From Twitch Stream to FigJam Widget
When Figma opened up its FigJam widgets API to a small community of external builders, developer Tru Narla saw a chance to finally finish a side project. Narla, a software engineer at Square who also streams programming on Twitch, built Soundboard, a widget that lets teams add audio clips to their collaborative boards. She recently talked with us about the build process, the limitations she hit, and what she wants to tackle next.
Starting Small and Scoping Down
Narla's goal was simple: add something interactive to FigJam that wasn't already being worked on. She noticed nobody was focusing on audio, so she started prototyping. The initial plan, however, hit a wall.
"Reading the docs and working my way through some demo projects" was how she started. The process involved "a lot of trial and error and lowering the scope of the project due to some widget limitations, i.e. not able to record audio." Being part of a private Slack channel for widget developers proved crucial, as it gave her a space to "share code and help debug issues."
Despite the early concessions, Narla was surprised by how smooth the development process turned out to be. "How easy and fun it is to build widgets," she said. "There’s definitely some room for growth, but what you can do currently is crazy." For now, Soundboard offers preset sounds; she hopes to eventually let users record their own audio directly into the widget.
Finishing What She Started
Narla admits her motivation for building for FigJam was partly personal. "I’ve always started side projects but never launched or finished any of them," she said. Inspiration came from seeing what other developers were creating in the private Slack group, which pushed her to build something involving sound. She ended up streaming the project on Twitch, which she says "was motivating enough to finish!"
That momentum has carried over. She is currently at work on an interactive piano widget where users can click keys or use mapped keyboard shortcuts. Beyond that, she has "ideas for multiplayer games," though they are "a little more complex and need some time to flesh out."
Looking ahead, Narla is excited about the potential of the platform. She hopes others will build with the newly announced code embed feature, which she thinks will improve using FigJam for development and system design. "It would be really cool to see running code in a sandbox as well," she added.
Her advice for finding new projects is simple: pull from everyday life. "I usually jot down a note as soon as I think of something that I could build or prototype," she says, adding that she prefers to "build things that I would use myself."
