Figma

532 posts

figmaAug 24, 20212 min readCurated summary

FIT’s principles for fostering a collaborative classroom | Figma Blog

Professor Christie Shin of the Fashion Institute of Technology uses Figma to create a virtual classroom centered on systems thinking, frequent feedback, and open collaboration. Her approach treats design as an evolving process rather than a finished object, helping students build habits that mirror professional design teams. She organizes coursework into Figma teams, projects, files, and templates while preserving space for experimentation and individual expression. ## Celebrate Early Work - Students share unfinished ideas regularly instead of waiting for polished presentations. - They visit one another’s files and provide feedback both verbally and directly in Figma. - This reduces the fear of exposing imperfect work and reinforces design as a way of thinking. ## Guide the Process While Leaving Room to Grow - Coursework—from exercises to final presentations—is kept in Figma. - Students receive structured files with named pages and templates for each activity. - The infinite canvas leaves room for sketches, iterations, and exploratory work. - Each file becomes a “creative journey,” documenting research, summaries, wireframes, and development over time. ## Work Individually, Together - Students complete individual projects within study groups. - For a project involving an MTA app design system and video case study, students presented progress incrementally rather than waiting for final critiques. - Continuous peer feedback reflects real-world cross-functional collaboration and helps students become less attached to initial solutions. ## Embrace Influences - Students are encouraged to share work openly instead of hiding ideas to prevent others from copying them. - Shin frames influence as a normal and valuable part of design practice. - Each project requires students to collect and credit visual references from professional designers and classmates. - Discussing these influences during critiques makes the design process more transparent. The article recommends combining clear structure with open collaboration: provide students with organized tools and milestones, but give them room to experiment, share early work, learn from peers, and acknowledge the influences shaping their designs.

Figma Design Systems User Experience Design Wireframing+2

figmaAug 24, 20212 min readCurated summary

Rethinking a design thinking workshop for good | Figma Blog

Design the Future adapted its two-week design-thinking program for more than 100 high school students to work remotely during the pandemic. Using FigJam, students collaborated with university coaches and people with disabilities to design practical solutions to real-world challenges. The virtual format not only preserved the program’s hands-on approach but also made it more inclusive by enabling students from across the country to participate. ## Finding the Right Collaborative Tool - The program required up to eight hours of online collaboration each day, making ease of use and engagement essential. - The team initially considered Figma but chose FigJam because students could learn it quickly and interact directly within shared boards. - Existing Figma templates could be copied into FigJam, reducing preparation time. - FigJam supported collaboration among large groups and smaller project teams without relying entirely on video meetings. ## Structuring the Design Process with Team Whiteboards - Students followed the full design process, from gathering requirements and developing empathy to creating a shippable app. - Program creator Durrell Coleman built a central FigJam whiteboard to organize each stage and provide a single source of truth. - Templates served as activity worksheets, giving students structure while preserving space for experimentation, feedback, and iteration. - Designs created in Figma were migrated into FigJam for use throughout the workshop. ## Building Community Online - FigJam was also used for social activities between project sessions. - Students participated in icebreakers, mapped their hometowns, and completed IDEO’s “30 circles” creativity challenge. - These activities helped transform the shared workspace into a virtual lunchroom where students could connect informally. ## Empathy as the Central Lesson - The remote format expanded access, allowing more students to join from different parts of the country. - Working with project partners who had disabilities encouraged students to understand challenges from perspectives different from their own. - Participants gained not only design skills but also greater appreciation for people with different backgrounds, experiences, and needs. - The program demonstrated that remote collaboration can support meaningful, inclusive design education when tools combine structure, interaction, and community. Design the Future’s experience suggests that virtual workshops can be highly effective when collaboration is designed intentionally. A shared workspace like FigJam can connect large groups, guide complex activities, and create opportunities for empathy and belonging alongside practical project work.

