Last month, I had the absolute pleasure of attending Figma Config in beautiful, breezy downtown San Francisco, CA. You could feel the excitement as thousands of designers, developers, and creative professionals in the Figma community gathered to learn about the future of design.
Stepping into the bustling Moscone Center, I couldn't wait to learn from the Config 2024 speakers, some of the most influential minds in UI and UX design. While listening to the talks, I noticed a common theme: the web software design industry is at a crossroads of challenge and opportunity.
The keynotes, panels, and sessions offered a new perspective on the evolving landscape of software design. Figma Config events allow software designers to connect with our peers, exchange ideas, and reflect on the impact of our work.
Config 2024 Updates: Slides, CodeConnect, and Figma AI. Oh my!
In the Figma Product Launch Keynote, Figma's Dylan Field, Emil Sjölander, and Mihika Kapoor announced a wealth of new features and UI design tools that will simplify the design process and increase our efficiency. I can't wait to test them out! Here are the ones I'm most excited about:
Figma AI Tools: AI-Powered Text and Image Tools
I love crafting silly placeholder copy, but tools that can analyze the context of my designs and suggest relevant content improvements? That's truly impressive. These AI-powered features will streamline the creative process, making it faster and smarter.
Figma AI simplifies prototyping by creating interactions and connections between frames, setting up simple flows, adding interactions to buttons, and linking frames from the navigation menu. We can now generate and edit images directly on the canvas with a simple text prompt.
These new Figma AI features allow designers to focus on creative tasks and leave the mundane to our AI assistants.
Updates to Dev Mode & CodeConnect
Figma has always been a designer's dream playground. As a longtime fan, I'm ecstatic about the new features bridging the gap between design and development.
One of the significant updates to the Figma software is the Ready for Dev view in Dev Mode. This feature transforms the developer handoff process by displaying all designs marked as "ready for dev" in a single, easily accessible location. With this update, the design team can mark sections, frames, or components as "ready for dev," and the developer team can quickly find what they need without navigating through multiple pages. It also highlights the most recent updates, so important details aren't lost in the iteration process.
These updates will make the collaboration between designers and software developers more seamless than ever, allowing us to build incredible projects together and avoid potential miscommunication.
Enhanced Prototyping for Figma Web Design
Micro-interactions, advanced animations, and conditional logic? Someone, please pinch me so I know this isn’t a dream! The responsive prototype viewer will elevate prototyping to a new level, allowing us to create more dynamic and interactive user experiences.
I can't wait to use these features for client demos and demonstrate the full potential of our designs. Integrating these improved elements will impress clients and provide a more accurate representation of the final product. With these new tools, we can create visually stunning, highly functional, and engaging prototypes.
Automatic Layer Renaming
Let’s be honest: naming layers is a UI designer meme for a reason. It’s a notorious pain point for us, so the new automatic layer renaming feature is a lifesaver. It’s a small but significant improvement that will save time and reduce frustration, allowing us to focus on what we do best—designing.
These new features underscore Figma's commitment to innovation and user experience, and I can't wait to see how they will transform our workflows and elevate our creative possibilities.
You can see a complete list of new features and notes from CEO Dylan Fields on the Figma blog.
Config 2024 Highlights
As soon as the agenda was announced, I eagerly pored over the sessions and couldn't wait to attend the scheduled Config events, sessions, and talks. My only disappointment was that I couldn’t physically attend them all.
Lately, I’ve been focusing on accessibility and design systems, and my meticulously crafted Config agenda—titled "final.real_final.v2"—reflected these priorities.
What I didn’t anticipate when creating this agenda was that, despite my best efforts, I’m not a robot. I needed breaks to refill my water, get some fresh air, grab a snack, and take a few minutes to process the wealth of information and sensory input constantly surrounding me.
Anyone who’s attended Config (or any conference) can attest: the people you meet and the unexpected conversations you have are just as valuable, if not more so, than the talks themselves. I went to Config knowing exactly one person. While daunting for an introvert, this allowed me to connect with people in a way that may not have happened had I not attended alone. I cannot express how grateful I am for the folks I met in various lines, at lunch, and while standing around.
Even though my meticulously planned agenda was completely overhauled (thank goodness for the recorded sessions!), I’d still love to share a few of my Config 2024 highlights and the delightful surprises along the way:
Why shitty robots are the antidote of perfectionism
Let me start by saying I've been a fan of Simone and her work for years, so seeing her in person was such a delight. In a world of filters and highlight reels, Simone's passion and authenticity are inspiring and a breath of fresh air. Her philosophy of creating intentionally silly, sometimes useless things purely for enjoyment and learning is a refreshing contrast to our productivity-obsessed society.
Link to video: Config 2024 - Simone Gertz - Why Shitty Robots are the Antidote of Perfectionism
Leaving fingerprints: product, design, and stories at The Browser Company
I've been using Arc as my primary browser for over a year, but it was when they displayed the example personalized membership card that I made the connection. (For the curious, my card says "Vibe Artisan.”) I was thrilled to realize that the people on stage discussed something I use daily!
Karla & Nash set a powerful example of thoughtfulness, care, and empathy in the tech industry. Many other companies could learn from their approach to user and employee engagement. They see their users as people, not just metrics, a crucial perspective often missing in the tech world.
The Unsung Heroes: Moscone Event Staff
Lastly, I must commend the Moscone event staff. Their friendliness, engagement, and kindness were the backbone of the conference experience. Some of my favorite moments were the insightful conversations I had with them, which offered a unique perspective on the event and the tech industry in general.
To wrap it up
Figma's Config is a design conference, yes. It's a place for professionals who use Figma for web design to gather, learn from, and connect with their peers. But it's also a reminder of the human element at the core of our work. From the importance of accessibility and thoughtful leadership to the need for empathy in technology and everyday interactions, the experience renewed my appreciation for the people behind the pixels. The connections made and the insights gained are what genuinely make Config magical.
I look forward to writing a post that delves deeper into Figma's new features and their impact on our team.
