Articles

Not directly related to Figma, but I’m a big fan of checklists, and this one by MDS is really good: ​“The top 101 things to consider when designing visually beautiful interfaces. Use this to self-critique any of your designs, whether it’s homework from this course or your own projects.”

“Because many of us have little to no background in visual arts or graphic design, Figma is not usually prioritized as a skill for writers, and we’re not usually asked if we’re proficient. However, there are numerous benefits to learning the basics. Many folks working in content have become self-taught Figma aficionados because taking the time to master the essentials has made their work easier—and their role on the team more effective—in the long run.”

Karen Liu shares the pains of using Sketch + Abstract combo and why her team at Brave embraced Figma, even while it meant completely rebuilding the design system.

Most ​“best practices” articles are too basic and superficial, but this one by Danny Sapio is a rare gem. All of the recommendations are solid, and by following them you can make a huge difference to your Figma workflow.

“FigJam was built as a space for teams to ideate together, so we wanted to dive a bit deeper into the earliest stage of collaboration: brainstorming. Product Marketing Manager Wayne Ng spoke to Cristen Torrey on the research team and Andrea Helmbolt on the growth marketing team to get their tips on running and facilitating an effective brainstorm.”

“Last week, we launched a timer in FigJam, allowing you to start, stop, and pause activities as a team. There are so many ways to work collaboratively in FigJam, so we talked to Figmates across the company to learn how they come together in the file.”

“Long before we launched FigJam in beta, teams across Figma had been using it for everything from user research to Maker Week projects. Here, Product Manager Emily Lin shares how she and the PM team at Figma use FigJam, along with templates to get you started.”

Good use for links in Figma, especially in a large design system.

Instead of mocking data with a bunch of rectangles in a rough prototype, use a specially designed font like Flow or BLOKK Neue.

u/​TheJMoore has been posting a lot of useful content on the r/​FigmaDesign subreddit lately. This one compares animation easing styles side-by-side.

Speaking of tables, this is a good tip!

As I was reading this post about a digital agency switching to Figma, I realized that I didn’t have a switch post in months. When I started publishing this newsletter almost two years ago, every issue included a few of them. Figma truly became a new de facto standard in the community.

Great overview of plugins and external tools on Awwwards blog.

“Yesterday, we released all of the videos from day two of Config 2021, Figma’s virtual design conference. Here, we’re highlighting some of our favorite moments from the breakout sessions.”

“We asked speakers at Config 2021 to share stories about the challenges, obstacles, and difficult moments that ultimately make products better. Below, we’re sharing some of the highlights.”

In this interview, Figma’s Head of Security Devdatta Akhawe shares his take on building strong teams and tackling huge problems with purpose.

An overview of the processes, methodologies, and Figma features that design teams adopt to ship products and achieve continuous success in their work.

“Twice a year, Figmates are invited to pause day-to-day work and come together for a week of innovation and connection. Our take on a cross-functional hackathon, Maker Week is an opportunity to take a step back and live our values—thinking big and bold ideas, connecting with one another, and putting our individual stamps on the business, community, and culture we’re collectively building.”

“Figma is not conventionally thought to be a file organization tool. When our Product Design department introduced it to sort our ever-growing database, I admit – I was awfully sceptical. It still feels weird to write about how to use Figma for sorting out resources. But lo and behold, it turns out to be great file storage and file organization tool. All you need to do is create a transparent process.”

Read how the Elastic UI design system powering the Elastic Stack connects their design (Figma) and code (React) libraries.