After adding screen readers support to Figma prototypes last year, now it’s introduced to FigJam. With this update, screen reader or keyboard users can move focus around the canvas, as well as between different menus and screens, to create, edit, and read out content. I love how these improvements make FigJam better for everyone: “Users can now navigate FigJam files using the Tab key to jump between objects on the canvas, as well as between text nodes for efficient editing. Hold Shift-Tab to tab in reverse.”
The accessibility team also shared a few tips on making FigJam files more accessible: provide “alt” text to images, use Sections to group content, numbered lists to describe order, and underscores to communicate fill-in-the-blanks.
A big update to FigJam — custom templates for your team, stamp your teammates’ faces to files and tag them with @mentions, emoji picker opens by typing a colon (“:”), custom color palettes (coming soon), UserTesting and Great Question integrations, Productboard widget, and new tunes! Also, explore new world-class teams’ templates and see a thread by Cai on the Figma design team’s rituals and templates they use in daily work.
Today we added 10+ new features and integrations to help you work your way in FigJam, including...
— Figma (@figma) May 9, 2023
1. Custom templates
2/3. Team face stamps and @ mentions
4. Custom colors (coming soon)
5. Emoji picker
…and more!https://t.co/osvMlinXQk pic.twitter.com/cmqcqBLTHB
In addition to a bigger release, there are a bunch of good quality-of-life improvements: toggling between thin and thick markers with Command–B (lovely animation!), an addition of Paste to replace (Command–Shift–V) command to FigJam, and connecting two objects by simply clicking on one object followed by clicking on another.
“Get an inside look into how the design team at Mixpanel builds internal morale, a culture of coaching, and team trust. In this livestream, you’ll hear directly from two design managers about how they’ve made the relationship between managers and designers more human-centered. They’ll share insights on how to foster a culture of collaboration and feedback, templates for both managers and ICs, and provide practical strategies and tactics to use in your next 1:1!”
“FigJam is the perfect card sorting tool for research teams. In this tutorial, we’ll teach you how to create a card sorting template and how to use FigJam to run a card sorting activity with your participants.”
“Navigate FigJam files without taking your hands off your keyboard by using the Tab key to jump between objects on the FigJam canvas, like sections, shapes, and stickies. You can also tab between text nodes while editing text to rapidly make edits across your file. Hold Shift + Tab to tab back in the reverse direction.”
Jenny Wen, Product Design Manager at Figma, had a virtual AMA with the Designer Fund community, where she answered questions about leadership, the value of a “riffing” culture, designing for moments of delight, and where she goes for product design inspiration, news, and updates.
A simple FigJam widget to easily visualize upcoming events and deadlines from the Figma team.
Now in FigJam, you can access face stamps from anyone in your organization and add them to your FigJam file. Browse available face stamps in the More menu and easily change an existing face stamp to another teammate’s face. (Available on teams on the Organization and Enterprise plans.)
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.
What are your favourite icrebreakers or games in Figjam to help warm up the room?
— femke (@femkesvs) April 3, 2023
The team at Anima asks a controversial question, and makes a strong case for Storybook being the single source of truth: “Even though products begin with the components in the design, the end-users of those products will actually experience the components from the code. The single source of truth, then, is what users will actually see in the end.”
Some folks were upset when Figma added tables to FigJam because pasting data from Google Sheets was used to create a set of sticky notes. This plugin brings back this behavior by letting you convert tables to sticky notes.
For this April Fun Day, Figma added a snake game to a Section tool inside FigJam. I don’t expect it to be around for too long, so give it a try if you can! See also a thread from Mihika Kapoor on how the team came up with the idea and built it.
“You can now seamlessly copy-and-paste between your iPad and desktop. Just open a FigJam file on your iPad, and another FigJam or Figma file on your desktop at the same time. Copy something on iPad and an in-app notification on desktop will ask you if you want to paste the selection from the other device. You can copy-and-paste from desktop to iPad, too.”
Such a fun thread by designer Jakub Świadek on how the FigJam team redesigned the sticky note curl. See also another thread by Noah Finer on how it was implemented with CSS and SVG animations.
We're on a roll over here at @figma... we’re launching a redesigned sticky note curl today. Here’s why we’re excited about this tiny little design detail. pic.twitter.com/duFnHshOGc
— Jakub Świadek (@jakub_swiadek) March 16, 2023
“Now you can create tables in FigJam right from the bottom tool bar. Organize information and ideas in custom-sized tables to build project plans, decision matrices, pro/con lists, and more.” Check out a quick demo video and read the blog post on how the product team arrived at the approach, tackled multiplayer bugs, and finessed design details.
“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.”
“As I spend this Valentine’s Day working in Figma, putting the final touches on my Founders Who UX program, with hearts in my eyes (and a stomach ache), I began romantically reminiscing about all the tools that helped get me here. What better way to express my gratitude to them on this day than a love letter?”
Thalion played with Figma to Webflow plugin and came up with the video tutorial and a summary of what you can do with it.
“Annual planning — it’s one of the most cross-functional, critical, and downright messy endeavors that teams take on each year. For Amplitude, building great products and establishing an operating plan for success start with aligning on a north star metric and deconstructing user journeys.” Comes with workshop templates to make planning fun as well.