - **Mobile presentations:** Presentations can be controlled from Android or iOS browsers, while stakeholders can follow along from their own computers. - **Components:** Prototype interactions assigned to a component automatically apply to its instances, making repeated navigation—such as a home button—easy to maintain. ## Continued Product Development - Figma positioned transitions as another step toward making prototyping faster and easier. - The company planned to continue expanding prototyping to better support everyone involved in software development. Transitions made Figma prototypes more polished and useful for communicating both static designs and interactive behavior before implementation.

User Experience Figma Prototyping User Interface+2

figmaFeb 14, 20182 min readCurated summary

With love, from Figma: @mentions and file sorting | Figma Blog

Figma’s February 2018 update introduced two features designed to reduce friction in design workflows: file sorting and @mentions. Users can now organize files by creation date or name, while comments can directly notify specific teammates by email and in-app notification. Together, the features make finding files and coordinating asynchronous feedback more efficient. ## Organizing Files with New Sorting Options - Figma file lists were previously sorted primarily by “Last Modified.” - Users can now sort files by: - Date created - File name alphabetically - Last modified date - These options make it easier to locate older files or maintain a more organized workspace. ## Directing Feedback with @Mentions - Figma introduced @mentions for comments, allowing users to tag a teammate by typing `@` followed by their name. - Mentions are useful for: - Drawing a product manager’s attention to a specific design change - Asking engineers questions about a prototype - Notifying designers that copy edits are complete - Mentioned users receive both an email and an in-app notification. - Users can reply directly to comment notification emails, and their response is added to the Figma comment thread. ## Improving Asynchronous Collaboration - Previously, commenters had to send a document link and tell recipients to search for the relevant comment. - @mentions eliminate that extra step by pointing teammates directly to the discussion requiring their attention. - The features were developed in response to repeated requests from Figma users. Refreshing open Figma tabs enables both updates. These additions provide simple, practical improvements for organizing files and ensuring feedback reaches the right collaborator.

User Experience Figma Prototyping Real Time Collaboration+3

figmaFeb 7, 20182 min readCurated summary

Web design without a web designer? Xfive turns to Figma. | Figma Blog

Xfive, a web development company without in-house designers, used Figma to redesign its outdated website. Content producer Lubos Kmetko created the redesign and used Figma’s browser-based collaboration, prototyping, commenting, and developer handoff features to involve stakeholders across the company. The experience showed that Figma could make website design accessible to non-designers while reducing communication and implementation friction. ## Website problems and redesign goals - Xfive’s homepage and key sections had fallen behind as the company grew. - The site suffered from: - Outdated Customers and Work sections - Confusing navigation - Too many competing calls to action - Numerous landing pages that were difficult to maintain - Because Xfive typically implements client-provided designs, it did not usually employ dedicated designers. - Lubos Kmetko, a content producer familiar with Figma, took responsibility for the redesign. ## Prototyping and stakeholder collaboration - Lubos redesigned the homepage, Customers section, and Work section. - He streamlined navigation and reduced the number of CTAs and landing pages. - Stakeholders from marketing, sales, production, editorial, development, and operations reviewed the mockups. - Figma’s cloud-based workflow allowed anyone with a browser to: - Open the designs through a shared link - Leave comments - Discuss ideas and interactions - Review changes in real time - Feedback and revisions remained synchronized in one location instead of being scattered across files and messages. ## Improving designer-developer handoff - Approved designs were shared directly through Figma rather than sent as files through email or Box. - Developers could inspect designs in the browser using Code Mode. - Figma provided specifications such as dimensions, colors, and padding, along with export options for CSS, iOS, and Android code. - This reduced version-control problems, guesswork, and dependency on tools such as Avocode or Zeplin. - Developers reported that access to precise design details helped them code faster and more accurately. ## Future use of Figma at Xfive - Xfive viewed the redesign as a starting point for adopting Figma in client projects. - Lubos envisioned replacing emailed PDFs and JPEGs with functional, shareable prototypes. - The company planned to use Figma across the process, from early design discussions and implementation details to developer handoff. Figma enabled Xfive to complete a substantial redesign without a traditional designer and created a more centralized, collaborative workflow. For teams working across disciplines or locations, browser-based prototypes, comments, and inspectable design specifications can significantly simplify both design review and development.

User Experience Figma Prototyping Android+4

figmaJan 31, 20182 min readCurated summary

Figma raises $25MM Series B | Figma Blog

Figma announced a $25 million Series B funding round led by Kleiner Perkins partner Mamoon Hamid. Existing investors from Index, Greylock, and LinkedIn also participated. The funding supports Figma’s broader vision of making design accessible, collaborative, and web-based rather than limited by siloed tools and workflows. ## Series B Funding - The round was led by Kleiner Perkins’ Mamoon Hamid. - Hamid’s previous investments included SaaS companies such as Slack, Box, and Intercom. - Existing investors Danny Rimer of Index, John Lilly of Greylock, and LinkedIn co-founder Jeff Weiner joined the round. - This was Hamid’s first investment at Kleiner Perkins. ## Figma’s Founding Vision - Figma was founded five years earlier by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace. - The founders believed creative tools should empower users rather than constrain them. - Their goal was to make creation: - Accessible to more people - Collaborative instead of siloed - Built for the web - The company emerged from experimentation with browser-based design tools, supported initially by a Thiel Fellowship. ## Adopting a New Way of Working - Figma acknowledged that changing established design workflows is difficult and takes time. - The company credited its users, employees, and early investors for supporting its vision during that transition. - The funding announcement represented both financial growth and continued validation of collaborative, web-based design. Figma intended to use the momentum from its Series B to continue developing tools that make design more open, collaborative, and accessible across teams.

