Why multi-account took more than an account switcher

Users have long asked for a way to move between separate Figma accounts—one for work, one for freelance, one for personal projects—without signing out and back in. The request sounds simple. Delivering it meant rethinking an assumption that runs through the entire product: that one person equals one account.

The account switcher that launches today lets users toggle between workspaces in the editor while keeping all connected accounts under a single identity in the Figma Community. Product Manager Ben Stern explains why that hybrid model was the hard part.

Rethinking the one-person-one-account model

Authentication is usually discussed in terms of security, but it is equally tied to identity. Most products launch with a 1:1 model—one user, one account. Companies like Slack, Google, and Instagram eventually added multi-account support as user needs grew, but none started with it.

Figma presents a particular wrinkle because it has two spaces with different identity requirements. The editor is where creation happens; the Community is where work is published and attributed. A freelancer might want to toggle between a corporate workspace and a personal one in the editor, but in the Community they likely want a single public handle that follows them across roles and employers.

The 1:1 assumption was baked into the file browser UI, not just the authentication layer. Adding account switching on top of the existing information architecture would have produced a clunky experience. Supporting the new feature properly meant revisiting the file browser's whole structure.

A hybrid north star

The team set a long-term direction: a hybrid model where users access multiple workspaces in the editor while maintaining one Community profile. That required making the Community feel distinct from the editor without breaking design cohesion, and it forced several UX decisions:

  • Managing tabs: Users shouldn't have to close and reopen tabs when switching accounts. Tabs from different accounts can now stay open in the same window, and the editor shows an icon identifying which account owns the file in the current tab.
  • Installing plugins: With multiple accounts linked to one Community profile, clicking install for a plugin adds it to every connected account.
  • Naming workspaces: Accounts outside an organization were previously labeled "Personal." Support feedback showed that was misleading, since work in that space could still be tied to a work email. They are now called "External teams."

Why not ship the MVP

The straightforward path would have been a minimal account switcher released quickly. That would have answered the request but would have left the file browser on faulty foundations. Taking longer to build the hybrid model allowed the team to solve the immediate problem while leaving room for the product to scale. The tradeoff was a project that touched multiple teams, where changes in one area risked disrupting ongoing product, design, and engineering workstreams.