Sections in Figma. Music & Voting in FigJam. Happy Jam-o-ween.
Sponsor
The Art of Getting Designer-Developer Handoffs Right
Forget detailed design documents and digital assets. With Uno platform for Figma, designers and developers don’t need a separate tool; our plugin lets designers export resource dictionaries and developer-friendly code for engineers, allowing developers to skip the grunt work of coding UI from scratch.
App Updates: Move work forward
Sections in Figma
Organize content with sections to help teammates navigate through busy Figma files. A section is a default top-level element on the canvas and its own layer type is used primarily for organizing files and grouping designs. Additionally, sections allow you to organize prototypes and preserve their state, as Miggi shows in one video and Anthony in another. See also Sho Kuwamoto’s notes on the controversy surrounding launching this feature.
Music in FigJam
Get on the same wavelength as your team by working to the beat together in FigJam. Don’t miss a fantastic easter egg shared by Anthony and Miggi — you can put the needle on the record to start the timer and music in FigJam.
Voting in FigJam
Speed up decision-making and remove bias by empowering teammates to vote anonymously on ideas and prompts.
Mobile comments
Respond to questions and review work in Figma and FigJam from anywhere via comments on your phone or tablet. Download now for iOS or Android.
Markdown support in FigJam
Give words more meaning on the fly with Markdown support.
Push notifications
Never miss a beat in Figma or FigJam with notifications. Now available on iOS, Android, or desktop.
Microsoft Teams integration
Collaborate on Figma and FigJam files directly in Microsoft Teams.
Figma Chrome extension
Attach Figma and FigJam files to any Google Calendar event.
Office hours: New ways to collaborate in FigJam and Figma
“Tune in to learn about some new features across FigJam and Figma that’ll help teams collaborate better and turn their big ideas into real products, faster. From creative new ways to jam together and drive decision-making in FigJam, to some long-awaited features in Figma, turning ideas into action just got easier — and more fun.”
What’s New
Pantone’s licensing with Adobe
What a dumpster fire. It seems to be Pantone’s decision, but both companies look awful now.
Relay — Instant Handoff for Android UI
Google’s Material Design team introduced Relay, a new process to transform Figma components into Android UI code. Designers can now use the Relay for Figma plugin to document and package UI component designs that can be sent directly to the developer. No more tedious design specs or back and forth to ensure details are right in implemented code.
Using Figma
40 Figma Plugins you should know about for your next project
A solid collection of plugins for a more efficient workflow in Figma.
Embedded YouTube video in Figma
Copy-pasting objects from FigJam to Figma never disappoints.
Shortcut to open “Present” mode
Not sure if this is new but super handy for those of us using Figma for presentations!
That’s So Hot! Figma Fridays
This week, Designer Advocate Mal talks about Taylor Swift Midnights Cover Template, Halloween Retrospective Template, Hidden Kittens, and Calendar.
Figma tutorial: Use video in prototypes
“Video gives us the ability to enrich any user experience, making prototyping with real media crucial. In this tutorial, we’ll go over the basics of how video work in Figma, and use them in both simple and complex designs.”
Building blocks: Advancing your component library
“We’re excited to continue our Building blocks office hour, where we discuss all things Design Systems. In this episode, Figma Designer Advocate Chad Bergman and Product Manager Jacob Miller will share tips and tricks for optimizing your component library, including how to best use the latest component property features.”
Resources
Ant Design System for Figma 3.0
I’m excited to see more commercial design systems adopting design tokens. “Version 3.0 introduces new features that will boost designer and developer workflow: sync Figma Tokens with code, improved components Inspect panel, redesigned documentation, and Slot, Space, and Grid components.”
Plugins
Zine Maker
Shana Hu made a plugin that the Figma design team used to create zines on their on-site.
Permute
Create multiple customized variations using components or color palettes.
Picon
Generate images with AI in Figma by simply writing what you would like to see.
Backstage
Happy Jam-o-ween
I’m indifferent to the Halloween celebration, but the fact that the Figma team took the time to add so many fun touches across both apps makes me happy.
Figma product design on-site
Seems like Figma’s design team had a fantastic time together in their San Francisco hub.