Figma is a cloud-based design and prototyping tool used for user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, collaboration, & prototyping. It allows designers to create, collaborate on, and share interface designs in real time with team members regardless of their location. It offers different features like vector editing, prototyping, collaboration tools, and version history tracking.
BASIC INTRODUCTION
Designing UI/UX in real-time is possible with Figma, a web-based collaborative tool. Teams can actively develop prototypes based on their ideas before turning them into finished products. It gives any project or model a detailed visual representation.
Users may develop, share, and test designs for mobile applications, websites, and other digital goods and experiences with Figma Design. Assisting everyone engaged in the design process to contribute, provide input, and make better decisions more quickly is an effective tool for writers, developers, product managers, and designers.
To put it another way, Figma is a UI and UX creation tool that runs in the browser and includes tools for design, prototyping, and code creation. In this article, we’ll go over the main advantages of Figma and why it’s a better option than the alternatives.
What is Figma?
It is a browser-based UI and UX creation tool containing design, prototyping, and code production tools, as we covered earlier. Figma is available as a desktop application as well. However, the desktop application maintains the same principles as the online version; first, it is recognized for its seamless browser compatibility, and second, it offers the same experience while utilizing a network connection instead of downloading all of its tools locally.
Not only is Figma the most popular UI/UX design tool, but it also has the highest rating of all of them. Rapid prototyping and development with Figma is giving way to its use as a general design tool. Designers use more than just Figma. Figma is a UI/UX design tool that truly changes the game.
Importance of Figma Software when doing UI/UX design
Reasons to use Figma:
Fast prototype
Figma is a great tool for prototyping because it has many features like overlays, animations, hovers, clicks, and many more. Because Figma is so simple to use, it is indispensable, even when tools like InVision offer many more features. Additionally, you can use your mobile device to demonstrate the prototype by installing the Figma Android application.
Collaborate in real-time
Figma is a UX design tool that, it is true, lets the whole team view and work with the most recent designs by granting access to a single, live URL. It’s the ideal solution for real-time collaboration, allowing the whole team to work together and observe changes instantly.
Cloud Benefits
You may get the full benefits of the cloud by integrating Figma into your UI/UX workflow. It makes sure the files are automatically saved, so you won’t have to worry about them becoming accidentally lost. With just your sign-in ID and password, you may work from any machine, anywhere, and move beyond your local desktop.
It’s available in your browser; simply click to get started
Since Figma is a browser-based tool, you can use it anywhere—on a Mac, Windows computer, or Linux computer—and it is compatible with all operating systems, making it a cross-platform tool for UI design. Also, exporting files is quite simple, and it is lightweight.
Bright community and simple learning resources
Figma provides the most exciting user community, encompassing both hobbyists and professional UI/UX designers. Since they have access to additional resources and online help if they get stuck, this becomes helpful for those who are just starting in the industry.
There is much more currently than only UI/UX
Figma is now more than just a tool for UI design and prototyping. It is utilized in a variety of fields, from making presentations to designing thumbnails. It is also marketed as an online visual design tool that can be used to create presentations, social media graphics, logos, and much more.
Easy to use and learn
Figma’s quick learning curve is one of the factors that has allowed it to overtake industry titans like Adobe and upend the UI/UX field. Because Figma is so easy to use and has a huge professional user base, it is available with a lot of tutorials.
How is Figma Used?
Figma is quite easy to use. To get started with Figma, all you have to do is visit “https://www.figma.com.” For new users, you can start using the application right away by creating a Figma account. Several tools, such as frames, layouts, the text tool, the hand tool, and others, are available for you to experiment with. Lastly, if you want to learn how to use certain functions, you can look up tutorials online.
What can be Built using Figma Software?
Considering how flexible Figma is, it’s becoming a more all-around design tool. With Figma, you can create several different things, such as YouTube thumbnails and UI prototypes. Fig. 2 shows the screens of the food app designed in Figma software for the mobile version, and Fig. 3 shows the food delivery website designed in Figma software for desktop version.
Figma is mostly used for the following use cases:
- Models/Prototypes
- Diagrams and Slideshows
- Interfaces for Users
- Designs for Websites
- Designs for Mobile Apps
- Icons and Illustrations
- Graphics for Social Media
Advantages of UI/UX Design with Figma
Following are the advantages:
Figma Software – Free to Use
Figma is completely free to use for smaller-scale projects. The monthly fee for an editor can range from $12 to $45 for more advanced features and larger projects. Working on three Figma files simultaneously is possible with the free version, which is sufficient to finish a modest design project.
Better Teamwork
Figma excels at collaborating with other people who are working on the same project, which is one of its main advantages. With real-time change visibility and teamwork, this tool is ideal for collaborative work in real-time.
Prototyping Features
Figma includes overlays, animations, hovers, clicks, and other features that are perfect for prototyping, as we’ve covered in previous portions.
Developer Handoff
By offering powerful tools for producing design specifications, assets, and CSS code, Figma streamlines the handoff process between designers and developers. Figma ensures accuracy and efficiency in the design-to-development process by streamlining the process with code snippets and automatic asset exporting.
Everything is on the Cloud
Since Figma is a cloud application, all of its files are live in the cloud, and it operates through a browser. Using URL links, we can easily open and share them. File sharing and storage are now very simple.
Frames
In Figma, the artworks seen in Sketch and Adobe XD are replaced by frames. Frames have a structural advantage over Sketch and Adobe XD artboards since they more closely resemble a genuine user interface. Frames are not supported by Sketch or Adobe XD.
Cons of Figma
Following are the drawbacks:
Internet access is necessary
Having a strong internet connection is needed because Figma is a cloud application; however, using the desktop version of the program still necessitates having an internet connection.
RAM usage is higher on the web version
Figma is an excellent tool for anyone working in a team who wants to collaborate in real-time because it runs on the cloud. Figma would utilize the computer’s extra RAM.
After researching the features and advantages of Figma, we can conclude that it is among the greatest UI/UX design and prototyping tools available today. It stands out from the competition because of its versatility and ability to operate on multiple platforms. We had a lot of UI/UX creating tools before Figma, such as Adobe XD and Sketch, but Figma disrupted the market and emerged as one of the finest, if not the best, UI/UX design tools because of its fast prototype capabilities, real-time collaboration features, and attention to detail.
In this article, we highlighted the benefits of utilizing Figma over its rivals. We sincerely hope that after reading this post, you will have a better understanding and appreciation of this software, which has been permanently altering the lives of hundreds of UI/UX designers.
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