How Students Who Design set up Figma in their online classroom | Figma Blog

Students Who Design uses Figma as the central workspace for running an online product-design course. Its system combines personal onboarding, shared file organization, reusable UI templates, recorded lectures, hands-on assignments, and asynchronous instructor feedback. The approach helps students work independently while allowing instructors to monitor progress and provide guidance in a shared environment.

Pre-Class Setup

• Students create free personal Figma accounts and familiarize themselves with the editor before class begins.
• Instructors invite students to the Students Who Design team as editors.
• Lectures are stored in the shared workspace, with Loom recordings providing audio narration for self-paced learning.
• Projects and naming conventions organize instructor materials, sponsorship work, brand assets, and student files.
• Each student creates a Master Figma file using the naming format Intro DPD: Name, making work easy to locate and manage.

Teaching Through Hands-On Projects

• The three-week course centers on improving Messenger:
  • Research and design principles
  • A class-wide brainstorm to prioritize feature improvements
  • An individual high-fidelity user flow
• Students watch recorded lectures and complete assignments on weekly deadlines.
• Each student duplicates a master file containing a UI kit and Messenger building blocks, reducing setup time and keeping work consistent.
• Students use Pages to document their process, with recommended organization including:
  • Numbered pages for easy scanning
  • Titles describing the design stage or page contents
  • Dedicated areas for exploration, inspiration, and revisions
• Because students work in one file throughout the course, they can create and share Figma prototypes directly with instructors.

Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback

• Figma lets instructors enter student files remotely and review progress without being physically present.
• Viewing individual pages makes it easy to identify completed assignments and ongoing explorations.
• Critique and feedback are treated as essential parts of the course, particularly for beginners.
• The shared workspace supports asynchronous review while keeping student work, prototypes, and course materials connected.

The recommended model is to establish a clear workspace structure before class, give students reusable templates, and keep all project development in one organized Figma file. This creates a flexible online classroom where students can learn at their own pace while instructors maintain visibility and provide timely design feedback.