From design to website, from sketch to illustration, from prompt to app - Figma is significantly expanding its platform with the new products Sites, Make, Draw and Buzz. The presentation at this year's Config showed that Figma is not only further developing functions, but also rethinking software in the context of an entire ecosystem. How can - and must! - design tools function in a creative working environment that is becoming increasingly non-linear, collaborative and complex? Against this backdrop, the conference, with its diverse keynotes on design, technology and everything in between, became one thing above all: a declaration of love for craftsmanship.
"The future of the economy is also the future of design"
The platform, which once began as a low-threshold browser-based UI tool, is increasingly becoming an all-round operating system for collaborative design. With its latest product offensive at Config 2025 in London, Figma shows that design processes can not only become more efficient, but also freer and more versatile - especially for interdisciplinary teams like the ones our readers lead or accompany today. The keynote speech by Dylan Field, CEO of Figma, set the tone: It wasn't about small improvements. It was about taking a step into the future of work, creativity and the economy itself. "The future of business is also the future of design," explained Field. "We want Figma to be a place where ideas become products, where high standards and excellent craftsmanship come together on a networked platform."
Field emphasized that over two-thirds of Figma users are not designers, and that the majority are based outside the US – with around 40% in Europe. In response, the platform is focusing more on localization and a globally minded design culture. "The culture and history of design are deeply rooted in Europe," Field noted, citing Jan Tschichold’s groundbreaking work as an example. Contemporary, modular design, he suggested, is a natural continuation of these enduring design traditions.
One idea, four new tools
Chief Product Officer Yuhki Yamashita described Figma's new offerings as a complete end-to-end solution: from brainstorming and coordination to realization and storytelling.
Figma Sites: From design to the web - directly from design
For many designers, Figma has so far been the place where screens and components are created. With Sites, this space has now been expanded to include the final step: publication. What previously had to be handed over to web developers or implemented via third-party tools can now be done directly in Figma - with responsive layouts, code components and even AI-generated interactions. Ideal for agencies, studios or individuals who want to think design and implementation from a single source.
Figma Make: Turning ideas into code - without a development department
Make is an AI tool that generates working prototypes from text descriptions. Whether it's an app concept, microtool or interactive presentation, a simple prompt is enough to visualize a design - and then iteratively refine it by hand. As Product Manager Holly Li put it: "AI is only helpful to a certain extent. You as designers are more powerful."
Figma Draw: Room for illustrative expressiveness
Those who previously had to resort to other programs for vector illustrations can rejoice: Draw brings new tools for freer path editing, dynamic brushes, textures and text paths directly into the design environment. This is particularly exciting for editorial designers, illustrators and all other creatives who work with visual storytelling and prefer a more expressive, analog-inspired visual language, such as structured color gradients or blurring.
Figma Buzz: Marketing assets with a system
Buzz is aimed at anyone who regularly produces visual assets - whether in the content team, in branding or in corporate communications. Design templates can be defined, varied with AI and rolled out on a large scale - for social media campaigns or promotional materials, for example. The strength: creative precision with maximum reusability, making it easier for non-designers to work with flexible templates.
Figma's platform is growing - and so are expectations
The common thread in all of Figma’s new innovations? A unified experience that allows everyone – designers or not – to move seamlessly from idea to execution. Yamashita emphasized that Figma’s mission is “not just to move pixels, but to move ideas forward.” It’s clear the company no longer sees itself as a single tool, but as an end-to-end platform – consolidating functions that were previously scattered across multiple software solutions.
That ambition is partly met with scepticism. Conversations with Config attendees revealed mixed reactions: some wonder whether Figma can maintain its community-driven ethos or if it risks becoming “the new Adobe – only to be replaced by another underdog,” as one designer put it. Still, there’s a strong sense of momentum. For design practice, these innovations promise more expression, more output, and fewer disruptions – an invitation to think of digital design not just functionally, but more creatively, efficiently, and inclusively.
Making design more human in the age of AI
Common sense, critical classification and a more holistic view of the tech world also ran through the presentations: UX Writer Ningfei Ou, for example, called on the design community to resist uniformity, "the sea of sameness" and to join the post-nudge and post-UX skepticism. "Many reflexes remain with us from an early age," he said and pleaded for emotional specificity and linguistic nuances: "Language is infinitely diverse."
The event closed with a conversation between filmmaker Gary Hustwit and Figma’s VP of Design, Noah Levin. Bringing a cinematic lens to design and storytelling, Hustwit encouraged designers to follow their obsessions: “If you're obsessed with something that doesn't exist, there's probably someone who wants it to exist, too. Create something you wish existed!”
His words echoed a central thread that ran throughout Config London: great design goes way beyond systems and style guides; it’s about authorship, questioning assumptions, and, above all, maintaining a spirit of curiosity.
More about Figma's new products here in the blog article by CEO Dylan Field
We also spoke to Yuhki Yamashita and Dylan Field for issue 04.22 "Editorial" for our Collaboration focus, order here
We presented Gary Hustwit and his book "The New York Subway Map Debate" in our issue 06.21 "Information Design", order here
Read more about his film about Brian Eno here on his website