A faster Figma: August 2021 updates

Figma’s August release brings a mix of platform expansions and workflow refinements. The headline additions are aimed at opening up FigJam, streamlining design system maintenance, and cutting out repetitive steps in everyday design work.

Plugins and widgets land in FigJam

Figma is bringing its open platform to FigJam. The announcement covers two distinct types of extensions:

  • Plugins are built to automate individual workflows, such as customizing styles, organizing stickies, or importing data.
  • Widgets are interactive canvas objects designed for the whole team to use in real time. Examples include voting tools, polls, and notepads.

The APIs are intended to be flexible for a range of uses. According to Figma, basic HTML and Javascript knowledge is enough to build a plugin, while React familiarity is the prerequisite for building widgets. Plugins are available to users on every plan now; widgets are in a private beta for which interested builders can sign up.

Plugin API expands

Figma’s plugin API has been extended to support prototyping writes. Developers can now use plugins to automate prototype creation or modify interactions across a file in bulk, rather than only handling static design work. The update is detailed in the API documentation.

The API also introduces a new way to accept user input. Plugin parameters, available in open beta, let developers leverage Figma's quick actions menu for input instead of building a custom UI. Sample code for a parameter-only plugin is available in the plugin-samples repository.

Design system maintenance gets easier

Three new component features aim to reduce the friction of managing design systems at scale:

  • Move components: Published components and component sets can now be moved between files without breaking links to existing instances. This is meant to help split large libraries into smaller files.
  • Swap libraries: A new option to replace an entire set of styles with another, avoiding the need for manual, per-style changes.
  • Search components: A new shortcut, Shift + I, allows for quick component search.

Smoothing out common annoyances

Two user experience fixes in Figma target common pet peeves:

  • Transparent objects now knock out shadows behind them by default, which Figma notes saves an extra click.
  • Holding Shift while using the pencil tool will now draw straight lines in both Figma and FigJam.

A complete list of bug fixes and smaller improvements can be found in the release notes. Figma is also directing feedback through Twitter and the support forum.