Figma Figjam Design Thinking Remote Collaboration+2

figmaAug 17, 20212 min readCurated summary

Inside Figma: building a more collaborative design process | Figma Blog

Figma’s product design team uses FigJam to make early-stage design more inclusive, collaborative, and focused on ideas rather than polish. Moving brainstorming, feedback, and co-design into a shared whiteboard helps designers, product managers, and engineers contribute asynchronously and visibly. The result is a process that brings together emotional insight, product thinking, and technical constraints earlier. ## Keeping Early Ideation Focused - Figma’s detailed design tools can encourage teams to refine visuals too soon. - FigJam’s lighter, more flexible format keeps attention on brainstorming and concepts instead of pixel-perfect execution. - Product Designer Jenny Wen used reusable tweet and Slack-message components to imagine how users might react to upcoming features. - Limiting the workshop’s format helped the team generate ideas quickly without getting distracted by exact wording or visual details. - The strongest concepts were later moved into Figma for more detailed design work. ## Organizing Asynchronous Feedback - Designing sticky-note attribution raised complex questions about editable names, ownership changes, and copied content. - Jenny collected feedback from alpha testers and teammates directly in FigJam. - She grouped related input and created a decision tree to explain possible solutions. - Sharing the file through Slack allowed collaborators to review the reasoning, add comments, and vote with stamps without scheduling a meeting. - The visual format made both the feedback and the decision-making process easier to follow. ## Co-Designing with Product and Engineering - Product Designer Keeyen Yeo used FigJam to explore the high-five feature by diagramming how people high-five in real life. - Unlike paper sketches, the shared FigJam file let product partners contribute directly and co-design the interaction. - Engineer Willy Wu mapped the technical behavior, including when a cursor should enter high-five mode. - Iterating together helped the team balance technical feasibility with a natural user experience. Figma’s experience suggests that using a lightweight collaborative tool for early exploration can make design processes more open and productive. Teams should defer detailed execution until after designers, product partners, and engineers have jointly developed and tested the core ideas.

Figma User Experience Prototyping Figjam+2

figmaAug 15, 20213 min readCurated summary

Inside Figma: a Q&A with our 2021 interns and new grads | Figma Blog

The article shares career advice from four 2021 Figma interns and new graduates: Emily Jia, Langston Dziko, Daniela Velez, and Jago Pang. Their experiences show that early-career candidates should evaluate company culture, mentorship, ownership, growth opportunities, and alignment with a product’s mission—not just the role itself. Figma attracted them through its collaborative culture, enthusiasm for design, and opportunities to make meaningful contributions. ## Choosing an Early-Career Role - Emily looked for: - Data science roles matching her technical background and goals. - Fast-paced, product-focused work at growing startups. - An empathetic culture centered on communication and connection. - Daniela prioritized authenticity, community, and coworkers who cared deeply about Figma’s mission of making design more accessible. - Langston focused on career growth, asking: - Whether young engineers receive meaningful ownership. - Whether their work contributes to broader company goals. - Whether employees see opportunities to develop and stay long term. ## Using Internships and Conversations to Explore Options - Emily explored different companies through summer and off-cycle internships. - Conversations with alumni and interviewers helped her understand less obvious tradeoffs between roles. - She considered not only people’s day-to-day responsibilities, but also how they had grown in their positions—and whether she wanted a similar trajectory. - Langston used internships to identify the types of work he enjoyed and those he did not. - He also spoke with many engineers, repeatedly hearing that a supportive manager and team can matter as much as the specific project. ## Why They Chose Figma - Emily was influenced by a Figma blog post written by a software engineering new graduate. She valued that Figma gave early-career employees a platform to share their experiences. - She was especially interested in joining a growing data team making its first new-grad hires and deliberately developing its culture. - Langston was impressed by how enthusiastically Figma engineers spoke about the product. Their enthusiasm suggested he would own innovative projects while developing as an engineer. - Daniela first encountered Figma through a collaborative side project. She enjoyed the product’s collaborative design experience and connected with the company’s emphasis on individuality and community. - Jago credited Figma with helping launch his design career and wanted to support its mission of democratizing design, particularly through Figma for Education and the Figma Community team. The interview suggests that students and new graduates should use internships, informational conversations, and employee perspectives to assess both the work and the environment. The strongest early-career choice is likely to be a role offering supportive mentorship, genuine ownership, meaningful growth, and a mission the candidate cares about.

