Item: Figma
Rating: 10
Author: Abhimanyu Tiwari

Overall Satisfaction with Figma

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Figma is a goto tool we use when we start our work everyday. Few years back we used to use different design tools and had to use different software for prototyping and sharing design files which was bit difficult to manage. Now the situation is that every design is created, shared, reviewed and researched are from Figma. It really makes Design and research work easy.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Flexibility in design, many plugins as added advantage
Ease of Prototyping
Seamless collaboration and sharing design files to stakeholders
Easy to track on component usage Analytics, I love this feature

Cons

Adding GenAI to create content based on provided prompt would be game changing
Integration with other Collaboration tools like (Miro) could help cater larger audiance
May be making prototyping more easy and fun (its much better now compared to other design tools)

Most Important Features

Flexibility to design with wide variety of available options
Prototyping will be always be the one, as i have struggled a lot with other design tools earlier.
Component library and accessibility
Component Analytics

Return on Investment

First one would be Figma led to minimise to buy multiple applications like (Prototype, Present, Component library)
When you'll have to use lees applications, you'll have to pay less
Saves lots of time and resource because of Figma being one stop design tool.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe XD, Sketch and InVision

I will be specific here -
With Adobe XD it was very difficult to prototype, it was also very complicated to learn.
With Sketch - We had to use InVision for prototype and share and there were limited feature were available compared to Figma.
InVision - it was only suitable for sharing and collecting feedback on the prototype.

Key Insights

Do you think Figma delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Figma's feature set?

Yes

Did Figma live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Figma go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Figma again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Atlassian Jira Align, StandOut, powered by ADP

Likelihood to Recommend

Figma is well suited in designing 2d and 3d designs, very smooth to easy to use, could bee used over web or application, has got seamless transition. Prototyping in Figma is next level, I remember we had to struggle a lot to prototype any user journey or product workflow. It has always been the first choice of the designers post launch. One of the best part I like about Figma is the community level engagement, Its deep rooted and helps creating awareness for any new feature and to help if someone has any specific query.

Using Figma

Users and Roles

Figma users are mainly from the User Experience community. In our organization Designers, researchers and content teams use Figma for different purposes.
Designers represent the global product and technology department where they are involved in working on enhancement or building new product prototypes.
Researchers are part of the same org that helps in validating those designs and prototypes with users.

Support Headcount Required

There are different types of people and skills required to support Figma like. At our organization, there is a UX Ops team which has around ~10 members who ensure Figma is up and running and accessible to all of the users, they conduct weekly office hours, and encourage volunteers from the design community to champion the democratization of Figma.

Business Processes Supported

Figma is a go to tool for designers.
Figma is used to share the prototype with stakeholders.
The Figma prototype helps with usability testing.

Innovative Uses

Using it for creating presentation slides
Using Figma to present quarterly achievements to stakeholders
Using Figma library to ensure company's design system is accessible.

Future Planned Uses

Having an AI feature that can help designers design based on prompts.
Having the option to design any screens with prompts using the company's available design systems.
Can have the option to leave voice or video comments/feedbacks on design files by reviewer.

Likelihood to Renew

I rated 10 because there are many reasons to retain Figma as a design tool.
1. Very high dependency on designers, as it is one of the go-to design tools.
2. Figma has the majority of the product designs, either moved to development or in progress.
3. This is one of the best design tools which provides lots of flexibility and analytics related to the usage of components which is a great feature.
Overall its one of the best design tools we have, hence retaining it would be an ideal choice.

Evaluating Figma and Competitors

Products Replaced

Yes - There are several design and prototype tools we were using earlier before Figma.
1. Sketch - We had a high dependency on Sketch, but later on we found out that Figma is better than Sketch, hence team decided to let go of Sketch and brought FIgma.
2. Invision - Generally we used to use Invision for sharing design files and for prototyping, Since this is much easier in Figma, we let go of Invision.

Key Differentiators

Scalability
Integration with Other Systems
Ease of Use

If I have to elaborate on the single most important factor in my decision then it would be 'Ease of use'. Figma is very easy to use and has provided with lots of flexibility to designers to bring out the best creativity in them and help the product team make enhancements to existing products.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

There are a few key parameters I would look at in the evaluation and selection process.
1. Ease of usage of the tool - It should be easy to use with minimal guidance or training.
2. Adoptability by the design community - I would look for a tool that is widely used in the design community.
3. Accessibility of the tool - It should be used either on the web or through the app.

Figma Implementation

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - It takes a lot when you are in the process of changing the design tool for an enterprise-level organization.
There are high dependency on design tools such as -
1. Converting all of the design components for the new tools.
2. Shifting previous design files and historical data takes a lot.
3. The learning curve to adopt any new tool takes time and hampers overall productivity.

Implementation Issues

Locating historical data
Training staff to use Figma
Converting components

Figma Training

Training Types Used

Online Training
In-Person Training
No Training

In-Person Training

In-person training has its own benefits - 1. It helps in resolving queries then and there during the training. 2. I find classroom or in-person training more interactive. 3. Classroom or in-person training could be more practical in nature where participants can have an hands on experience with tools and clarify their doubts with the trainer.

Online Training

Online training has its own merits and demerits - 1. Sometimes we may face issues with connectivity or the training content 2. The way training is being delivered becomes very important because not everyone is comfortable taking online training and learning by themselves. 3. With the advancement of technology online training has become popular but there is a segment of people who still prefer class-room training over online one.

Ease of Figma Training

Initially, it was a bit difficult to get a hold of this tool but things became easy I started learning and progressing towards it.

Configuring Figma

Product Configurability

I think the product's configurability is just right for this type of product.

Configuration Lessons

I think I have used self-service which is a great way to configure and get started.

UI Customization

No - we have not done any customization to the interface

Extensibility and Customization

No - we have not done any custom code

Additional Customization Considerations

We did not do any customizations yet.

Figma Support

Support Rating

I have never contacted the support team for this product, but unable to skip this question

Figma Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Knowledgeable team Kept well informed Immediate help available Support cares about my success	Poor followup Problems left unsolved Escalation required Need to explain problems multiple times Slow Initial Response