figmaJun 29, 2026

Meet the Artists Behind Figma's Season 5 Collection | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s Season 5 merchandise collection was created with eight artists from around the world, each bringing a distinct creative voice. Organized around play, iteration, and hands-on tools, the collection embraces experimentation, imperfection, and unexpected character. The result is an eclectic range of apparel and accessories featuring playful illustrations and tactile, artistic styles. ## Collection Themes - **Play:** Making freely without overthinking. - **Iteration:** Allowing ideas to develop through repetition and refinement. - **Tools:** Celebrating the physical process of creating by hand. - Figma’s Brand Studio selected artists whose existing work reflected these ideas. - The collection debuted at Config, Figma’s annual conference for product makers. ## Quentin Chambry: Repetition and Spontaneity - **Based in:** Tokyo, Japan - **Influences:** Skateboarding, street culture, graffiti, Japanese ceramics, and Tokyo pop culture - **Tools:** Black marker and white paper - Quentin fills hundreds of pages in a session, repeating movements until unexpected shapes emerge. - Using marker rather than pencil prevents erasing, making the process more immediate and exciting. - His designs include smiling figures and cubes featured on shirts, hats, and sweatshirts. - The work reflects play through exploration, editing, and accepting imperfections. ## Meazo: Childlike Creativity - **Based in:** Leicestershire, England - **Influences:** His children’s drawings, DIY illustrators, and tattoo artists - **Tool:** An old, cumbersome drawing app on his phone - Meazo intentionally uses a tool he cannot fully control to avoid becoming overly self-critical. - He combines familiar objects—such as butterflies, clocks, and tomatoes—with surreal transformations. - His designs feature colorful characters, including a cheerful tomato with the phrase “time to make!” - The artwork appears on hats, socks, and long-sleeve shirts, balancing comfort and strangeness. Figma’s Season 5 collection demonstrates how playful constraints, repetition, and imperfect tools can produce distinctive visual ideas. Its strongest recommendation is implicit: approach creative work with curiosity, experimentation, and less concern for making something “good” immediately.

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figmaDec 11, 2025

Hard Problems Are Still Hard: A Story About the Tools That Change and the Work That Doesn't | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Nikolas Klein reflects on seven years building Figma’s prototyping tools and how AI transformed the design landscape. While AI changes the tools and accelerates execution, it does not eliminate the difficult work of framing problems, making judgments, iterating, and collaborating. The central conclusion is that AI is another tool in the designer’s toolbox—not a replacement for human insight. ## A Career in Prototyping - Klein describes moving from Figma designer to product manager. - His work centered on building interactive prototyping tools over several years. - Prototyping involved continual experimentation, iteration, and collaboration between designers and engineers. ## AI Changes the Tools - The arrival of AI prompts fundamental questions about the future role of designers and prototyping. - AI can generate ideas and help produce outputs more quickly. - The shift can feel overwhelming because it changes familiar workflows and raises uncertainty about which skills remain valuable. - Klein ultimately frames AI as an addition to the existing toolbox rather than a complete replacement for traditional design tools. ## The Work That Remains Difficult - AI does not remove the need to understand the underlying problem. - Designers still need to exercise judgment, evaluate alternatives, and decide what should be built. - Complex work depends on iteration, animation, interaction design, and close collaboration. - Human expertise remains important for turning vague ideas into coherent, useful experiences. ## Collaboration and the Future - Designers and engineers continue to contribute complementary perspectives. - AI can work alongside people, supporting exploration while humans provide direction and context. - The tools may evolve rapidly, but the challenge of solving meaningful, complex problems remains. The practical recommendation is to adopt AI as part of a broader creative workflow while continuing to develop the judgment, collaboration, and problem-solving skills that difficult design work requires.

design-toolsfigmaaiprototyping+2

figmaJan 8, 2025

Six Memos for the Future of Digital Creation | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