Figma Design Systems Product Design Design Collaboration+2

figmaAug 2, 20213 min readCurated summary

A Q&A with Figma’s VP of Product | Figma Blog

Figma VP of Product Yuhki Yamashita describes FigJam as a response to how customers and Figma employees adapted collaboration during the shift to remote work. He argues that design, engineering, and product roles are becoming more collaborative and less ownership-driven. FigJam supports this by providing an informal space for exploration, brainstorming, and human interaction before ideas become polished interfaces in Figma. ## Why Figma Built FigJam - Figma observed users stretching the product beyond interface design. - During the early pandemic, customers used Figma for: - Brainstorming - Team warm-ups - Social events - Other offline activities moved online - Figma’s own transition to remote work reinforced the value of gathering in a shared virtual space. - FigJam emerged to support these broader collaboration needs. ## Design and Product Work Is Becoming More Collaborative - Design teams are riffing together more frequently. - People outside design are joining earlier in the development process. - Figma and FigJam links are increasingly shared across organizations for everything from copy edits to major product changes. - The boundaries between engineering, design, and product management are becoming less rigid. - Collaboration is shifting away from role-based ownership toward collective problem-solving. ## The Changing Role of Product Managers - Product managers and designers have always had overlapping responsibilities, but previously lacked shared tools for exploration. - Design files were once treated as belonging primarily to designers, making edits from PMs feel intrusive. - Today, product development is viewed more as a shared endeavor. - PM and design roles are increasingly interdependent. ## Designing Through “The Mess” - Design is nonlinear and requires repeated exploration, iteration, evaluation, and revision. - Teams may abandon ideas early or develop them significantly before seeking new perspectives. - Effective tools should support multiple levels of engagement: - Zooming into detailed work - Stepping back to evaluate broader direction - Figma and FigJam together create a more fluid workflow from ideation through development. ## When to Use FigJam Instead of Figma - FigJam is best for ambiguous, early-stage work. - It supports: - Brainstorming - Mapping - Gathering reactions or “temperature checks” - Exploring ideas before they become interface designs - Figma is more appropriate when teams begin building and refining a concrete interface. ## Making Meetings More Expressive - Yamashita values FigJam’s informal and expressive character. - Unlike polished, linear shared documents, FigJam emphasizes collaborative problem-solving over status updates. - Cursor chats, emojis, and stickers let people respond naturally without interrupting or formally speaking. - Ephemeral interactions can communicate emotions such as laughter or encouragement without creating a permanent record. - These features help make remote meetings feel more human and can change the tone of collaboration. ## Future Development - Users are applying FigJam to many workshops and collaborative exercises. - Figma sees opportunities to improve facilitation for these activities. - Features such as the timer are examples of efforts to make workshops easier to run. FigJam is positioned as a flexible space for early exploration and shared participation, complementing Figma’s more structured interface-design workflow. Teams should use it to embrace uncertainty and involve broader groups before committing to polished solutions.

