Figma Config 2023 was a global annual conference that brought together over 8,000 members of the Figma community, both in person and virtually, on June 21-22. The conference featured talks from industry leaders, product launches, and workshops on topics such as design systems, future of design, craft and code, and more.

In this blog post, we will highlight some of the most exciting new features that Figma announced at Config 2023, and how they will help you design and build better products.

Dev Mode: Workspace for Developers in Figma

One of the biggest announcements at Config 2023 was Dev Mode, a new workspace in Figma that makes developers feel at home in the infinite canvas. Dev Mode is designed to bridge the gap between design and development, and make it easier for developers to understand and translate designs to code.

With Dev Mode, developers can:

• View designs in a structured and functional way, with layers, components, variants, constraints, and code snippets

• Connect to their tools and codebase with plugins such as Jira, GitHub, and Storybook

• Track what needs to go to production with labels and comments

• Inspect files alongside where they code with Figma in VS Code

Dev Mode is now in beta and available to everyone for free through 2023.

Variables: Connect Design to Code

Another major feature that Figma introduced at Config 2023 was variables, a new way to connect design to the language of code. Variables allow you to define dynamic values for properties such as color, text, size, position, and more. You can then use these variables across your designs and components, and update them in one place.

Variables make design systems more flexible and scalable, as they enable you to:

• Support multiple themes, platforms, products, and brands with a single source of truth

• Create responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and orientations

• Customize components based on user input or context

• Sync design changes with code using plugins such as Figma-to-Code

Variables are currently available for early access to select customers.

Advanced Prototyping: A New Way to Test Your Designs

The third big feature that Figma unveiled at Config 2023 was advanced prototyping, a new way to test your designs before they go live. Advanced prototyping lets you create realistic interactions and animations using triggers, actions, transitions, drivers, and modifiers. You can also use variables to add logic and data to your prototypes.

Advanced prototyping helps you:

• Validate your design decisions with user feedback

• Communicate your design intent with stakeholders

• Collaborate with your team on prototyping ideas

• Export your prototypes as videos or GIFs

Advanced prototyping is now available for all Figma users.

Other Quality of Life Updates

In addition to these major features, Figma also launched some quality of life updates to make your design workflow smoother and faster. These include:

• An improved auto layout that lets you create flexible layouts with padding, spacing, alignment, distribution, and resizing options

• An upgraded font picker that lets you search, filter, preview, and manage your fonts in Figma

• Updates to the file browser that let you sort, filter, view, and organize your files in Figma

Conclusion

Figma Config 2023 was a great opportunity to learn from the best minds in design, get inspired by the latest trends and developments, and discover the new features that Figma has to offer. We hope you enjoyed this recap of some of the most exciting new features that Figma announced at Config 2023.

We can’t wait to see what you create with Figma!