If you are in the designing industry you must have heard about Figma. To tell you in detail, Figma is a cloud-based tool for design and prototyping. This has been in use majorly for designing digital projects. Like other design and prototyping tools, Figma also provides collaborations pretty easily. Hence, Figma is basically an application for UI and UX designing used in building the user interface for apps and websites.
Figma started in 2016, in between the predominance of tools like Adobe XD, InVision, and Sketch. However, Figma rocketed forward based on its versatility, ease of access, and above all the seamless ability for teamwork. During the pandemic, Figma’s popularity further shot up over 66%, as more designers started switching up to Figma. With the current trend, Figma tops the choice slot of many enthusiasts.
How Does Figma Work?
So, begs the question, how does Figma actually work? In comparison with its peers in the game, Figma came up with a way more user-friendly approach, along with killing the need for a multi-software platform, combining all in one tool. However, the most interesting thing about Figma was its sheer ability to work in real-time and sharing of data and files alongside colleagues.
It is a vector-based tool that stays in the cloud, thus, providing access from anywhere. That means, whatever prototyping or design work is done on this platform, lives in the cloud and could be shared and accessed from anywhere using the cloud storage.
Figma has been designed in a way that you do not necessarily have to be a professional designer to use the tool, but beginners can also learn along with it. From individual projects to massive teamwork, Figma produced a platform for all. It also made the designing features so easy to access and implementation of the same as well.
Figma offers different plans for different people. The starter plan is made free of cost, mostly for beginners. The professional and organizational plans are paid versions where you get extra features and benefits for doing a larger amount of work or preferably teamwork.
Key Features Of Figma
Figma has several features that are similar to its peers but it has improvised it for easy user experience. There are several features that are presented in a complicated way for other tools of the same caliber or you will have to pay a hefty amount to buy certain features. Figma provides paid and free versions, catering to all.
- Designing in itself is a creative task. The designer has to have the whole visual idea of what the design would be like and some are made digitally. The pen tool is an important one for drawing arch design and other things in any direction you propose.
- It features Open Type Font format, which was jointly developed by Adobe and Microsoft, taking over Microsoft’s TrueType format.
- There are repetitive elements to every project. However, Figma uses automated tasks for covering the repetitive elements via plugins.
- For all the organizing functions required in designing, auto spacing, arrangements, and all; Figma offers a Smart selection tool.
- Flexibility in design and auto-saving feature causing no damage in case of internet snag.
- Drag and drop feature from accessible libraries for better design.
- Figma also allows many people to work on the same project at the same time, with export, edit, and share feature working seamlessly. It also has the version history for tracking what changes have been made when and by whom.
- Creating smart animation for design purposes.
- Create mobile interface prototype, design interaction, design system, and components on the go.
There are quite a few features of Figma that have been praised by the designing community, The most interesting part of Figma is that it allows designing to prototyping, all under a single roof. Figma ensures that you do not have to hop around from one software to another between work and coordinate with your team on projects in real-time.
Why Figma Is So Popular?
As mentioned, Figma has become popular only recently. The growth of Figma was noticed back in 2019, and this phenomenon skyrocketed during the Cornovirus lockdown. Figma provided a solution to the worldwide lockdown scenario, as it connected people from within their homes and work on projects using this cloud-based tool.
However, at the end of the day, Figma is probably the best designing and prototyping tool out there providing all the features and facilities required for unified work. This is because it has most features similar to other platforms of the same caliber, and often improvises it for better user experience. Let us see the major factors that make Figma a big player in the design industry.
- Like Sketch, it consists of all the drawing tools and also provides a similar interface so users can easily go through different features. It also has different symbols to work with but they are more easy and flexible to implement o design compared to Sketch.
- Remember, Figma is not just for designing, it is also for prototyping. Thus, it has a clickable prototyping feature that can be found on platforms such as InVision or Craft.
- It also comes with a built-in commenting feature that allows you to comment on the design anywhere, add or tag people who have the access to the link. And when the issue is resolved, you can also mark the comment as resolved. This is a common feature integrated into InVision as well.
- Similar to Zeplin, it allows easy access for developers to download icons, images, styles, dimensions, from the project URL. You do not even have to sync the artboard after every update in the design.
- When designing back-up is an important feature that cannot be overlooked. The Mac OS has the most innovative backup mechanism called Time Machine that backs up all the data and history of changes to design as well the collaborator involved in the changes.
