Config: Figma’s first attempt to make its community tangible

Figma held its first user conference, Config, earlier this month. With a user base that now spans the globe, the company had been looking for more chances to connect face-to-face. Config was the first time more than 1,000 users, employees, and community members gathered in a single venue to learn, share, and build together.

The stated goal was straightforward: create a physical manifestation of the community and a space for meaningful conversations about team culture, mentorship, and design ethics. Just as important was ensuring that every Figma employee heard directly from users, and that users had the chance to meet one another.

A conference built by the community

Rather than a fixed agenda, Figma opened the floor early. When the conference was announced, the team put out a call for proposals and ideas. Many of the workshops, lightning talks, and roundtable discussions that made up the final program came directly from those submissions. The event was designed to emphasize participation over passive listening—an opportunity for attendees to take an active role in a collective conversation.

Open design as a recurring theme

A central topic across sessions was open design. While developing openly has long been a principle in engineering, it is relatively new to the design world. Several talks explored what it means to share, remix, and build upon the work of others:

  • Devon Zuegel discussed how open source principles extend beyond the digital realm into urban planning and physical infrastructure.
  • Jason Kunesh recounted how, when his team was under-resourced, students became an extension of the City of Chicago’s design team and built a design system from scratch.
  • Miguel Solorio shared how Microsoft involved the broader community directly in its design process.

The conversation also pushed attendees to think about community in a wider sense. Author Craig Mod warned that technology makes isolation all too easy, noting that “smart phones are teleportation devices, which is great if you’re somewhere you don’t want to be.” His point was that the same tools can be used to connect more deeply with those around us instead of escaping them. May-Li Khoe offered a related perspective, explaining how she joyfully subverts the status quo while supporting the communities she cares about—and challenged attendees to consider what they can do for their own.

Sessions and next steps

All of the recorded sessions are available to watch online for those who could not attend or want to revisit a particular talk. Config attendees—whether they joined in person from overseas, commuted across the Bay Area, or followed along remotely—were thanked for helping bring the event to life. Figma has signaled that more content and discussions from Config will follow in the coming weeks.