Figma Figjam Design Thinking Product Management+2

figmaJul 27, 20213 min readCurated summary

30 updates: recent features and fixes in Figma | Figma Blog

Figma’s July 2021 update roundup highlights 30 small improvements designed to make everyday design work faster and less disruptive. The changes span vector editing, typography, images, collaboration, navigation, accessibility, browser behavior, and keyboard shortcuts. Together, they reduce friction across common workflows rather than introducing one major feature. ## Vector, Stroke, and Drawing Improvements - Redesigned the stroke panel with easier controls for end caps and connector properties, including connectors copied from FigJam. - Added math operations for changing properties with mixed values. - The Pencil and Pen tools now remember selected stroke settings for future use. - Added hover states for frame presets and improved grid property drag handles. - New rulers are automatically selected after creation, allowing immediate keyboard adjustment or deletion. ## Image and Export Workflow - Added browser support for **Copy as PNG**, using `⌘+Shift+C` or `Ctrl+Shift+C`. - Holding `⌘`/`Ctrl` while resizing an image immediately crops it. - Image adjustment sliders can now be used without an extra click. - Export settings now include an “include bounding box” option, with the corresponding Plugin API setting `use_absolute_bounds`. - Renamed “Contents only” export to “Ignore overlapping layers.” - Pasting an image during text editing now exits text mode and pastes the image normally. ## Typography and Fonts - A second fill added to an object is now a solid color instead of a gradient. - Text export behavior was improved with more precise bounds controls. - Copying text with a missing font now activates the global missing-font indicator. - The missing-font dialog lets users click directly to identify affected layers. - Removed the “+” option for text nodes with mixed styles, making it easier to override them with a new style or color. - Renaming a file no longer produces an unnecessarily tall selected-text background. ## Collaboration and FigJam Integration - Preferences now sync automatically across open tabs without requiring a reload. - Stickies copied from FigJam as text are ordered according to their layout. - Zooming with “Z” no longer shows a selection rectangle to other collaborators. - Layer-panel icons update faster to reflect their corresponding objects. - The layers panel now scrolls to the selected layer when selection keyboard shortcuts are used. ## Navigation, Menus, and Interaction - The “Move to project” dialog can be dismissed by clicking outside it or pressing Esc. - Increased the clickable area for the top-menu chevron. - Middle-clicking selected links opens them. - Alignment and repositioning buttons remain active while editing text. - Users can pan across links without triggering disruptive link pop-ups. - The redesigned cursor hand is less intrusive. - Toolbar dropdowns now work correctly in View Only mode. ## Browser and Safari Fixes - Safari users can scrub fields by holding `⌥` and moving the mouse. - Right-click menus remain open more reliably in Safari. - Various interaction and menu behaviors were refined to make browser-based Figma more consistent. Figma presents these updates as an ongoing effort to remove small sources of friction from design workflows. Users can review the changes in the associated Figma Community file and follow the “What’s New” page for weekly fixes and improvements.

Figma Figjam Typography Plugin Api+2

figmaJul 21, 20212 min readCurated summary

How the Figma PM team builds products and processes | Figma Blog

Figma’s product management team treats product development as a transparent, collaborative process rather than a sequence of isolated PM tasks. Its culture emphasizes trust, reflection, inclusion, and transparency, bringing cross-functional partners into brainstorming, prioritization, communication, and decision-making. Tools such as FigJam help turn these values into repeatable team practices. ## Collaborative Brainstorming and Idea Development - PMs use cross-functional brainstorming to gather ideas from across teams and move from ambitious concepts toward actionable solutions. - Effective brainstorming requires more than idea generation: teams need clear decisions, follow-up actions, and alignment. - FigJam supports the process from initial ideation through execution and retrospectives. ### “Buy a Feature” Prioritization - Participants receive a limited amount of fictional currency and invest it in proposed product ideas or focus areas. - The exercise connects prioritization to time and resources rather than producing only a ranked list. - It reveals how strongly people would invest in different opportunities and helps teams decide what to pursue. ### Alignment Scales - Team members place their FigJam profile stamps along scales representing opinions about product directions or beliefs. - Comments and discussion explain the reasoning behind each position. - This makes differences in conviction visible and creates a basis for productive debate. ## Communication Beyond Status Updates - Figma’s PMs use weekly stand-ups to share more than completed tasks and outstanding work. - Meetings begin with executive updates and ad hoc contributions, then each PM responds to three prompts: - What personal issue or thought has been on your mind? - What are you worried or excited about? - What hard or interesting problem have you been considering? - These prompts create space for personal context, uncertainty, and problem-solving—not just project reporting. ## Transparency and Cross-Functional Trust - Because PMs work at the center of product development, they must build fluency across functions and deliberately include partners in their processes. - Opening up discussions and decision-making helps teams understand priorities, surface disagreement, and contribute earlier. - Regular reflection and candid communication reinforce trust while keeping product work aligned. Figma’s approach suggests that strong PM processes combine structured exercises with openness and human connection. Teams can adopt similar practices by making prioritization visible, using collaborative tools for alignment, and designing recurring meetings to address both work and the people doing it.

