NOVAZOON Tech Insights – What is Figma and why are we using it?

In our more tech-related post this week, we want to talk about the design tool that we deploy at NOVAZOON. We are using Figma as design tool and “first step” along our full stack development process of applications or platforms.

Figma is a collaborative design tool for creating screen designs and clickable prototypes. With its online functionality, it allows multiple people to work on the same file at the same time and share ideas.

However, before product designers and developers can start with the screen design or the actual prototype, the hierarchy of the individual pages and their relationship to each other must be clarified. Through multiple user stories and sitemaps, the basis of the application, its application structure and the single pages are defined.

After the sitemap has been iterated several times, the next step is the actual design prototyping. We are distinguishing between two phases. During the first phase we are working on a low-fidelity prototype, which is focussed on the type of information and how it is distributed across screens. These are simple sketches. In the second phase we create a high-fidelity prototype, which consists of elaborated screens that show actual content, colours and branding elements.

The most mature form of prototyping is the interactive click dummy. The process from high-fidelity prototype to interactive click dummy is not a too big one, thanks to the Figma design tool. With an interactive click dummy, initial user tests can be performed and the general user behaviour, interactions and animations in the application can be clarified. Additionally, Figma allows to  export design files to a smartphone as well as sharing the interactive prototype via link, to that it can be accessed via browser.

Have you heard about Figma before? Please feel free to share your experience at our LinkedIn channel.

We are also looking forward to receiving feedback about the technical topics we should discuss next time.