Figma Gets a UI Makeover with New Gen AI Features

Figma, a popular design collaboration platform, has announced a significant redesign and new AI capabilities at its Config conference, aiming to enhance user experience and streamline the design process.

UI redesign for the next decade: Figma’s third major redesign, dubbed “UI3,” introduces a refreshed user interface with a new toolbar, rounded corners, and 200 new icons:

• The redesign aims to make the canvas more focused on user work rather than the UI itself, while ensuring the platform remains approachable for new users and efficient for experts.
• The new look is currently available as a limited beta, with interested users able to join a waitlist to try it out.

Generative AI tools for rapid design iterations: Figma is introducing AI-powered features to help users quickly create designs and iterate on ideas:

• The AI tools can generate app designs based on user prompts, such as creating a restaurant app with menu listings and delivery partner integrations.
• Other AI-enhanced features include asset search and auto-generated text in designs, replacing generic placeholder text.
• Figma aims to use AI to “lower the floor and raise the ceiling,” making the platform more accessible to beginners while enabling experienced users to work more efficiently.

Figma’s approach to training AI models: The company has outlined its methodology for training AI models, emphasizing user privacy and transparency:

• The generative features currently use third-party, out-of-the-box AI models and are not trained on private Figma files or customer data.
• Visual and asset search features are fine-tuned using images of user interfaces from public, free Community files.
• Figma plans to allow admins to control whether the platform can train on “customer content,” with different default settings for various plan tiers.

Introducing Figma Slides: In addition to the redesign and AI features, Figma is launching a built-in presentation tool called Figma Slides:

• The feature allows users to create and share presentations directly within the Figma app, addressing the need for a more integrated solution.
• Figma Slides offers unique capabilities, such as real-time design tweaks within the presentation and the ability to showcase interactive app prototypes.
• The presentation tool will be available in open beta starting Wednesday and will become a paid feature upon official launch.

Broader implications and looking ahead: Figma’s announcements come on the heels of Adobe’s abandoned $20 billion acquisition of the company, which resulted in a $1 billion breakup fee for Figma:

• The new features and redesign demonstrate Figma’s commitment to innovation and user experience, solidifying its position as a leading design collaboration platform.
• The introduction of AI tools and the Figma Slides feature showcases the company’s ability to adapt to evolving user needs and stay ahead of the curve in the competitive design software market.
• As Figma continues to refine its AI capabilities and pricing model, it will be crucial to strike a balance between enhancing user productivity and maintaining trust in data privacy and transparency.