Figma is a well-known design and prototyping tool, kind of like Adobe XD, but it does some seriously awesome things.
Overview
At its core, Figma is a design tool that allows you to collaborate with other designers, stakeholders, and users in real-time. It’s fully web-based, meaning your projects go with you wherever you log into your Figma account. Not only can you design, but you can also fully prototype your designs into functional mocks.
Why should you use it?
In order to fully explain why I think others should use Figma, I think I should go over my background and experience with the product.
Throughout my career, I’ve primarily worked out of the Adobe Suite of applications. It’s widely known throughout the design industry and serves as the gold standard for design tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. While XD is awfully powerful, there are some things that don’t translate well to UX Designers that are working collaboratively on projects together in a team format.
One major flaw I find with XD is that while you can create your own design system and asset libraries, there’s no true way to work with other designers in real-time. If I make an update to the main design system file that my team pulls from, other designers can’t see that update until I save or let them know that it’s been updated.
While XD has a lot of functionality, it doesn’t bode well for modern design teams that work on the same project.
Ok, here’s why you really should use it.
Figma does everything I mentioned above about XD but does something XD really misses out on. Collaboration is at the soul of this application. Not only can I create design systems, but I can also share that system with other projects and have designers see those changes in real-time. You can share the design you working on, while you’re working on it, with other designers, stakeholders, or users with see-only access. Basically, it speeds up the design process an insurmountable amount.
The controls and shortcuts are second nature to fellow XD/Sketch users and allow you to do the same work you would do within XD right out of the box. It’s also free to start your own account with them so I urge you to tinker with the app if you have time. Of course, you have to pay to play if you really want to use it at an enterprise level, but some would say it’s still cheaper than XD making it pretty affordable.
One of the great things about Figma is that it is a standalone product. The Figma team is dedicated to only updating one application, unlike XD. I think this could be huge for the future of collaborative design teams.
Check it out
So if I’ve provided any sort of interest or you’re curious about the app in general, I implore you to check Figma out and let me know what you think!
