Last week at Zoomtopia 2023, Figma announced its Figma for Zoom app, enabling teams to collaborate on Figma design files or use a FigJam whiteboard via Zoom. Users will no longer need to share their screens or switch tabs, instead gaining increased interactions and face-to-face collaboration. Zoom users will be able to install the new Figma for Zoom app from the Zoom marketplace on October 16, 2023.

“In this livestream Hanju Kim and Marvin Messenzehl from RTL+ dive into the file to understand the intricacies of designing for a wide array of platforms while maintaining impeccable structure and facilitating seamless collaboration.”

New research from the Figma’s Insights team: “In a recent study we commissioned from Forrester Consulting, researchers found almost 9 out of 10 respondents experienced some type of barrier in the product development process, with 60% reporting either a lack of alignment across teams, difficulty making decisions, or lengthy development cycles. These barriers aren’t necessarily new, but have been amplified by three major forces at work: 1) More people involved, 2) More distributed work, and 3) More work in progress.”

On collaboration: “One striking finding from Forrester’s study was that the most successful teams collaborate more and also see improving this collaboration as critical. According to the study, successful teams want to improve feedback on work in progress, get more people involved earlier, and increase cross-team collaboration.” On that note, see upcoming events by Friends of Figma for anyone who regularly facilitates meetings and cross-functional collaborations.

You can now collaborate on Figma and FigJam files directly in Google Meet.

Week 2 of the Little Big Updates is all about collaborating more creatively. #5: Embedding MP4 and MOV video files directly in FigJam. #6: A new look for the embedded content in FigJam. #7: Camera selection and better audio/video effects in the Photo Booth widget. #8: 300+ new emojis in the emoji picker after upgrading to Unicode 14.0. #9: When you stop following a spotlight in a Figma or FigJam file, a new reminder will appear prompting you to rejoin your teammates while the spotlight is still active.

Christine Vallaure recorded a comprehensive guide to setting up, connecting, and updating libraries.

Include is a tool built by eBay to make annotating for accessibility easier — easier for designers to spec and easier for developers to understand what is required. The intent is to have accessibility considerations included during the design phase of any project and to help with the designer-developer collaboration.

A simple FigJam widget to easily visualize upcoming events and deadlines from the Figma team.

Amazing intro video of the 5x faster comment replies in the updated mobile apps. See also the comparison of performance before and after this release.

So many great ways to warm up the room in replies to Femke. I’d love to try This or That, play two truths and a lie, draw blind contour portraits, or look for common ground with my team.

I hope this is the first step to batching all comments into a daily digest for lower-priority files 🤞

Nice! Markdown FTW.

The level of customization to virtual spaces that this kit provides is mind-blowing. Make sure to watch the video on the homepage! “LabKit offers a new collaborative way to create digital experiences using Figma and FigJam. Our highly detailed vector components come with loads of easy-to-use variants for customization. Everything you find is designed with joyful multiplayer interactions in mind.”

“You’ve been invited to collaborate in FigJam! Watch this video to learn the basics so you’re ready to jam with your team on project plans, flow charts, and more.”

Comments now support rich text (bolding, italicizing, strikethroughs, links, and lists), and notifications are batched for all comment threads you’re not actively involved in.

Jackie Zhang writes about approaches to enhance team communication through logically structuring Figma files, labeling and annotating your designs, and hooking up all your files in a single FigJam flow. I particularly like the last recommendation and going to try it on the next project.

This tweet by the design company R/GA made rounds last week. I definitely enjoy seeing all the pushback in the replies. In my Figma files the ratio of participating designers to non-designers is somewhere between 1:5 and 1:20, depending on the project — a night-and-day difference from the old days.

“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.”

Collaborate on Figma and FigJam files directly in Microsoft Teams.

Attach Figma and FigJam files to any Google Calendar event.