figmaSep 27, 2023

Figma and Google: Transforming education for Japan’s K-12 students | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma and Google for Education are expanding their partnership to give Japan’s K–12 schools free access to Figma and FigJam through Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education. The initiative aims to address students’ limited access to digital design tools and build skills in collaboration, visual communication, problem-solving, and creative expression. Districts can apply to deploy and manage Figma Enterprise licenses through Google’s admin console. ## Bringing Industry-Standard Design Tools to Japanese Schools - Japan has high household internet access, but digital design software is often restricted to computer labs or specific classrooms. - The partnership enables schools to provide Figma on students’ personal Chromebooks. - Schools can centrally manage Figma Enterprise licenses for free using Google’s administration tools. - Students can brainstorm, collaborate, prototype, and design with tools used in professional environments. ## Building Future-Ready Skills - Figma’s earlier US Chromebook partnership attracted applications from educators in all 50 states. - Students used Figma to: - Develop design concepts - Support nonprofit initiatives - Prototype apps for local government services - Teachers used FigJam for lesson plans, group projects, study guides, and interactive classroom activities. - Figma argues that design education strengthens complex problem-solving, collaboration, visual communication, and creative expression. - The company cites research linking strong design practices with faster revenue and shareholder-return growth. ## Supporting Japan’s Next Generation of Designers - Japan has a strong record of technological innovation, educational equity, and high graduation rates. - Despite these strengths, Japanese schools historically adopted computers more slowly than many other countries. - The government launched the GIGA School Program in 2019 to provide every student with a device and high-speed school connectivity. - Figma’s browser-based tools build on that infrastructure by adding accessible, collaborative design software to students’ devices. - Google describes the partnership as a way to expand creativity, collaboration, and opportunity for a new generation. Schools and districts in Japan can apply to bring Figma and FigJam into their classrooms, helping ensure that design and digital collaboration skills are available beyond specialized programs or computer labs.

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figmaAug 29, 2022

What’s new in Figma: August 2022 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s August 2022 update focused on improving collaboration, usability, and education support across Figma and FigJam. The headline release was a Microsoft Teams integration, while more than 20 smaller improvements refined everyday design and diagramming workflows. Figma also expanded its education offerings through new resources, templates, events, and Chromebook support. ## Microsoft Teams Integration - The new Figma app for Microsoft Teams lets users collaborate in Figma and FigJam without leaving Teams. - Users can: - Present files during meetings - Brainstorm and riff together - Add relevant files to Teams channels - Receive real-time feedback notifications - The integration targets the more than 270 million people who use Microsoft Teams for work. ## Usability Improvements Figma introduced more than 20 “Little Big Updates,” designed to make frequent tasks faster and more intuitive. - **Gradient editing:** Double-clicking gradients makes it easier to space gradient stops evenly and add depth to color fills. - **Frame markups:** Users can annotate frames without worrying that markings will be clipped or affected by auto layout. - **FigJam diagrams:** New prompts automatically create shapes, while connector mode remains active to speed up flowchart creation. - The updates cover shortcuts, design tools, collaboration features, and other day-to-day workflows. ## Expanding Figma for Education Figma highlighted new initiatives for educators and students through its Commons education conference. - Hundreds of educators participated in workshops, panels, and talks about collaborative classroom practices. - New education-focused FigJam sticker packs were released. - Figma launched an Education Community collection featuring classroom templates. - A monthly YouTube series, **“Study Hall,”** provides additional educational content. - Updates to the Chromebook beta allow U.S. high school districts to deploy Figma Organization to students and teachers for free. Overall, the update shows Figma investing both in major workplace integrations and in small workflow refinements. Teams, designers, and educators can benefit by adopting the Microsoft Teams app, exploring the usability improvements, and using Figma’s growing education resources.

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figmaJun 6, 2022

Figma and Chromebook: Empowering the next generation of designers | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s partnership with Google for Education brings Figma and FigJam to Chromebooks, making professional design and collaboration tools available to millions of students at no cost to participating schools. The initiative aims to remove financial, hardware, and geographic barriers to design education while preparing students for a digital-first workforce. Figma argues that design skills—especially visual communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and creativity—should be accessible to everyone, not only students with specialized degrees or expensive equipment. ## Bringing Design Tools to Chromebooks - School districts can deploy and manage free Figma Organization licenses through the Google Admin Console. - Figma and FigJam will be available on Chromebooks, the most common personal computing devices for students. - Students can design, brainstorm, and collaborate from their own school devices rather than relying on limited computer-lab sessions. - Schools can apply for the beta program beginning in summer 2022. ## Removing Barriers to Design Education - Specialized degrees, costly hardware, and expensive creative software can prevent students from gaining design experience. - Cloud-based Chromebooks make design tools more affordable and accessible. - Figma’s founders designed the product to be free because they had seen how expensive creative tools could be for college students. - The broader goal is to give students access to opportunities in design and software regardless of their financial background. ## Why Design Skills Matter - The shift from physical to digital work, accelerated by the pandemic, has increased the importance of digital design and visual communication. - Design education develops: - Complex problem-solving - Collaboration - Creative expression - Communication and critical thinking - These skills are valuable across disciplines, not only in traditional design careers. - Figma cites research suggesting that design-focused companies outperform their peers by a factor of two. ## Teachers’ and Students’ Experiences - Teachers report higher student engagement and enthusiasm in class. - Students with no previous exposure to design have become interested in pursuing it after graduation. - Some students use Figma at home for personal projects simply because they enjoy creating. - Teachers use FigJam for icebreakers, collaborative exercises, and classroom activities. ## Learning Through Play and Projects - Dylan Field emphasizes play, hands-on work, and project-based learning as important ways to develop design skills. - He describes his own project-based high school, where science concepts were reinforced through engineering projects. - That curriculum reflected a design process: - Explore broadly and generate possibilities - Narrow the options and choose a direction - Execute the selected idea - This approach helps students learn by making, experimenting, and solving concrete problems rather than relying solely on instruction. Figma’s Chromebook initiative is intended to make design education a normal part of students’ everyday learning. Providing free, accessible tools—combined with hands-on, collaborative projects—can help more students build the creative and technical skills needed for the future.