The article presents six Figma “memos” about the future of digital creation in 2025. Drawing on the tradition of influential workplace memos, it argues that documenting observations, strong opinions, and emerging opportunities can stimulate dialogue and change. The themes range from creative coding and broader definitions of design to emotional differentiation, handmade websites, and generalist careers. ## The Memo as a Tool for Shaping the Future - Figma frames the memo as a concise way to communicate ideas, critique strategy, and encourage organizational change. - The article references influential examples, including Bill Gates’s advocacy for graphical interfaces and Stewart Butterfield’s “We don’t sell saddles here” memo for Slack. - Memos can be strategic, metaphorical, playful, or reflective documents that preserve how thinking develops over time. - Figma’s six contributors use the format to examine trends across design, development, product, writing, analysis, and community work. ## Developers Should Embrace Creative Coding Again - Modern browsers now support capabilities that often exceed those available in conventional design tools. - Developers are encouraged to move beyond templates and standardized production workflows. - The memo calls for renewed experimentation with the web as a creative medium. - Creative coding is presented as a way to explore the browser’s full expressive and interactive potential. ## Expanding the Definition of Design - The second memo argues for a broader understanding of what design encompasses. - Its inclusion reflects the article’s wider focus on how digital creation crosses traditional professional boundaries. ## When to Leave the Product Roadmap - The third memo examines when teams should move beyond planned roadmap work. - It suggests that product development may require responding to unexpected opportunities rather than following predetermined priorities exclusively. ## Emotion as a Competitive Advantage - The fourth memo identifies emotion as an emerging source of competitive differentiation. - As digital products become increasingly similar in function, how they make people feel may matter more to their success. ## Making Space for a Handmade Web - The fifth memo advocates preserving room for distinctive, human-made experiences on the web. - It contrasts this idea with increasingly standardized, templated, and automated digital production. ## The Rise of the Generalist - The final memo focuses on the growing importance of people who work across disciplines. - Its inclusion reinforces the article’s view that future digital creation will depend on collaboration between design, development, product, writing, and other fields. The article’s practical recommendation is implicit: observe emerging patterns, write down strong ideas, and share them. Memos can turn informal workplace thoughts into conversations that influence products, teams, and the broader direction of digital creation.

design-toolsproduct-designweb-developmentcreative-coding+2

figmaMar 5, 2024

Behind the Feature: The Multiple Lives of Multi-Edit | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Multi-edit began as a way to reduce repetitive work when editing component variants, then evolved into a broader interaction model for editing matching objects across Figma designs. The feature addresses shortcomings in ordinary multi-selection, where selecting the right objects and applying certain edits—such as resizing or changing text—is difficult. After years of refinement, Figma launched multi-edit as a more natural, second-nature workflow. ## The Philosophy Behind Multi-Edit - The idea originated in 2019 during a design summit focused on Figma’s variants feature. - Designers noticed that editing variants required too much repetitive work. - The initial insight was to create a mode where one edit could apply simultaneously to all variants. - The team soon recognized that the same capability could help with many other design tasks. ### Why Existing Multi-Selection Wasn’t Enough - Figma already allowed users to select multiple objects, but the workflow had significant limitations: - Selecting exactly the objects users wanted to edit was difficult. - Some edits worked well across selections, while others did not. - Changing shared properties such as color, font, or font size was relatively easy. - More structural edits, including resizing multiple objects, were cumbersome. - Editing the actual text content of multiple text nodes was also difficult. ### A Long Period of Hibernation - Although the concept was sketched quickly, development did not begin immediately. - The team needed to resolve fundamental questions about how multi-edit should behave. - Early thinking treated it as a powerful, specialized mode similar to multi-select text editing in advanced text editors. - Refining the concept required reconciling that new mode with Figma’s existing selection model. ## Bringing Multi-Edit to Life - The finished feature lets users select and edit matching objects across frames and component sets. - Suggested interactions include: - `⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + A` to select all matching objects. - Shift-dragging to select specific matching objects. - Selecting multiple text objects and pressing Enter to edit their text together. - Selecting a component set and pressing `Q` to edit variants simultaneously. - Figma provides a playground file so users can experiment with these workflows. ## Knowing When It’s Ready - The article frames multi-edit as an example of a feature that required extensive iteration before feeling obvious. - Its goal was not merely to add a new command, but to make repetitive editing feel effortless and intuitive. - Figma’s broader product philosophy is to question established design-tool conventions when doing so can simplify everyday work. Figma’s experience suggests that seemingly simple, natural interactions often require substantial exploration. Multi-edit is most useful when users repeatedly update related objects, variants, or text, and its shortcuts can make those bulk edits significantly faster.

