Figma expands screen design app with AI agent

US company Figma has expanded its eponymous platform for app and web design with an AI agent. The artificial intelligence is not intended to run as a separate chat window alongside the actual design process, but as part of the ongoing collaboration between design, product, and development teams.

To this end, Figma is integrating the AI agent into the so-called multiplayer canvas of the “Figma Design” workspace. Users can create or modify design elements there using natural language. The agent helps, for example, with adapting layouts, creating different design variants, and with recurring tasks such as extensive mass changes to design layers.

AI agent accesses project data

According to Figma, the AI accesses the existing project context. This includes components, design systems, and ongoing discussions within the workspace. The agent is therefore intended not only to make general suggestions but also to understand the structure and rules of existing projects.

Designers, developers, and product managers can thus work in parallel with multiple agents on the same workspace and track changes, according to the manufacturer.

Collaboration between designers and developers

In recent years, the platform has evolved into a screen design tool that combines GUI design, app prototyping, and collaboration between designers and developers. Designers are no longer intended to create their drafts in isolation but from the outset in a functioning technical environment. Developers, in turn, can generate production-ready content without important information from the design process being lost.

The expansion complements existing AI offerings. This includes “Figma Make.” With this function, teams can convert drafts from Figma into executable program code and test interactive applications. External AI programming tools can be connected via the “Figma Model Context Protocol Server.”

(akr)