Figma Figjam User Research Product Management+3

figmaJul 19, 20213 min readCurated summary

Inside Figma: a Q&A with our global sales team | Figma Blog

Figma’s global sales team operates as a product-led, consultative partner rather than a traditional vendor. Sales employees work closely with users, designers, product teams, and internal advocates to expand Figma’s impact across organizations. The team emphasizes collaboration, user empathy, continuous learning, and personal growth. ## Sales as a Partnership - Figma’s users are central to product development, community engagement, and internal operations. - Sales teams help organizations improve product development and scale creative processes. - Internal customer champions often become advocates for Figma, creating partnerships based on shared goals rather than transactional selling. - Sales involves more than designers; decision-makers include product, engineering, and other supporting roles. ## The Growing Importance of Design - Distributed work has increased the need for effective collaboration and accessible design tools. - Figma argues that design is moving to the center of product development. - Stronger design improves user experiences and can help businesses perform better. - The sales team helps organizations understand how Figma can connect designers and collaborators. ## Learning the Design Landscape - New sales employees receive structured onboarding, including a five-week program. - Team members learn from sales colleagues, designer advocates, and direct exposure to customer pain points. - Senior leaders may shadow support teams to better understand users’ challenges and product needs. - Continuous learning is treated as essential, even for employees without prior design experience. ## Product-Led Growth - Many prospective customers already use Figma, reducing reliance on conventional SaaS sales tactics. - Sales representatives can focus on helping existing users expand Figma’s role within their organizations. - Employees are drawn to the model because it feels more like advising and partnering than following a rigid sales cycle. - Figma’s strong product affinity and brand loyalty support this approach. ## A Collaborative Sales Culture - The team describes its culture as supportive, consultative, and low-ego rather than aggressively competitive. - Figma’s motto, “people over pipeline,” reflects its emphasis on personal development and employee well-being. - Success is recognized across the team instead of treated solely as an individual achievement. - Sales works cross-functionally with product and other departments, building relationships that support long-term growth. ## Career Growth - Joining Figma early offered employees the opportunity to help build sales processes from the ground up. - The organization’s rapid growth created opportunities for learning, leadership, and increased responsibility. - Employees were attracted by the chance to take risks, work in a scrappy environment, and develop alongside the company. Figma presents sales as an extension of its product-led philosophy: understand users deeply, collaborate across teams, and help customer advocates bring the product to more people.

