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Give ideas more space with Jambot | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

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Jambot is a FigJam widget that brings ChatGPT’s generative capabilities into a collaborative, visual canvas. Figma created it to move beyond the limitations of linear chat, allowing people to ideate, branch into related topics, summarize discussions, and explore ideas together. The project reflects Figma’s broader view that AI interfaces should become more spatial, tangible, and multiplayer.

From Chatbots to Creative Collaboration

  • Large language models can simulate spontaneous brainstorming and provide a broad base of knowledge.
  • ChatGPT’s conversational format is useful but can feel one-sided and restrictive during creative work.
  • Jambot was designed to make AI interaction more collaborative and adaptable to group ideation.

Limitations of Linear Chat

  • Chat conversations present ideas in a one-dimensional sequence.
  • When ChatGPT offers multiple possibilities, exploring one path makes it difficult to return to another without scrolling and repeating questions.
  • Linear chat makes it unnatural to branch into related topics, compare alternatives, or see how ideas connect.

A Visual Alternative

  • Jambot began as an internal Figma AI hackathon project described as “a visual version of ChatGPT.”
  • Its concept draws on networked-thinking tools such as Roam Research and Logseq, which link and organize ideas across pages.
  • The team was also inspired by Albus, which gives AI interaction a more visual structure.
  • LangChain influenced the idea of making sophisticated AI workflows visually tangible rather than requiring users to write code.

Rethinking AI Interfaces

  • The team argues that users are currently “stuck in chat boxes,” much as they became dependent on video-call interfaces like Zoom.
  • Existing AI interfaces can feel primitive and command-line-like, despite decades of progress in graphical user interfaces.
  • Designers have an opportunity to develop new interaction patterns that provide more context, identity, and flexibility than simple conversational prompts.
  • A visual canvas can make AI more approachable while supporting branching ideas and shared participation.

What Jambot Enables

  • Ideation and brainstorming directly inside FigJam.
  • Summarizing conversations or collections of ideas.
  • Riffing on concepts and extending them in multiple directions.
  • Collaborative exploration of AI-generated output within a multiplayer workspace.

Jambot’s central recommendation is to treat AI as something that can inhabit richer environments than a chat window. By placing generative AI on a shared visual canvas, Figma aims to give teams more space to explore, connect, and develop ideas together.