Why use Figma for mobile app design

There is no shortage of tools available to UI/UX designers on the market. In the past few years, everyone seemed to be caught up in a sort of arms race, trying to beat each other with unique features. Few applications, such as Sketch, Zeplin, and InVision gained the leadership and became go-to tools for every designer. However, none of these products offered anything drastically new. And the industry of UI/UX design became a very static environment.

That was until Figma came along. Figma is a powerful combination of the very best features of most popular applications, and the fact that its developers managed to fuse it all in a single product makes it the superior tool.

So, what exactly makes Figma so cool? Here are 5 reasons to choose Figma from our designers.

 

 

1. Browser- and cloud-based

 

First and foremost, Figma works in a browser, making it extremely accessible and simple. There is no installation, no patching, no updates. All you have to do is simply login to the site and you are good to go. 

This also means that Figma works on any operating system that runs a web browser. There is no need for an intermediary mechanism to make design work available to all.

And although browser apps, like Webflow or Tilda, were never too popular with the community and were considered second-rate tools, Figma turns this notion around.

Cloud Storage is yet another reason to choose Figma for mobile app design. Any unsaved file is automatically moved to drafts. With Figma, version control is never an issue.

 

 

2. Collaborative environment

 

The idea of teamwork and collaboration is among the most popular trends in the entire IT industry. And UI/UX design is no exception, which our mobile app design company can prove. Figma follows this trend perfectly, and its inherit cloud nature makes it simple and pleasant. The application allows multiple team members to work on a single project in real-time. And again, all you need is an Internet connection.

Another collaborative feature of Figma is commenting. It works similar to what you do on Google Docs. You can simply leave a comment right in the file, so your team can discuss the project remotely with no need to run setup Skype calls or face-to-face meetings.

People viewing and editing a file are displayed as round avatars at the top of the application. Each person also has a cursor with a name, so keeping track of who is doing what is easy. If you click on another person's avatar, you can zoom in on what they are currently viewing, which can also be used for design presentations.

 

 

3. Intuitive prototyping

 

Figma’s prototyping is the second main functionality from our designers' point of view. It is easy to use, and provides such features as overlays, move-in and move out animations, smart animate, interactions with a long press, hover, after delay, clicks. There are even scrolling animations and the durations of animations are adjustable.

Prototypes can be easily distributed. Anyone with link permission can view and comment on a prototype. Why use Figma for mobile app design? With Figma Mirror app you can present the prototype with your mobile device. Easy prototyping is a top one reason to choose Figma if you need a tool for presentations and to make the design workflow clear to developers and clients.

 

 

4. Integration and migration

 

In order to make the transition to Figma simple, developers made it possible to import all of your Sketch projects into the new application without any losses. The transition is seamless and efficient, there will be no drooping curves and no bad images.

For better collaboration, you can integrate Figma with one of the most popular teamwork applications on the market – Slack. This is a match made in heaven.

Additionally, you can integrate Figma with Framer. Code-based prototyping is gaining popularity with a new generation of designers and the latest integration simplifies workflows by letting users to one-click-import any Figma assets without exporting it layer-by-layer.

If it’s not enough and you’re still thinking why use Figma, it now also has developer APIs that allow true integration with any browser-based application. Many companies use this to integrate real-time displays of project files into their apps.

 

 

5. Free

 

That’s right, the application is free to use, but not completely.

Your basic free version gives you unlimited files, up to 30 days’ history view, commenting and up to 2 editors. Which itself is already amazing.

Then there is a Team version, which costs $12 per editor per month and it adds unlimited projects, team component library and Slack integration, which we’ve mentioned already, and in addition to that, you now have an unlimited history.

 

 

Final Words

 

Figma still has some drawbacks like its cloud nature, which is actually a double-edged sword. Yes, anyone can access it at any time, but it absolutely requires an Internet connection. 

However, Figma has absolutely everything needed to become the industry leader and a go-to application for UI/UX designers.There are many more reasons to choose Figma for mobile app design, but we suppose these 5 are already enough to understand why use Figma.

We advise everyone to give Figma a shot, just as we, mobile app development company, did. Chances good, your design team will not regret it.

contacts image

Got a project in mind? We’d love to hear what matters to you

Contact us