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figmaFeb 1, 2024

An Insider’s Guide to a Seamless Figma Migration | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Migrating to Figma is presented as an organizational change—not merely a software switch. Success depends on careful planning, cross-functional communication, advocacy, training, and adaptation of existing workflows and cultural norms. The article argues that treating migration as a strategic investment can produce long-term gains in collaboration, transparency, and productivity. ## Planning the Migration - Begin by identifying the reasons for adopting Figma, such as: - Better collaboration - Greater transparency - Streamlined processes - Treat migration as a change-management initiative involving the entire organization. - Plan around team commitments and existing tool-expiration dates. - Use resources such as Figma’s Migration Toolkit for guidance when moving from other design platforms. ## Building a Cross-Functional Advocacy Team - Create a core team with representatives from design, development, product management, and stakeholder groups. - Give the team responsibility for: - Gathering balanced feedback - Configuring the Figma workspace - Managing communications - Coordinating library transfers - Successful examples include: - Wells Fargo’s “Figma Jedis,” combining experts and enthusiastic users - Uber’s integration of Figma training with an existing design-system workshop - JPMorgan Chase’s advocates, nominated by leadership and cross-functional groups - The strongest advocates are engaged, representative of different departments, and connected to existing initiatives. ## Securing Organization-Wide Support - Obtain buy-in from developers, product managers, leadership, and other stakeholders—not only designers. - Present a clear proposal outlining the benefits and drawbacks of migration. - Build support through: - Workshops and demonstrations - Best-practice sharing - Early access to libraries and components - Training and practical guidance - Dropbox’s migration shows the value of sustained outreach and creative engagement, including extensive internal promotion and Figma-themed incentives. ## Learning from Other Organizations - Contact teams that have already completed large-scale migrations. - Their experience can provide: - Training plans - Deployment playbooks - Cover pages and workspace conventions - Warnings about common mistakes - Examples from Wells Fargo, Uber, and Dropbox demonstrate how peer advice can improve rollout planning and reduce avoidable problems. - Large migrations benefit from studying proven approaches rather than designing every process from scratch. ## Establishing a Migration Timeline - Build a schedule that accounts for: - Team availability - Existing project commitments - Expiration dates for current tools - A defined timeline helps coordinate the transition and gives teams a clear path from planning to adoption. The practical recommendation is to manage a Figma migration as a coordinated organizational program: assemble advocates, involve every relevant function, learn from experienced teams, and create a realistic timeline before moving work and libraries.

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figmaDec 10, 2023

The Long and Short of It: Issue no.2 | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s “Rework your work” issue presents small improvements, AI, prototyping, and community creativity as ways to challenge outdated workflows. Its central argument is that meaningful progress often comes from improving everyday experiences while adopting tools and practices that expand what teams can accomplish. ## Small Improvements, Significant Impact - Product quality-of-life changes can have more impact than flashy features users rarely use. - Sho Kuwamoto argues that frequent, practical improvements—such as saving time or anticipating user needs—are foundational to a strong product experience. - Figma’s “Little Big Updates” emphasizes that subtle changes can create broad effects. ## Breaking Barriers with AI - FigJam’s generative AI features are designed to lower the barrier to visual collaboration while expanding creative possibilities. - AI can: - Generate custom templates and diagrams - Summarize board content - Sort sticky notes - These capabilities help product teams plan, synchronize, and brainstorm more efficiently. - The goal is not only automation, but making collaborative tools accessible to more people. ## Prototyping as a Core Practice - Prototyping is presented as an essential part of product development rather than a final presentation step. - Prototypes make design ideas tangible so collaborators can explore, critique, and refine them. - A strong prototyping culture gives designers more agency and helps the broader team gain insight earlier in the process. - Integrating prototypes throughout development can streamline workflows and improve decision-making. ## Supporting Community Creators - Figma’s Creator Fund provides grants for free widgets, plugins, and files created for the Figma Community. - Featured projects include: - Tools for building immersive environments - A design-to-code plugin - A text animation tool - These community-made resources have helped nearly a million people create in Figma. ## Reframing Design Careers - The “Rabbit hole” section encourages designers to focus less on proving their worth and more on letting the quality of their work speak for itself. - Figma cites its State of the Designer report, in which 69% of designers said their job prospects had improved. - Together, these ideas frame design as a field shaped by practical craft, evolving tools, and continued professional momentum. The issue recommends reworking established habits through incremental product improvements, thoughtful AI adoption, continuous prototyping, and support for creative communities.

design-toolsfigmaprototypinggen-ai+2

figmaJul 23, 2023

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.

