Figma debuts a major UI redesign, new generative AI tools, and a built-in slideshow feature, which is free while in beta but will become paid at official launch
https://www.theverge.com/... that isn't how this works … Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken@mastodon.social : For this week's Plugged In newsletter, I talked to Figma CEO Dylan Field about the company's new Figma Slides app. He says it's not trying to be a PowerPoint killer—just a great presentation package for people who build products. https://www.fastcompany.com/ ... X: Burma Boy / @fredzaw : Please opt out of Figma training data if your designs are bad @figma : There's no way you caught everything. Here's what we launched at #Config2024 → UI3, a redesigned Figma → Figma AI (Make Design, Make Prototype, Visual Search, Replace Content, Rename Layers) → Figma Slides → Dev Mode updates (Ready for Dev View, Focus View, More Statuses) → [video] Sebastiaan de With / @sdw : Figma seems to understand and value that users trust them, and how precious that is: being up front and clear about AI training is good. Mostly focusing on workflows where AI supports creative processes rather than replacing it is also great. Makes me glad they're not Adobe. Andreas Storm / @avstorm : Figma just killed all presentation tools @figma : Don't name your layers. Let Figma AI do that AND → Make your first draft with Make Design → Find the exact visual you're looking for (or something similar) with Visual/Asset Search → Turn your designs into a working prototype with Make Prototype #Config2024 [video] Joey Banks / @joeyabanks : One of the most exciting interfaces for interacting with AI that I've seen yet is Tone Dial in Figma. ↕️↔️ [image] Daryl Ginn / @darylginn : figma: designers, use our tool to run a business also figma: lol don't hire a designer, use AI Ryhan / @ryhanhassan : After years in the making, I'm so excited to share our redesigned Figma, stripping back the interface to really focus on your work, and introduce a broad range of usability improvements across the system. We're rolling out in beta starting today at Config, and I can't wait for [video] Forums: r/UXDesign : Figma announces big redesign with AI
Context & Ripple Effects
Figma had already begun embedding AI in collaboration through FigJam AI's public beta, making this a broader extension from meeting assistance into the core design and handoff workflow.
The launch combines creation, prototyping, developer status views, and product-team presentations in one surface. Its significance is less a direct challenge to PowerPoint than a bid to keep product artifacts and the discussion around them inside Figma.
First-order effects
- Product teams gain native Slides alongside UI3 and new AI actions for generating designs, prototypes, content changes, visual search, and layer cleanup, reducing context switches across design and presentation work.
- Figma creates a new monetization path: Slides is free during beta but is positioned to become a paid feature at general launch, while Dev Mode receives more granular readiness and focus controls.
Second-order effects
- Presentation and product-workflow tools face greater pressure to interoperate with Figma or defend their role in a workflow where design files can become presentation material directly.
- AI-training transparency becomes a more immediate adoption issue for Figma customers, since generative features move closer to the design assets and processes teams use daily.
Third-order effects
- If these tools retain users, design platforms may increasingly compete as end-to-end product-work surfaces rather than as discrete editors, bundling collaboration, automation, handoff, and communication into paid tiers.
- The subsequent pause of Make Design after a copying concern shows that reliability and provenance safeguards can constrain how quickly generative features become durable workflow infrastructure.
The trend: This is one data point in the consolidation of AI-assisted product work into the collaboration platforms where teams already create, review, and ship designs.