Website or app designing has evolved over the years. And the increased focus on user experience and shorten design cycle has necessitated the introduction of new design tools for prototyping and collaboration. Figma is one such tool that gained popularity among designers in a short span of time. In this article, we discuss why it is a designer’s favorite tool.
COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted businesses in many ways. One, it has compelled organizations to shut offices and work from home. Two, it accelerated the digital plans of many companies. And a lot more are building digital media like apps and websites to continue these operations.
How does it impact designers? First, design teams are working from home and require good collaboration tools to drive their productivity. Secondly, the increased demand for websites and apps means companies need to quicken their design cycle. In such a scenario, designers need a tool that can help them design well, create quick prototypes and collaborate tightly. Figma caters to all the needs of a designer and helps them design websites and apps quickly.
What is Figma Design Tool?
Figma is a design and prototyping tool. It helps designers to design, prototype, build design systems and collaborate with other members of the team. Figma is available in browser as well as desktop versions for Windows and Mac OS. So, you can run the application online and offline. The tool is extremely useful for multiple people – UX/UI designers, web developers, project managers etc., to work on the project at the same time. Each team member can access the latest design version and work on it. It is a subscription-based tool available for individuals and starters.
At Gemini Consulting & Services, our app design and development team use Figma and other advanced design tools to build websites and apps in quick time. Click here to know more about our web and design services.
Advantages of Figma Design Tool
- Online Access: Figma is designed for web. You can access the tool on any web browser. So, designers can work from anywhere and from any desktop. They don’t need to carry their work to different places.
- Good Design Features: Figma offers various design tools and features that are not available on other similar tools. It offers a pen tool to draw in any direction with vector networks, arc tools, and advanced font features.
- Auto Layout: The tool’s auto layout feature is highly useful for designers as it saves them time in moving various elements of the design. Buttons get resized with their text and lists get rearranged automatically when the items are moved around. The direction, padding, and spacing settings convert into code and save time for developers.
- Live Collaboration: One feature of the Figma that designers love the most is real-time collaboration. No need to share files by email etc. Just share the live link and your other team members can access the file and do their work.
- Quick Prototyping: You can create prototypes while you design and see how your design is working. This allows you to test various ideas at an early stage and find the best design.
- Build Design Systems: Figma allows you to build design systems to manage all the reusable design assets like images, icons, fonts and avatars etc., of your company. You can quickly search the library and drag-and-drop assets and styles into your designs. With built-in analytics, you can monitor the usage of the library and optimize your processes.
- Access to Plugins: Figma support plugins of various types including stock images, charts, icons and flow diagrams etc. It is also easy to build your own plugin and use it within your team or company.
- Built-in Version History: Managing various versions of a design has been a pain point for design teams. Figma solves the problem with built-in version history. And you can easily find the version you work months and weeks ago.
- Feedback and Comment: Figma support real-time feedback and comment. Just like Google Docs. Your team members can comment and share their feedback on the design itself. You can fully control who can view, edit and add comments to your design. No need to get on a call, share screen and discuss.
Better Project Management: Figma makes managing projects easier. It drives the productivity of the entire team by helping all relevant people to simultaneously work on the design. It helps developers by giving them ready-t—use codes of various design elements. Discussing designs with clients, showing your work and getting their feedback is easy and takes less time.
