How Figma Transformed This Berkeley Design Class | Figma Blog
UC Berkeley’s CS 160 course used Figma to make digital product design more accessible to computer science students. The cloud-based tool solved problems involving incompatible devices, steep software learning curves, and limited collaboration. As a result, students spent more time applying usability principles and less time learning complicated design software. ## Challenges in Teaching Digital Design - CS 160 teaches human-computer interaction through 3–4-person teams building Android apps around themes such as healthcare and elections. - The course struggled with: - Students using Linux, Windows, Macs, or no personal computer. - Limited computer-lab solutions for incompatible software. - Adobe tools requiring substantial training. - Students with prior design experience often handled wireframing and prototyping, while others focused on coding or user testing. - Enrollment demand was high enough that the course’s original 100-student limit had to be doubled. ## Figma Made Design More Accessible - Figma was free for students and worked across different operating systems. - Its simple interface allowed students without design backgrounds to learn the basics quickly—one student reported becoming productive in about an hour. - Built-in features supported teaching: - In-context comments for instructor feedback. - Version history for reviewing progress. - Simultaneous editing by multiple students. - Integrated prototyping for presentations. - Students could focus on concepts such as Nielsen’s usability heuristics instead of spending most of their time learning Photoshop. ## More Effective Project-Based Learning - Students applied classroom lessons directly to their projects, reinforcing the concepts through practice. - One healthcare-themed team designed an app helping people with alcoholism locate nearby Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. - Figma’s quick prototyping was especially useful because teams had only about an hour of face-to-face collaboration each week. - Teachers and TAs could comment directly on relevant parts of a design rather than sending unclear, broad feedback by email. ## Collaboration Across Disciplines - Real-time editing enabled students to brainstorm, observe one another’s work, and contribute regardless of their design background. - Teams could work outside class without worrying about conflicting file versions or accidentally overwriting one another’s work. - The course used Figma to bring coding and design together, giving computer science students a more collaborative introduction to product design. Figma’s main contribution was reducing technical and logistical barriers so students could concentrate on design thinking, usability, and teamwork. For similar project-based courses, accessible cross-platform tools with real-time collaboration and contextual feedback can make design education more inclusive and effective.
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