Zoom Streamlines the Design Workflow with Figma | Figma Blog

Zoom adopted Figma to replace a fragmented design workflow built around Sketch, InVision or Framer, and Zeplin. Figma’s speed, real-time collaboration, contextual commenting, and shared libraries reduced manual file management while improving communication between designers, engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders. The case study concludes that Figma became a shared source of truth that made Zoom’s distributed design process faster and more collaborative.

Speed Bumps in the Design Workflow

• Zoom’s lean design team—about one designer for every ten engineers—needed efficient ways to communicate design decisions.
• Designers worked across multiple countries and time zones, making collaboration especially important.
• Their workflow relied on separate tools:
  • Sketch for design
  • InVision or Framer for prototypes
  • Zeplin for engineering handoff
• Each iteration required files to be synchronized across tools.
• Teams pushed revisions 10–20 times per project and had to manage multiple versions, reviews, and stakeholders.
• Static screenshots often removed designs from their broader context, limiting the quality of feedback.

Figma’s Collaborative Workflow

• Designer Steven Crosby was initially attracted by Figma’s performance, particularly its smooth frame rate when moving objects.
• Figma’s integrated commenting and real-time collaboration addressed Zoom’s workflow problems in one place.
• Multiple designers could brainstorm and work on the same file simultaneously.
• Anyone with access could comment directly on the design without downloading files or managing synchronization.
• Feedback became more contextual because reviewers could see the full design flow rather than an isolated screenshot.
• Figma brought designers together with engineers, project managers, product managers, and other teams, substantially improving the amount and quality of feedback.

A Shared Design System

• Figma became Zoom’s single source of truth for design work.
• Team Libraries allowed designers in different locations and time zones to share components across projects.
• Zoom created a master file containing an icon set and reusable components, with live updates available to the team.
• Constraints helped designers create responsive components while keeping elements pinned to specific sides of a layout.
• Using reusable components improved consistency and helped designers better understand scalable design-system construction.

Brainstorming Across Teams

• Zoom used Figma to include data scientists and an external design partner in product-message brainstorming.
• Participants needed no prior Figma experience to contribute.
• By sharing a link and inviting collaborators into the file, everyone could work simultaneously in separate areas of the canvas.
• Participants quickly moved elements, modified messages, and reused ideas from one another.
• The low learning curve enabled non-designers to participate directly rather than providing feedback indirectly.

Zoom’s experience suggests that consolidating design, prototyping, feedback, and reusable components in a collaborative tool can eliminate workflow friction and make design a genuinely cross-functional activity.