Figma announces big redesign with AI

Figma is announcing a clump of caller features astatine its Config league today, including a large UI redesign, caller generative AI tools to assistance radical much easy marque projects, and built-in slideshow functionality.

Let’s commencement with the redesign, which is intended to “lay the instauration for the adjacent decade,” according to a blog post. You’ll spot things similar a caller toolbar, rounded corners, and 200 caller icons. As portion of the plan refresh, the institution wants to “focus the canvas little connected our UI and much connected your work” and marque thing that’s approachable to caller users portion inactive being utile to Figma experts.

Figma says this is the company’s 3rd “significant redesign” since Figma’s closed beta launch. The caller look is rolling retired arsenic portion of a constricted beta, and users tin articulation a waitlist if they privation to effort it out.

Beyond the redesign, the header diagnostic summation is caller generative AI tools, which look similar a utile mode to rapidly get started with a design. They’re fundamentally a Figma-focused mentation of the “draft an email”-type AI tools we’ve seen galore times.

In a briefing, Figma main merchandise serviceman Yuhki Yamashita showed maine an illustration of however Figma could make an app plan for a caller restaurant. A fewer seconds aft helium typed the punctual into a textbox, Figma mocked up an app with paper listings, a tab bar, and adjacent buttons for transportation partners similar Uber Eats and DoorDash. It looked similar a generic mobile app mock-up, but Yamashita was capable to commencement tweaking it close away.

In different example, Yamashita asked Figma AI to rotation up a plan for a look leafage for cocoa spot cookies, and definite enough, it did — including an AI-generated representation of a cookie. Over Zoom, it looked similar a beauteous close image, but I can’t ideate that a basal representation of a cocoa spot cooky is hard for an AI generator to make.

Figma is besides introducing AI features that could assistance velocity up tiny tasks successful large ways, specified arsenic “AI-enhanced” plus hunt and auto-generated substance successful designs alternatively of generic Lorem ipsum placeholder text.

Ideally, each of the caller Figma AI tools volition let radical who are newer to Figma to trial ideas much easy portion letting those who are much good versed successful the app iterate much quickly, according to Yamashita. “We’re utilizing AI to little the level and rise the ceiling,” Yamashita says successful an interrogation with The Verge — something CEO Dylan Field has said to The Verge arsenic well.

Figma AI is launching successful a constricted beta opening connected Wednesday, and funny users tin get connected the waitlist. Figma says the beta play volition tally done the extremity of the year. While successful beta, Figma’s AI tools volition beryllium free, but the institution says it mightiness person to present “usage limits.” Figma is besides promising “clear guidance connected pricing” erstwhile the AI features officially launch.

In a blog post, Figma besides spelled retired its attack to grooming its AI models. “All of the generative features we’re launching contiguous are powered by third-party, out-of-the-box AI models and were not trained connected backstage Figma files oregon lawsuit data,” writes Kris Rasmussen, Figma’s CTO. “We fine-tuned ocular and plus hunt with images of idiosyncratic interfaces from public, escaped Community files.”

Rasmussen adds that Figma trains its models truthful they larn patterns and “Figma-specific concepts and tools” but not from users’ content. Figma is besides going to fto Figma admins power whether Figma tin bid connected “customer content,” which includes “file contented created successful oregon uploaded to Figma by a user, specified as layer names and properties, substance and images, comments, and annotations,” according to Rasmussen.

Figma won’t commencement grooming connected this contented until August 15th; however, you should cognize that Starter and Professional plans are by default opted successful to stock this data, portion Organization and Enterprise plans are opted out.

The institution is apt being circumstantial astir however it trains its AI models due to the fact that of Adobe’s caller presumption of work disaster, wherever the institution had to clarify that it wouldn’t bid AI connected your work.

In summation to the redesign and the caller AI features, Figma is adding a perchance precise applicable caller tool: Figma Slides, a Google Slides-like diagnostic built close into Figma. Yamashita says that users person already been hacking Figma to find a mode to marque slides, truthful present there’s an authoritative method to physique and stock presentations close wrong the app.

There are a fewer Figma-specific features that designers volition apt appreciate. You’ll beryllium capable to tweak designs you’ve included successful the platform successful existent clip utilizing Figma’s tools. (Note that those changes volition lone look in the deck — tweaks won’t presently sync backmost to the archetypal plan files, though Yamashita says that Figma wants to marque that imaginable eventually.)

You tin besides contiguous an app prototype close from the deck, meaning you don’t request to marque a convoluted surface signaling conscionable to show however 1 portion connects to another. You tin besides adhd interactive features for assemblage members, similar a canvass oregon an alignment scale, wherever radical tin crippled connected a scope if they hold oregon disagree with something.

Figma Slides volition beryllium disposable successful unfastened beta opening connected Wednesday. It volition beryllium escaped portion successful beta but volition go a paid diagnostic erstwhile it officially launches. The institution is besides adding caller features for its developer mode successful Figma, including a “ready for dev” task list.

This year’s Config is the archetypal since Adobe abandoned its planned $20 cardinal acquisition of Figma following regulatory scrutiny. With the dissolution of the merger, Adobe was forced to wage Figma a $1 cardinal breakup fee.