The anatomy of launching a Figma open beta | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Launching a product is only the beginning of its go-to-market process. Figma used the two weeks after Dev Mode’s open beta launch as a coordinated research period to measure adoption, understand user sentiment, identify bugs, and prioritize improvements. The central lesson is to define success metrics and responsibilities before launch so teams can quickly turn feedback into product decisions.

Post-launch work requires cross-functional ownership

• Product, marketing, and support shared responsibility for evaluating Dev Mode.
• The product team tracked feature usage.
• Marketing monitored public sentiment and audience reach.
• Support focused on bugs, requests, and potential improvements.
• Product manager Avantika Gomes synthesized information from all sources, prioritized actions, coordinated follow-up, and guided iteration.
• Constant communication ensured that important social posts and recurring user issues reached the broader team.

Dev Mode as an open-beta test

• Dev Mode is a Figma workspace designed specifically for developers.
• It functions similarly to a browser inspector for design files, letting developers collect measurements, specifications, assets, and other information directly from the canvas.
• The open beta provided free access to all Figma users through the end of 2023.
• Figma used the beta to test whether Dev Mode addressed developer needs and to discover how it could be improved.

Define metrics before launch

• Feedback from developers and designers during the closed beta helped Figma refine core workflows, collaboration features, and newly identified needs.
• The team selected a north star metric: the percentage of weekly active users in developer roles who used Dev Mode.
• They also established benchmarks before launch, making it easier to judge whether results were strong or weak.
• Prebuilt dashboards allowed the team to compare activity before and after the open-beta release.

Measure adoption, reach, and user reaction

• Figma tracked usage of individual features, including:
  • The Inspect panel
  • Compare changes
  • Related links
• These measurements showed which capabilities were being adopted and which were most compelling.
• To evaluate reach, the team monitored:
  • Social media impressions
  • Email open rates
  • In-product message impressions
• Social sentiment and live audience reactions during Config helped reveal which features generated enthusiasm.

Track problems through multiple feedback channels

• Figma monitored Help Center article views to identify areas where users needed clarification.
• In-product feedback submissions and support tickets provided direct reports of bugs and improvement requests.
• Combining behavioral metrics with qualitative feedback helped the team understand not only what users did, but also where they struggled.

The practical recommendation is to treat launch as the start of an intensive learning cycle: assign clear owners, establish benchmarks and dashboards in advance, and combine product analytics, public sentiment, and support data to guide rapid improvements.