Paid community resources. Tinder design tokens. How Figma builds product.
App Updates
Changes coming to the Figma Community
“Beginning February 2023, Figma will add support for paid files, plugins, and widgets on the Figma Community. Eligible creators will be able to publish paid resources and users will be able purchase resources directly from the Figma Community.” As a community creator, I’m genuinely excited about this — I’ve had a few commercial plugin ideas in the past, but was put off by handling payments.
That said, the announcement raised some questions. All community files must switch to Figma’s payment platform, but existing plugins and widgets may continue to be sold through 3rd-party payment sites. Rogie provided additional details in his Twitter thread.
Improvements to library updates
Now it’s easier to track changes to components and styles. A new icon shows when styles or instances have changed, lets you accept changes for individual instances or layers, and even shows a before vs. after preview! See a quick demo by Jacob Miller.
What’s New
FigJam in virtual reality
Ever wanted to collaborate in FigJam using virtual reality? A note from the developer: “We wouldn’t build a better tool than Figma, so we used their super SDK to write a plugin that integrates with our XR application. We develop our applications for Snapdragon Spaces technology, available for Lenovo A3 glasses, as well as for Quest 2 and Quest Pro. We use Unity technology, so in the future the app can be open on any device like Android/iOS/MagicLeap/Quest etc. The app is still a prototype, but we consider of going forward and release it in some day.”
Using Figma
Building Obsidian, Tinder’s Design System
A deep dive by one of Tinder’s software engineers into the process of building their design system. The team started by defining design tokens in Figma using the Tokens Studio plugin, then used the Style Dictionary framework to transform styling data from a single source of truth into platform-specific artifacts that can be consumed by their codebases. To support the future work of designers and engineers, they also created a comprehensive documentation site using Zeroheight.
Boring UI process
A long video of MDS walking through his entire design process at regular speed.
Designing the new Dive website in Figma + Framer
Ridd just launched Dive with an amazing lineup of design educators. In this tutorial, he designs the new Dive website and shows how his use of components to speed up workflow in Figma, talks about visual design principles and his approach to UI design in Figma. Lastly, he shows how easy it is to go from Figma to Framer to a published website.
Molly’s Friday Five
I’ve been enjoying Molly Hellmuth’s Friday Five newsletter with Figma tips and tricks. In the most recent issue, she shared a few clips from her Design System Bootcamp – like this tip on organizing file structure or another one on component properties.
Miggi’s YouTube
Miggi started a YouTube channel with his design shorts, Figma tips, and tutorials. Start with his recent series on making icons in Figma.
6 ways to work smarter with colors
A few solid tips and tricks on working with colors in Figma.
Community
Hackerman 1977
An adventure game made with Figma prototyping tools.
Quote Template
Fons Mans shared a project quote template that he used in 2022.
Backstage
An inside look at how Figma builds product
Lenny Rachitsky talks to Yuhki Yamashita, CPO (Chief Product Officer) at Figma. “In today’s episode, we talk about operationalizing quality, the case against OKRs, and how Figma isn’t just known for product-led growth, but also for building a community of empowered users. Yuhki also shares why he thinks storytelling is key to being a great product manager, owning the “why,” and the potential impact of Adobe’s acquisition of Figma.”