Figma Product Design Design Collaboration Saas+1

figmaJul 14, 20212 min readCurated summary

Keeping creativity flowing | Figma Blog

The post argues that creativity and productivity can survive difficult periods when teams make room for play, connection, and personal boundaries. Alek Mackie describes remote-work practices at Shopify that helped illustrators sustain creative energy during the pandemic. The central conclusion is that informal, inclusive human interaction can support serious work rather than distract from it. ## Make Room for Play - Creative work carries serious responsibilities, but occasional fun helps people remain happy, engaged, and inventive. - Figma’s collaborative environment can support harmless practical jokes, such as adding humorous images or fake cursors to coworkers’ files. - Briefly disrupting routine can provide the mental reset needed for a creative breakthrough. ## Design Better Team Activities Effective team-building activities should be: - **Short and easy**, ideally taking less than an hour. - **Free of serious goals or expected outcomes.** - **Optional and casual**, allowing people to observe, leave early, or decline. - **Consensual**, with the team’s interest and boundaries respected. - **Inclusive and accessible**, giving everyone an equal opportunity to participate. Examples include asynchronous creative prompts, watching Bob Ross together while painting in an online MS Paint simulator, and other low-pressure collaborative exercises. ## Create Space for Human Connection - Remote work can reduce interaction to meetings focused only on business outcomes. - Teams should intentionally create opportunities for genuine, non-work-related conversation. - Personal connection and professional effectiveness can coexist and reinforce one another. ## Use Informal Collaboration - Unplanned multiplayer sessions in Figma allow coworkers to work together while chatting, similar to sitting beside one another in an office. - People can collaborate on the same project or work independently while staying connected. - The format should adapt to individual needs: video, audio, written comments, or even silent co-working are all valid options. - Boundaries, workload, and energy levels should determine how people participate. Teams can maintain creativity during difficult times by treating play, connection, and flexibility as legitimate parts of productive work—not as distractions from it.

Figma Figjam Real Time Collaboration Remote Work+2

figmaJul 13, 20212 min readCurated summary

Behind the plugin: Cards for Humanity | Figma Blog

Cards for Humanity is a Figma plugin and website that helps teams practice inclusive and accessible design through an online card game. Players combine character cards with needs, disabilities, or challenges, then discuss how to design products for that person. The Idean team found that the tool makes difficult conversations about inclusion more tangible and encourages empathy-driven design. ## How the Game Works - Players pair two card types: - A character card with a name, age, and personality trait. - A card describing a need, disability, or personal challenge. - Clicking a card reveals written considerations to reduce assumptions about different experiences. - Its open-ended format supports workshops, brainstorming, and informal accessibility discussions. - The game puts people at the center of the design process rather than treating accessibility as an afterthought. ## Designing an Inclusive Tool - The team began with internal research, asking colleagues whether they would share personal traits or disabilities. - They expanded the card content through feedback from the wider product community. - Making the tool itself accessible proved challenging, requiring continuous listening and iteration. - The audience became broader than expected, including lawyers, gamers, clinicians, and educators—not just designers and developers. - This reinforced the importance of plain language, avoiding jargon, and designing for audiences beyond the expected user group. ## Balancing Internal Work and Client Priorities - Agency teams must balance billable client work with internal projects that have less obvious short-term ROI. - Idean viewed inclusive design as directly connected to better products, stronger outcomes, and happier clients. - Team members contributed both allocated work time and personal effort because of their commitment to the project. - The tool became part of the agency’s client process, potentially extending its impact across the products those clients create. - The team argues that inclusion should be understood not only as a business benefit, but also as a social responsibility. ## Starting the Conversation - Cards for Humanity is not prescriptive; simply discussing the cards can open conversations about accessibility. - The tool helps teams move from abstract intentions to concrete questions about people’s needs. - Its central purpose is to build empathy and make inclusive design a regular part of product development. Teams can use the plugin or website as a practical starting point for discussing accessibility, inclusion, and the responsibility designers and developers have toward diverse users.