- The most attractive part of Figma, multiplayer collaboration, gives it the unique ability to connect people from anywhere having access to the link in real-time. Freehand is popular for this feature, where you can see the cursor of the other person working on the project and collaborate on the digital space.
- Similar to the InVision Liveshare, Figma also lets you see what the other person is seeing on their screen by simply clicking on their avatar.
- Different components can be updated into the collection section creating a team library for all projects.
All these things easily make Figma a superior option for anybody collaborating in the digital space. With all the variations from different software of the same league, Figma has delivered an advanced version for supporting all functions
Benefits Of Using Figma For Multiple Tasks
Surely, there are other viable platforms that have worked so far. However, the hassle was switching up between different software for doing separate tasks. Figma brought it all down to one platform. This naturally provided Figma with a headstart. However, to list out the exact benefits of using Figma, there are quite a few. Here is a list of advantages Figma users have been benefitted from.
- To talk about the universality of Figma, we have to understand that Figma is software that is supported over any type of operating and runs over any browser. It allows opening, sharing, editing, of files on different devices and web browsers without any hassle. Figma is available on multiple platforms like Windows, Linux, etc.
- Designing has no space for lagging. Figma provides a fast-paced approach in downloading, uploading, syncing, sharing, editing files at an exponential rate. Changes can be done, saved, and reviewed on the go by using Figma almost instantly.
- The Figma community has all the necessary illustrations, icons, design systems, all many other things that fellow designers have collaborated on previously.
- Figma components are more flexible than symbols in Sketch. Thus, you can actually use them and save time instead of starting from scratch.
- This type of designing software lets you work with your team in real-time.
- The automated features whether for repetitive tasks or other reasons save a lot of time while designing. This feature also allows the rearrange of the elements when there is a movement in the components.
- For the new work from home and remote-working environment, Figma offers the best designing and prototyping support for individuals as well as teams.
- The biggest benefit of using Figma is that it can be used without any active internet connection. Once you are online again you can sync and upload all the necessary changes.
- It is a vector-based design that means you can easily upgrade it to any size without compromising the quality. That means it won’t be pixelated. It is also one of the most responsive apps which are fast and easy without getting bloated with plugins.
If you are looking for reasons, there are plenty of reasons for choosing Figma over most designing and prototyping software offering fast and real-time collaborations.
How To Spot The Best Figma Designer
Figma design is like the best version of the designing tools and prototyping software juxtaposed in one. This is why Figma has gained much recognition in the past 2-years alone. There are ample reasons for choosing Figma, from its collaboratory factors to its easy, user-friendly interface and features.
The software puts special emphasis on user experience, making several tools and features easily accessible. So much so, the free version is often utilized by beginners to learn, practice, and create projects for a limited period of time. A designer using Figma must have a certain quality and knowledge about the functioning of the software. These qualities are listed below.
- Figma design is just like any designing platform available today. Hence, in order to work with Figma, you must have basic experience of using similar software such, Adobe XD, InVision, Sketch, and others.
- The designers’ team has to be technically receptive of latest techniques and advancement in the field. This would help them overcome the onboard errors and technical problems in a much sorted way.
- Designing and prototyping naturally require technical prowess to understand the whole process and functions. For using Figma for designing purposes it is important to have the technical knowledge and designing ideas working simultaneously.
- The designer should also be accustomed to the features provided in Figma. As mentioned before, Figma provides a combination of different features, thus, having knowledge about these features helps in the designing process to go smoothly.
- Figma users should also be attuned to using cloud-based software. Know-how, cloud-based software works and how it can be utilized for teamwork.
- The next key quality of a Figma designer is that the expert should have a good understanding skillset to determine and plan things proactively. A better planned project takes lesser time and efforts to convert into a successful model.
- The Figma designer that you choose should be able to offer you services at the right remuneration exchange. With so many freelancers and full-time Figma designers around, it’s always suggested to do the research well before concluding a decision.
There is no certified limit to state the qualities of a designer in general and Figma is a tool used almost universally. If you have used familiar software, Figma should not be a hard nut to crack.
Though arriving a lot later than other designing and prototyping platforms, Figma still made the headlines with its smart approach! Learning from other platforms, Figma improvised several features to deliver a far superior model.
The two takeaways of Figma have to be given to its real-time collaborating options and the ability to do the same work of multiple software under one roof. You can definitely use separate software for designing, prototyping, and similar work with other people. But, none other platform provides combined support as Figma. So it’s a worthy consideration for the upcoming time.