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figmaJun 18, 2023

What’s Happening at Config 2023? | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Config 2023 was covered as a live, informal scene report by Figma editors Herbert Lui and Jenny Xie. The post captures the excitement, humor, attendee reactions, and social-media energy surrounding the event rather than presenting a detailed recap of individual talks. Readers are directed to watch the full talks online and revisit the community conversation under #Config2023 and #confits2023. ## Live Coverage from Config 2023 - Figma’s Editorial Team reported from the event in real time. - The coverage aimed to give people who missed Config a sense of the atmosphere and ongoing activity. - The post included embedded posts from attendees and Figma community members, including jokes about different types of designers attending the conference. ## Community Reactions and Social Media - Attendees shared photos, commentary, and humorous observations on X/Twitter. - The hashtag **#confits2023** highlighted fashion and outfit-related posts from the event. - The social conversation reflected both the professional content and the playful culture surrounding Config. ## Talks and Follow-Up Content - Figma provided a YouTube playlist containing all talks from Config 2023. - Readers were encouraged to catch up on presentations after the event. - The editors closed by celebrating the event’s success, acknowledging “Config withdrawals,” and looking ahead to the following year. The practical takeaway is to use the recorded talk playlist for substantive content, while the blog and accompanying social posts provide a more casual view of Config’s community and atmosphere.

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figmaMar 6, 2023

Creators need creators | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma argues that creators need both open sharing and sustainable ways to support their work. To strengthen Figma Community, it introduces new selling tools and the Figma Creator Fund, helping creators monetize paid resources while funding free ones. The goal is a healthier ecosystem where consumers gain access to useful work and creators can keep innovating. ## Learning Through Open Sharing - Rogie King describes learning HTML, CSS, and design through other creators’ blogs and public experiments. - Figma Community extends that model by letting people explore complete, layered design files rather than isolated tips or screenshots. - Sharing work publicly helps creators learn, build an audience, and contribute to a collective creative culture. ## Expanding Figma Community - Figma Community grew from an initial collection of 49 plugins into a broader platform for design files, plugins, and resources. - Community members can use plugins and build tools tailored to their workflows. - Figma presents the platform as an open, collaborative ecosystem where creators learn and grow together. ## Problems with Creator Logistics - Making and sharing creative work often requires handling: - Websites and domains - Hosting and payment processing - Marketing and social media - Refunds, customer support, and license keys - These business responsibilities can distract creators from designing, experimenting, and building. - Exposure alone is not a sustainable source of income, especially as creators’ personal responsibilities change. ## New Selling Tools - Plugin developers will gain access to more powerful APIs, including capabilities that are typically paid. - Creators can offer: - One-time, one-click payments - Free experiences through Figma’s payment API - Direct user access without emailing files or managing license keys - Improved analytics and tracking will help creators measure reach and impact. - Consumers will benefit from clearer paid-versus-free labels, direct purchasing, and try-before-you-buy options. ## The Figma Creator Fund - The Creator Fund will provide grants to people who make free resources for Figma Community. - It is intended to balance two important goals: - Keeping resources accessible to consumers - Compensating creators for the time and effort required to produce quality work - The fund reflects Figma’s belief that creators should be able to give back without relying solely on unpaid labor or “exposure.” ## Building the Next Generation of Community Work - Figma hopes the new tools will encourage creators to develop plugins, icon sets, design systems, and other resources. - Feedback, feature requests, and bug reports remain part of the collaborative process. - The company frames these changes as an early step toward making Figma Community more sustainable and creatively ambitious. Figma’s recommendation is implicit: creators should continue sharing openly, but should also be able to charge for their work or receive support when they provide free resources. The new selling tools and Creator Fund aim to make that balance practical.

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figmaSep 14, 2022

A New Collaboration with Adobe | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced in September 2022 that Adobe would acquire it, presenting the deal as a way to accelerate Figma’s mission of making design and development more collaborative and accessible. Figma said it would remain operationally autonomous, with Dylan Field continuing as CEO and the product, culture, pricing, and education offerings largely unchanged. However, the proposed acquisition was ultimately abandoned in December 2023 after the companies concluded they could not obtain regulatory approval. ## Strategic Opportunity - Adobe’s technology, expertise, and resources were expected to accelerate Figma’s growth and innovation. - Figma highlighted potential access to Adobe capabilities in: - Imaging and photography - Illustration and video - 3D tools - Font technology - The companies also planned to explore new creative tools built on Figma’s collaborative technology. ## Figma’s Continued Autonomy - Adobe committed to keeping Figma operationally independent. - Dylan Field would remain CEO and report to Adobe executive David Wadhwani. - The entire Figma team would continue reporting through Field. - Figma said it would keep prioritizing its community, culture, and existing business practices. ## Product and Community Plans - Figma intended to continue improving: - Figma Design - FigJam - The Figma community platform - The company planned to expand into new areas while considering whether new capabilities should become separate products or be integrated into existing tools. - The Friends of Figma program would continue supporting local communities. - Figma said it had no plans to change pricing in the near term. - Figma’s education offering would remain free, with Adobe supporting efforts to grow the global population of designers, developers, and creatives. ## Broader Responsibility - Field described the acquisition as an opportunity to help build the next generation of creative tools. - He connected that responsibility to the rise of AI-generated content and growing questions about the role of human creativity. - He also reflected on Adobe’s influence in his own creative development and expressed optimism about working with the company. ## Final Outcome - The announcement was subject to regulatory, shareholder, and other closing conditions. - On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe ended the proposed acquisition because they no longer saw a viable path toward regulatory approval.