Figma Product Design Accessibility Inclusive Design+1

figmaJul 7, 20212 min readCurated summary

Introducing Figma’s New York City hub | Figma Blog

Figma opened a new hub in New York City as part of its hybrid work strategy, which combines remote flexibility with optional in-person collaboration. The company views hubs as flexible spaces for connection, creativity, and customer engagement rather than traditional assigned-desk offices. New York was chosen for its diverse talent, strong customer base, and influential design culture. ## A Hybrid Model Built Around Choice - Figma’s hybrid approach offers employees both remote and in-person work options. - The company’s hubs are intended to help employees connect with colleagues and users worldwide. - An internal 2020 survey found that 68% of employees would consider relocating away from a Figma hub if all roles could be remote. - The article emphasizes that distributed work can provide flexibility, eliminate commuting, and support different lifestyles. ## Supporting Remote Employees - The author joined Figma during the pandemic and initially worked entirely remotely. - Her team encouraged employees to ask for help and made quick virtual collaboration easy. - Figma created structures for remote engagement, including: - Virtual onboarding through “Figma Today” - Globally accessible Maker Week events - Spaces for openly discussing challenges - Although remote work was effective, the author personally found shared physical spaces more fulfilling. ## Reimagining the Office - Figma’s hubs are designed to accommodate different work preferences. - They have no assigned desks and include informal gathering areas. - The goal is to create flexible, inspiring environments where people and ideas can meet. - The spaces are intended to encourage conversation, curiosity, experimentation, and collaboration. ## Why New York City? - New York offers: - A deep and diverse talent pool - Many existing Figma customers - A significant history and influence in design - Strong creative communities across industries - Figma plans to grow sales and product development teams in the city, while making many other roles available there as well. - These teams will help build customer relationships, understand business needs, and deliver products that serve a broad range of users. ## Growing the Figma Community - Figma’s workforce had doubled since the beginning of 2020. - The New York landing team was responsible for establishing and expanding the new hub. - The author viewed relocating as an opportunity to be closer to family, experience a new environment, and participate in New York’s culture. Figma presents the New York hub as a flexible complement to remote work, giving employees the freedom to choose how they work while strengthening collaboration, hiring, and customer relationships.

Figma Product Design Remote Work Hybrid Work

figmaJul 6, 20213 min readCurated summary

How News UK developed a multi-brand design system | Figma Blog

News UK needed a unified design system for brands spanning print, digital, radio, and television, but its independently operated teams and fragmented tools made scaling difficult. By migrating to Figma, simplifying library management, and investing in education and advocacy, the company created a flexible system that supported brand differences while encouraging collaboration. The transition improved adoption substantially, including a 23-point increase in internal NPS during the first quarter. ## Fragmented Tools and Independent Brands - News UK’s brands, including *The Times* and *The Sun*, historically had separate design organizations, product teams, and workflows. - The team attempted to combine Sketch, Abstract, Zeplin, and InVision, but the result was difficult to maintain. - Design-system updates could take days or weeks, and accommodating brand variations created thousands of styles. - Existing theming features became rigid and overly complex as product requirements expanded. - The launch of *The Times* radio station exposed how much support the design-systems team needed to provide, making the approach unsustainable. - News UK chose Figma to consolidate tools, centralize library management, and increase participation. ## Building Adoption Through Education - The team recognized that successful adoption required cultural change, not just a new tool or library. - Design-system specialists personally configured designers’ Figma workspaces and provided onboarding. - Workshops and documentation covered: - Migrating files from Sketch - Structuring and managing files - Using components - Commenting and inspecting designs - Integrating tools such as Jira - Designers were encouraged to contribute component specifications and reusable patterns. - The team created Figma guidance tools to recommend components for common scenarios, such as onboarding users to a new product. - Designer advocates promoted best practices within product areas and acted as contacts between their teams and the design-systems group. ## Supporting Multiple Brands at Scale - News UK completed its migration to Figma in a few weeks. - Designers shifted from viewing the design system as a burden to seeing it as a productivity aid. - Shared components could be given different brand themes, allowing one system to support distinct visual identities. - A custom Themer plugin helped teams experiment with and build components that worked across multiple brands. - Earlier collaboration and feedback reduced duplicated work and discouraged teams from reinventing existing solutions. - The system was rolled out across all product and design teams. ## Measurable Results - Internal product teams increasingly adopted and contributed to the system. - News UK recorded a 23-point increase in its design-system NPS in the first quarter after introducing Figma. - Teams reported practical benefits while recognizing that the system would continue to evolve. News UK’s experience shows that a scalable multi-brand design system depends on both flexible technology and sustained organizational engagement. Consolidating tools, supporting brand-specific themes, educating users, and appointing internal advocates can turn a centralized system into a shared platform rather than a constraint.

Figma Design Systems Jira Sketch+4

figmaJun 23, 20212 min readCurated summary

Figma's Series E | Figma Blog

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.