User Experience Figma Collaborative Design Web Design+1

figmaJan 30, 20182 min readCurated summary

Figma announces design system meetups in 6 cities around the world | Figma Blog

Figma announced a series of design system meetups in six cities worldwide to help designers share challenges, lessons, and best practices. The initiative began in Lagos, Nigeria, where more than 300 people attended, and was shaped by strong community interest in design systems. Figma concluded that larger meetups were more inclusive and useful than the dinner-sized events originally planned. ## Meetup Locations and Schedule - Lagos, Nigeria — January 27 - Toronto, Canada — February 23 - Bangalore, India — details forthcoming - Amsterdam, Netherlands — details forthcoming - New York, United States — details forthcoming - Los Angeles, United States — details forthcoming Each event would be adapted to its local design community and include presentations from local designers. Figma representatives would attend where possible. ## Community-Driven Organization - The meetups grew out of thousands of responses to a questionnaire launched with DesignSystems.com. - Designers volunteered to host or partner on events. - Figma abandoned its original dinner format after receiving more interest than small venues could accommodate. - The broader meetup format allowed more designers to participate and share “war stories” about building design systems. ## The Lagos Meetup - Lagos was selected because of its growing design and technology scene and its large concentration of Figma users in Africa. - Figma’s cloud-based platform and free tier were especially valuable in Lagos, allowing designers to work from offices, home, or internet cafés. - Hotels.ng designer Namnso Ukpanah organized the event. - Speakers included designers from hotels.ng, Andela, and Paystack, along with Figma CEO Dylan Field. - More than 300 people attended. ## Expanding DesignSystems.com Figma planned to use information from the questionnaire and meetups to create a more comprehensive version of DesignSystems.com. Designers interested in bringing an event to their city were encouraged to express interest, volunteer as hosts, or contact Figma for details. The initiative demonstrates that design systems benefit from open, local communities where practitioners can exchange practical experience. Designers seeking similar events could support the effort by organizing locally or participating through DesignSystems.com.

User Experience Figma Design Systems Digital Product Design+1

figmaJan 9, 20183 min readCurated summary

How Figma Transformed This Berkeley Design Class | Figma Blog

UC Berkeley’s CS 160 course used Figma to make digital product design more accessible to computer science students. The cloud-based tool solved problems involving incompatible devices, steep software learning curves, and limited collaboration. As a result, students spent more time applying usability principles and less time learning complicated design software. ## Challenges in Teaching Digital Design - CS 160 teaches human-computer interaction through 3–4-person teams building Android apps around themes such as healthcare and elections. - The course struggled with: - Students using Linux, Windows, Macs, or no personal computer. - Limited computer-lab solutions for incompatible software. - Adobe tools requiring substantial training. - Students with prior design experience often handled wireframing and prototyping, while others focused on coding or user testing. - Enrollment demand was high enough that the course’s original 100-student limit had to be doubled. ## Figma Made Design More Accessible - Figma was free for students and worked across different operating systems. - Its simple interface allowed students without design backgrounds to learn the basics quickly—one student reported becoming productive in about an hour. - Built-in features supported teaching: - In-context comments for instructor feedback. - Version history for reviewing progress. - Simultaneous editing by multiple students. - Integrated prototyping for presentations. - Students could focus on concepts such as Nielsen’s usability heuristics instead of spending most of their time learning Photoshop. ## More Effective Project-Based Learning - Students applied classroom lessons directly to their projects, reinforcing the concepts through practice. - One healthcare-themed team designed an app helping people with alcoholism locate nearby Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. - Figma’s quick prototyping was especially useful because teams had only about an hour of face-to-face collaboration each week. - Teachers and TAs could comment directly on relevant parts of a design rather than sending unclear, broad feedback by email. ## Collaboration Across Disciplines - Real-time editing enabled students to brainstorm, observe one another’s work, and contribute regardless of their design background. - Teams could work outside class without worrying about conflicting file versions or accidentally overwriting one another’s work. - The course used Figma to bring coding and design together, giving computer science students a more collaborative introduction to product design. Figma’s main contribution was reducing technical and logistical barriers so students could concentrate on design thinking, usability, and teamwork. For similar project-based courses, accessible cross-platform tools with real-time collaboration and contextual feedback can make design education more inclusive and effective.

User Experience Figma Prototyping User Interface+4