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figmaMar 8, 2022

Our response to Ukraine | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an attack on democratic values central to its mission. The company is supporting affected communities through employee donation matching and continued access to paid features for Ukrainian customers needing assistance. It is also complying with U.S. and EU sanctions and has halted new sales efforts in Russia. ## Support for Ukraine and Ukrainian Customers - Figma employees are donating to organizations aiding Ukrainian refugees and providing humanitarian relief. - The company is matching those employee contributions through its donation-matching program. - Ukrainian customers who request help will retain access to Figma’s paid features in the coming months. ## Actions Regarding Russia - Figma is fully complying with applicable U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia. - It has stopped pursuing new sales in the Russian market. Figma’s response combines humanitarian support for Ukraine with sanctions compliance and a suspension of new Russian business, while expressing solidarity with its Ukrainian community.

design-toolsfigmacollaborative-designweb-design

figmaJun 23, 2021

Figma's Series E | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced its Series E funding round in June 2021, led by Durable Capital Partners with participation from Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global and earlier investors. The round valued the company at roughly $10 billion. CEO Dylan Field framed the funding as support for Figma’s broader mission: making design accessible, collaborative, and relevant to everyone involved in creating products. ## Series E Funding - Durable Capital Partners led the new investment round. - New investors included Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley’s investment group. - Existing investors such as Index, Greylock, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz also participated. - The announcement followed 16 months of disruption and remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. ## Figma’s Vision for Accessible Design - Figma aims to make design accessible to all, not only professional designers. - Its browser-based multiplayer model is intended to change how teams work and build products together. - The company plans to serve: - Expert designers with specialized tools - Engineers, product managers, and other product-development roles - Students and company executives - A broader community interested in creativity and visual collaboration - Field described a future with more products that help more people create and collaborate visually. ## Appreciation for the Figma Community - Field credited Figma’s employees, users, and designer community for the company’s progress. - He emphasized the team’s shared experience of working, growing, and supporting one another during the pandemic. - The company presented the funding as both an opportunity and a responsibility to continue serving its community. Figma’s Series E marked a major financial milestone, but the company positioned it primarily as fuel for expanding collaborative, design-first product development. Its recommendation to prospective employees was clear: join the company as it broadens design beyond traditional specialists.

design-toolsfigmareal-time-collaborationproduct-development+1

figmaOct 7, 2020

Power up your design system with Figma’s agency partners | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced partnerships with leading digital and design agencies to help organizations build, migrate, and scale design systems. The post argues that effective design systems connect design and code, creating consistency, efficiency, and a shared source of truth. Figma’s agency partners provide both implementation support and strategic guidance for improving collaboration, workflows, and brand expression. ## Why Design Systems Matter - Modern design systems are more than pattern libraries or sticker sheets. - They create a shared language between design and development. - They support creative exploration while adding the structure and rigor needed for implementation. - A well-managed system helps teams work faster, maintain consistency, and establish a single source of truth. - Designing and implementing such a system can be challenging, especially when migrating tools or scaling across teams. ## How Agency Partners Help ### Setting Up a Design System - Agencies can help organizations migrate their existing design-tool stack to Figma. - For existing Figma users, they provide recommendations for organizing systems around specific brand and team needs. - Their support covers architecture, implementation, and initial setup. ### Improving Design and Development Processes - Building a system is only the beginning; teams must also determine how it will be used and maintained. - Partners can define guiding principles, recommend operating processes, and improve collaboration between designers and developers. - Their goal is to reduce inefficiencies caused by gaps between tools, teams, and workflows. ### Defining and Scaling a Brand - Design systems translate a brand into practical design decisions and reusable components. - Agency partners offer strategic brand guidance in addition to technical and process expertise. - This helps organizations maintain a consistent identity as their products, teams, and brands grow. ## Figma’s Agency Partner Network - Figma initially partnered with eight agencies: - BASIC® - frog - HUGE - Idean - One North - R/GA - Instrument - Work & Co - These agencies serve organizations across industries and company sizes. - Examples include BASIC®’s work with brands such as Google, Airbnb, Patagonia, Apple, Beats by Dre, and Herman Miller. - Partner testimonials emphasize faster collaboration, greater transparency, improved organization, and stronger client relationships through Figma. Figma’s recommendation is to use experienced service partners when a team needs help migrating to Figma, structuring or scaling a design system, improving design-to-development workflows, or translating a brand consistently across products.