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figmaMay 23, 2018

How you can design end to end on a Chromebook | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Chromebooks, once considered too limited for professional design, can now support an end-to-end design workflow when paired with cloud-based tools. The author’s year of using Chrome OS professionally shows that Figma, web apps, and cloud storage can replace most desktop software, although custom fonts, internet access, and specialized audio/video work remain limitations. ## Why Switch to a Chromebook? - The author moved from a Mac at Square because Chromebooks offered: - Stronger security - Lower cost - Automatic file backup and synchronization - Using a Chromebook helped the author understand coworkers who used Chrome OS. - Because Figma already ran in the browser, the transition was easier than expected. ## Six Things Designers Should Know About Chrome OS - **Figma is essential:** It is the author’s preferred cloud-based design tool and works natively in the browser. - **Keyboard shortcuts differ:** The Control key replaces Command, while the Search key can act as a modifier. Figma’s shortcut menu displays Chrome OS-specific commands. - **Performance is sufficient:** Figma performed well across three different Chromebooks. - **Most supporting tools are web-based:** Slack, Grammarly, Funkify, and G Suite worked without major issues. - **Font installation is limited:** Chrome OS does not currently support custom typefaces, though Google Fonts provides many alternatives. - **Internet access matters:** Offline functionality exists, but cloud-based workflows are strongest when connected. Touchscreens are useful for scrolling and navigating canvases. ## Choosing Chromebook Hardware - The author tested an HP Chromebook, the touchscreen-and-stylus Samsung Pro, and eventually chose the Google Pixelbook. - The Pixelbook’s keyboard and trackpad were the deciding factors. - Although it started at $999, it cost less than one-third of the author’s previous MacBook Pro. - Cheaper devices, including the $85 Chromebit, could also support lightweight workflows. ## Cloud-Based Tools for a Complete Workflow - **Creating:** Figma, SuperHi, Google Slides, Paste, Grammarly, Google Docs, and Dropbox Paper. - **Organizing:** Asana, Google Tasks, Bonsai, Notion, and 1Password X. - **Messaging and meetings:** Signal, Telegram, Slack, and Google Meet. - **Media:** Spotify and Pocket Casts. - The author still used a Mac for Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, since video and audio editing remained desktop-focused. ## The Web as a Design Platform - Cloud software eliminates much of the burden of saving and backing up files. - Files are accessible from any browser rather than being tied to a particular device. - Advancements such as WebGL demonstrate that browsers can handle sophisticated, real-time applications. - The web’s openness and accessibility make it an increasingly viable platform for professional software. Overall, designers who primarily use cloud-based tools can confidently consider a Chromebook, especially if affordability, portability, and synchronized files are priorities. Those dependent on custom fonts or advanced media-production software may still need a traditional computer.

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figmaJan 24, 2018

Bug Bashing Party at Figma During Quality Week | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s Quality Week is a company-wide pause from new feature development to focus on fixing accumulated bugs and polishing existing functionality. The initiative reflects Figma’s belief that small usability problems compound for designers who spend hours in the product. By making quality work a recurring tradition, Figma aims to deliver a smoother, more reliable professional tool while also giving employees opportunities to explore unfamiliar parts of the codebase. ## A Company-Wide Focus on Quality - Figma launched its first official Quality Week in early 2017. - Engineers and designers temporarily paused their regular projects to address: - Annoying but non-critical bugs - Broken or incomplete features - Improvements to existing workflows - The company found that focused maintenance work could be as valuable as continuously shipping new features. - Quality improvements are especially important because users spend long periods working in Figma, making small imperfections increasingly disruptive. ## Quality Week 2018 Improvements - Two engineering teams collaborated on a broad set of bugs and prioritized issues that affected Figma’s professional quality. - Notable fixes included: - **Figma Mirror:** Improved stability and reduced crashes in the mobile mirroring app. - **Sketch import:** Added drag-and-drop importing into the editor and improved text-import accuracy. - **Chromebook support:** Enabled users to hold the search key and drag to duplicate objects. - **Layer panel behavior:** Made it easier and more intuitive to nest layers into groups and frames. - Figma acknowledged that the product was not bug-free, but planned to continue focused quality efforts throughout the year. ## Benefits for the Team - Quality Week helped developers and designers work in parts of the codebase outside their usual areas. - The event encouraged collaboration across teams and made otherwise routine maintenance work enjoyable. - Figma celebrated achievements with awards, including recognition for fixing the company’s oldest known bug—an issue affecting Windows users since 2015. ## Feedback and Ongoing Support - Many bugs addressed during Quality Week were reported by Figma’s user community. - Figma encouraged users to submit feedback through: - The in-product Help menu - Twitter - The community forum - Email support - The company emphasized an all-hands support model, where users might interact with engineers or even the CEO. Figma’s approach shows that dedicated time for bug fixing and product cleanup can complement innovation rather than compete with it. Regular quality-focused periods, combined with continuous user feedback, help maintain a reliable and polished product as it evolves.

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