With Figma fast becoming the go-to software for designers, Nikki talks about how Klyxx turned the application into the ultimate collaboration platform.
Figma is a platform that rose in popularity over the last few years, and today it’s quickly becoming one of the most-used platforms among design teams.
The first time I learned about Figma was in 2019, when a classmate of mine was using it not only to design, but to organize her notes and research for class. Still, I didn’t really pay too much attention to the platform until I started getting introduced to it more and more during an internship. While I primarily used Adobe Creative Suite for almost all my workflows, the Product Team often used Figma and I would sometimes catch a glimpse of just how easy it was for them to design, get feedback, and handoff work from one person to another.
When I started working at Klyxx, Figma became an even bigger part of my day-to-day as a designer. Having to work remotely due to the pandemic, Figma made it so much easier to collaborate on designs, as multiple people can hop onto one Figma file at the same time and work simultaneously. We love the ability to just drag and drop various notes across the file, which simulates a bit of a whiteboard feel. This has made it a useful platform for brainstorming and work sessions, which ultimately increased our productivity.
We even used Figma to create mini games that everyone on the Klyxx team can take part in like the Virtual Picnic pictured below:
While I still use Adobe programs like Illustrator or InDesign for smaller, more specific tasks, I don’t miss the days where I would have multiple versions of InDesign files taking up space on my computer. Getting feedback often became a mess and I often lost track of which files were most up to date. Figma has allowed me to streamline all these processes, and I have appreciated how the platform has constantly innovated to make things easier for both the designer and whoever is giving feedback.
With its friendly interface and rapidly expanding feature set, Figma has become integrated into the Klyxx team’s design process as a go-to software. We even have our non-design team members working off file drafts on the platform!
As such, we wanted to share a few ways that our team primarily uses Figma, which we hope will serve as an inspiration for your own team’s day-to-day:
For file organization: We create External and Internal files for our clients - internal files where we design and collaborate internally and external files for sharing drafts with the client.
For web design: We do a lot of web design projects at Klyxx, and Figma makes it extremely easy to create wireframes and prototypes for web projects.
For handoff to development teams: Handing off web design assets to developers is quick and easy with Figma. Similar to how we handoff files for review to clients, we can also set up files so it's easy for developers to retrieve the code and bring the web design to life.
For ads and emails: Ad and email creative require a lot of versions and iterations, as well as GIFs. Figma plug-ins make it even easier for us to get creative when it comes to creating eye-catching ads and emails. Pro tip: Our favorite Figma plug-in for creating frame-by-frame GIFs is GiffyCanvas!
For laying out printed collateral: While InDesign is still the best program to use for laying out printed pieces, Figma does a pretty good job too for simple print jobs.
For deck presentations: We use Figma to lay out pitch decks that will then be ported to Google Slides or Keynote. For simpler decks that don’t require links or GIFs, we create them straight on Figma as well and easily export them to PDF.
For our internal marketing: Outside of client work, we also use Figma for a lot of our internal marketing efforts. With Figma, we build out the case studies that are eventually uploaded onto the website, we design thumbnail images for our blog, and lay out our company newsletter.
With a new $10 billion valuation in hand, Figma has gained massive recognition -- especially with larger technology-focused companies like Spotify and Dropbox, who have increasingly started to use Figma to build their entire design systems.
And with remote work sticking around for much longer than we expected, Figma looks poised to continue building out new features and products (like the newly released FigJam). As a fully remote team, we’re looking forward to seeing how Figma continues to make work and collaboration not only easier, but also more enjoyable.
