Figma Prerequisites

Figma is a collaborative, browser-based user interface tool that allows teams of users to build interactive layout designs and prototypes for websites. Anyone looking to build a career in Web Design or Digital Design may want to consider learning Figma. You might worry that Figma will be too hard to learn. This guide will help you understand the best methods for learning Figma and what you should study first to make the learning process easier. This way, you’ll be successful however you choose to apply your new skills.

What is Figma?

Figma is a browser-based user interface design tool that allows users to collaborate with other editors to build unique and accessible website designs. Users work on collaborative shared documents to build interactive prototypes of webpages, making Figma an ideal skill to learn for aspiring Web Designers who want to build complex, multi-feature webpages. Since Figma allows users to update their designs in real-time without downloading an application, teams can collaborate anytime and anywhere.

Figma is also a vector graphics design tool, meaning that all the designs produced are resizable and replicable. This is important for user experience (UX) design because it assures designers can optimize their layouts for several screens, ranging from mobile phones to desktop PCs. Regardless of the project, Figma will give teams the tools they need to construct complex prototypes of their web layouts. Then, users can test these prototypes and ensure that their designs meet all their requirements.

Since Figma prides itself on its collaborative community of designers, there are many readily available plug-ins, templates, and widgets that make designing interfaces much easier. If a Figma user runs into a problem, there is a good chance that another user has already run into that problem, solved it, and made their solution readily available as a plug-in or template.

Read more about what Figma is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Figma?

Figma lets users collaborate in real-time to build and prototype user interfaces and web applications. Using vector graphics design tools, teams of designers can build complicated wireframe layouts for websites that can be resized to be optimized for screens of any given size. In addition, users can add interactive elements such as scrolling and hovering functionalities to their designs, letting them make sure that their webpages look and feel like modern designs. This lets users produce working prototypes of their webpages that can be easily tested, allowing designers to receive feedback quickly. Figma even allows users to export some amount of code from the prototype designs to hand off to developers once the prototype has been perfected.

In addition, because Figma is such a potent collaboration tool, there is a massive community of designers and developers constantly creating new plug-ins, templates, and widgets for public consumption. Through Figma’s website and other forums, users can share new designs, provide feedback on templates, and improve on the functionality of interactive interface elements. Every day, more and more new Figma resources are being developed. The resources that are being developed can help users modify and re-purpose existing resources to fit their needs better. Thanks to the Figma community, users aren’t just able to collaborate with their team on a web design; they can collaborate with the entire community of Figma designers and developers on their web designs.

Is Figma Easy to Learn?

Figma is a relatively easy-to-learn user experience design tool with a user-friendly interface and a straightforward selection of tools. Figma’s website offers several free introductory design lessons. Additionally, Noble Desktop offers students a free Intro to Figma recording and an Intro to UI Design class. These courses can help ease students into the program's more advanced features.

What to Know Before Learning Figma

Before you sit down to learn Figma, you should consider a few things. There are no formal prerequisites to learning Figma, but students should at least brush up on the fundamentals of user interface design before they attempt to learn a UX design program. Additionally, new Figma users should consider the pros and cons of different UX design programs to decide whether learning Figma is the right skill.

User Interface Design Best Practices

When you are using a web design tool, it helps to have an understanding of the principles of UX/UI design and the best practices for building user interfaces. Figma is a powerful tool, but building successful web designs will be impossible without knowing how users behave and what is essential to consider when designing a user interface.

Noble offers a UX Design in a Day course that will provide students with a crash course in the background and philosophies of user experience design. This will help students better understand the decisions that go into designing user-friendly interfaces and will provide students with hands-on experience in planning and designing interfaces for webpages and mobile applications.

Is Figma the Right Choice for You?

When entering the field of web design, new users should be aware that there isn’t a single dominant program within the field. To address this, Noble provides students with an overview seminar detailing the differences between Figma and the other major web design platforms, Sketch and Adobe XD.

Figma has a few advantages over its competitors. First, because it is entirely browser-based and built for collaboration, Figma lets teams of users interact more directly with each other than they could on a Creative Cloud program like Adobe XD. Second, the massive community of Figma users has created a sizable archive of material that can help designers optimize both their projects and their workflow. Finally, on a practical level, Figma offers users a much more expansive trial version of the program, letting new users get accustomed to the program more quickly.

For students who are interested in looking for more information on other programs, Noble’s Adobe XD Learn Hub can help them get a better grasp of that program.

Key Insights

• Figma is a browser-based user experience design application that allows users to collaborate on vector graphic-based web layouts.
• Figma is a user-friendly program, and between the free version of the application and the many free resources available to users, beginning to learn Figma can be a breeze.
• Before learning Figma, new users should research other UX design programs to decide which application suits their needs.
• Users should also consider familiarizing themselves with the best user experience design practices.
• Noble Desktop offers courses and resources to help students handle everything they should know before learning Figma.