Picture of the screen at Figma ConfigAPAC

Figma releases new tools at Figma Config APAC in Singapore

The passion and energy were contagious at Figma Config APAC, reminding us of the immense power of design to connect and inspire. As Figma Enterprise clients, Luminary hopes to further build upon the Figma community in Melbourne and Australia.

Thom Bransom

16 July 2024

4 minute read

Last week, we had the opportunity to attend Figma Config APAC, Figma's inaugural conference in Singapore. The energy at Marina Bay Sands was electric, buzzing with designers and creatives eager to learn about the future of Figma.

Figma is a powerful design tool and as a Figma Enterprise client, Luminary uses it in designing all client work. 

The keynote address, delivered by Figma's CEO Dylan Field, unveiled a treasure trove of new features that promise to revolutionise the way we approach design. 

Figma Conference itinerary

1. Unleashing the power of AI 

So much time is spent with repetitive tasks when creating designs. We were impressed by Figma's new AI-powered features which will handle a lot of the grunt work, freeing up designers to focus on the strategic aspects of design. Using AI to rename layers automatically and add sample content will save designers time and ensure clarity with both layers and content. 

The ability to search for a design component across all of your Figma files will be a game changer and ensure that designers do not have to create something that is already available. 

The key AI models that power Make Designs are OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Amazon’s Titan Image Generator G1.

2. AI supported design

This will speed up ideation and assist designers with the initial blank screen issue. 

The AI-driven ‘Make Design’ tool could automatically generate variations of a design based on pre-set parameters, or intelligently suggest layouts and colour palettes that align perfectly with your brand identity. This will be reliant on having the design system set up. One challenge we saw was the risk of AI influencing design to the point where things become vanilla. Unfortunately, the ‘Make Design’ tool was accused of ‘heavily’ training the model on existing apps and Figma has paused its release. The concept of the feature was a bold move and will be hotly debated in design circles. For now, we are glad that Figma has responded to the feedback. It will be interesting to see the final features it decides to release in the next version. 

Figma AI capabilities

3. Enhanced collaboration is here 

Figma is introducing features that streamline collaboration between designers and developers. This could be a game-changer. The potential for real-time code generation from design mockups could allow faster proof of concepts. And may provide seamless handoff with automatic developer-friendly assets, and a collaborative workspace that fosters open communication. 

4. Prototyping gets a supercharge

Figma's prototyping capabilities have been fairly impressive, but now they're about to get an upgrade. The ‘text to design’ feature will mean AI can assist with ideation by creating concepts by simply entering a prompt. The new features promise hyper-realistic micro-interactions, the ability to integrate complex data into prototypes, and even functionalities for user testing directly within Figma. 

The presenter asked Figma to create a simple proof of concept (PoC) for an app to find stores in Singapore that sell Durian fruit. Durian is loved in South-east Asia (despite its smell) so it was a good choice for a demo. From a text prompt, Figma created a screen with a map showing the stores that sold Durian fruit, pulling the data from the web in almost an instant. 

This will allow us to create prototypes that feel indistinguishable from the final product, leading to more effective user feedback and a smoother design iteration process. 

Figma Confererence design prototyping

5. Figma Slides

Mihika Kapoor launched Figma Slides with the premise that storytelling is hard and Figma is going to make it easier to create decks faster. 

There is a range of slide deck tools available from PowerPoint, to Google Slides to Canva. Increasingly, designers are asked to improve the quality of a slide presentation. Figma has released a tool that allows designers to have all slides in Figma and quickly produce a deck. Many designers were using the presentation tool already available in Figma, however, the new Figma Slides allows you to pull slides from across the organisation (from within Figma Slides), creating a bank of slides. 

If the visual search tool allows you to search for a slide that represents what you are looking for from all of the slides created by your organisation, then this could increase quality and reduce the time involved in creating a slide. 

Beyond the features

These are just a taste of the exciting things unveiled at Figma Config APAC. We left the conference feeling energised and inspired, ready to dive into these new features and take our design game to the next level.

One of the most inspiring aspects of Figma Config APAC was the sense of community. Meeting fellow designers from across the Asia Pacific region (people from Singapore, India, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia and many other APAC countries) sharing experiences, and exchanging ideas was invaluable. The passion and energy were contagious, reminding us of the immense power of design to connect and inspire. As a Figma Enterprise client, Luminary hopes to further build upon the Figma community in Melbourne and Australia.

We are eager to see how these new features transform the way we design. The future of design looks bright, and Figma is undoubtedly at the forefront of this evolution.

Luminary CEO, Marty and Design Director, Thom at Figma Conference

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