Figma Real Time Collaboration Product Development Design Tools+1

figmaJun 15, 20212 min readCurated summary

The five stages of an effective brainstorm | Figma Blog

Effective brainstorming requires more than generating creative ideas: it depends on preparation, inclusive facilitation, focused ideation, and a clear path toward action. Figma recommends creating psychological safety while also giving participants structure, context, and a shared goal. The process should ultimately turn divergent ideas into tangible outcomes. ## Prepare and Plan Ahead - Explain why each participant was invited and how they can contribute. - Share pre-reading, briefs, or collaborative files before the session. - Use short pre-meetings with key stakeholders to gather feedback and address concerns early. - Treat the work before and after the meeting as just as important as the brainstorm itself. ## Make Introductions and Manage Expectations - Begin with an icebreaker, such as drawing an animal or creating collaborator cards, to encourage a creative mindset. - Establish shared rules for participation, including expectations about attention and multitasking. - Clearly explain the brainstorm’s purpose and acknowledge that not every idea will be used. - Facilitators should create an open, inclusive environment where people feel comfortable contributing. ## Generate Ideas - Use adaptable templates as “recipes” rather than starting from a blank canvas each time. - Lower the barrier to participation with prompts such as “How might we…?” or simple warm-up exercises. - Define a “north star” that states what problem the group is solving and what it should produce. - Encourage ambitious ideas by making the session playful, including small rewards for especially creative suggestions. ## Share Artifacts and Outcomes - Move deliberately from divergent idea generation toward convergence and prioritization. - Ask questions and refine suggestions rather than accepting ideas at face value. - Evaluate ideas against the session’s shared goal or “north star.” - Ensure the brainstorm produces useful artifacts and clear tactical direction, rather than ending with a collection of disconnected ideas. The provided text ends partway through the fourth stage, so details of the fifth stage are not included.

Figma Figjam Slack Design Thinking+1

figmaJun 13, 20212 min readCurated summary

Collaborating and connecting in FigJam | Figma Blog

FigJam evolved from a brainstorming tool into a shared workspace for meetings, research, retrospectives, and team-building during remote work. Figma teams use collaborative files to make contributions visible, preserve context, and reduce reliance on lengthy synchronous discussions. The newly added timer strengthens this approach by helping teams coordinate activities and stay focused together. ## Daily Stand-ups - Figma’s Editor Platform team uses a virtual stand-up template for quick daily check-ins. - Teammates add sticky notes about current work, recent progress, blockers, and issues requiring discussion. - Each file represents one day, creating a historical record that helps the team track progress over time. - The format emphasizes visibility and shared context without requiring lengthy meetings. ## Synthesizing Research Feedback - Figma’s research team replaced spreadsheets with FigJam for organizing and discussing user feedback. - Unlike spreadsheet comments, FigJam allows cross-functional partners to annotate research, ask questions, and identify patterns directly in the workspace. - Team members can independently review reports and add takeaways to matrices before meeting, making group discussions more focused. - Templates help organize findings around user archetypes and other research themes. ## Retrospectives and Inclusive Feedback - Teams use retrospective templates covering successes, improvement areas, shout-outs, and future ideas. - Sticky notes create a low barrier to participation, especially for people who are less comfortable speaking in meetings. - Contributions remain visible and easy to scan, helping teams recognize input across engineering, design, and product. - The timer supports structured facilitation: one team gives participants 15 minutes per topic before moving on. ## Team Culture and Social Activities - FigJam is also used for birthday cards, speed-drawing contests, board games, and informal gatherings. - During the FigJam launch, Figma’s marketing team held a remote drawing session with a cartoon artist and a live llama. - These activities demonstrate that the workspace can support connection and celebration, not just project work. The article recommends combining FigJam’s templates and shared canvas with its timer to run more engaging stand-ups, retrospectives, research sessions, architecture discussions, and social activities.

Figma Figjam User Research Remote Work+3