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figmaSep 6, 2020

Figma’s new EMEA HQ | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced a new London office serving as its EMEA headquarters, part of its broader hybrid-work strategy. The hub is intended to improve support for users through better time-zone coverage, stronger local partnerships, and access to diverse talent. Although the office’s in-person opening was delayed by COVID-19, Figma planned to continue building regional connections remotely. ## A Regional Hub for a Global User Base - Figma’s hybrid model combines remote work with centralized hubs. - London was selected as the EMEA headquarters to bring the company closer to users across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. - An office represents more than physical workspace: it provides shared time zones, local market knowledge, and stronger relationships with regional design communities. - In 2020, 81% of Figma’s weekly active users lived outside the United States. ## Expanding Support Across EMEA - Figma recognized that its existing US-centered time-zone coverage was insufficient for international users. - The company established a product-specialist team in Amsterdam in early 2019. - Figma had engaged with communities and customers in cities including London, Paris, Helsinki, Kyiv, Moscow, Jakarta, and Singapore. - The London team had grown to 14 remotely working employees and supported customers such as Deliveroo, Zalando, Spotify, and Booking.com. ## Opening During the Pandemic - Figma postponed the in-person opening until it was safe for employees to return to offices. - The company emphasized that regional expansion could continue even without immediate physical gatherings. - Figma introduced Config Europe, its first virtual user conference, as a way for users and employees to share knowledge and maintain community connections. Figma’s London hub reflects a strategy of combining remote flexibility with regional offices that improve customer support, hiring, and community engagement. The company’s experience also demonstrates that international presence can be developed virtually while in-person work remains limited.

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figmaJun 23, 2020

How to evaluate design tools | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Choosing a design tool should be treated as a structured team project, not a simple feature comparison. The right choice depends on factors such as team size, remote distribution, workflow, collaboration needs, and existing pain points. Figma recommends a phased process that typically takes about a month and combines stakeholder input, defined criteria, hands-on testing, and documented feedback. ## Phase 0: Lay the Groundwork - Treat the evaluation like a product launch or design sprint and include it in the team’s quarterly planning. - Create a workback schedule, allowing roughly: - Two weeks for preparation - Two weeks to test tools on short-term projects - Set a firm decision deadline so the process can end early if one tool clearly stands out. - Identify stakeholders across design, product, development, marketing, and project approval teams. - Consider forming a cross-functional working group with regular check-ins and a shared communication channel. - Document milestones, formal feedback, and informal observations in a shared workspace. - Set expectations that adopting a new tool may require several weeks of ramp-up before productivity returns to normal. ## Phase 1: Define the Problem - Clarify what the team actually needs before comparing specific products. - Consider team characteristics such as: - Size and expected growth - Whether members work in one office or remotely - Onboarding and scalability requirements - Identify concrete pain points in the current workflow, including moments where collaboration breaks down. - Gather feedback from people outside the immediate design team, especially developers, product managers, and marketers. - Focus on specific scenarios such as developer handoff rather than vague dissatisfaction. ## Phase 2: Establish Evaluation Criteria - Convert the team’s needs and pain points into a small number of priority themes. - Productivity is one important theme, covering activities such as: - Individual design work - Sprint planning - Design critiques - Developer handoff - Match criteria to the team’s circumstances: - Large teams may prioritize consistency, shared libraries, and design-system support. - Fast-growing teams may emphasize onboarding and scalability. - Distributed teams may place greater weight on collaboration and communication. The practical recommendation is to invest in preparation before testing tools. A documented, stakeholder-informed evaluation helps teams choose software that fits their real workflows and reduces the disruption and cost of a poorly planned migration.

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