Advanced Figma Tips for UX/UI Designers

As a mid-level UX/UI designer, you already have a solid foundation in Figma and understand the basics of creating designs. Still, there’s always room for improvement in your skills and the time you take to complete specific tasks.

This article will shine new light on advanced Figma tips that will help you work more efficiently and bring your designs to the next level. So, let’s dive in and explore some of the most powerful features and techniques Figma offers!

Organizing your layers is one of the best advanced Figma tips. Organization of layers is critical to keep your design files manageable and easily understandable. 

One of the most common ways to organize layers is by naming conventions. Instead of leaving your layers with generic names such as “Rectangle 1” or “Group 2”, use descriptive names representing the layer’s content. 

However, it might not be worth it to do it for all layers as it can easily become wasteful of your time. Focus on the main frames and sections, components, variants, and other commonly used layers in your design.

Using Figma plugins is one of the most crucial advanced Figma tips. Figma plugins are a powerful way to extend the capabilities of Figma and automate repetitive tasks.

Some of our favorite Figma plugins include:

This plugin allows you to quickly add Lorem Ipsum or other types of placeholder text to your designs.

With the Unsplash plugin, you can effortlessly search and add high-quality images to your designs without leaving Figma.

Complicated vectorization will become a thing of the past with the Image Tracer Figma plugin. It allows you to trace black and white bitmap images and turn them into a vector layer easy as ABC.

This plugin allows you to select multiple elements in your design based on matching properties and conditions.

Explore our Figma courses which contain a list of 100+ useful Figma plugins!

Learning Figma shortcuts is one of the essential advanced Figma tips. Figma has a ton of keyboard shortcuts that can help you work more quickly and efficiently. 

Some of our favorite Figma shortcuts include:

Duplicates the currently selected layer or group.

Creates a copy of the selected layer or group and places it in a new location.

If you press Command + D after Option + Drag, it allows you to create multiple copies of an object or group while automatically maintaining a consistent spacing or offset between each duplicate.

Nudges the selected layer or group toward the arrow key. You can customize the nudge amount under Preferences.

Copies the selected layer’s style properties, including fill, stroke, effects, and more. You can then paste those properties on other layers.

Locks or unlocks the selected layers.

Hides (and unhides) the Figma UI, allowing you to focus on the canvas only.

Using Auto Layout is also one of the helpful advanced Figma tips. Auto Layout is a powerful feature in Figma that allows you to create responsive designs without manually adjusting each element. 

With Auto Layout, you can create a layout that adjusts automatically based on content. For instance, you can create a button that expands or contracts based on the length of the text within it. To use Auto Layout, select the layers you want to apply it to and click on the “Auto Layout” button in the top right corner.

A well-planned Auto Layout helps you avoid manual adjustments saving you a ton of time in the long run. The most important skill is to know when to use it because it will save time, and when it’s unnecessary to use it as it takes too much time.

Using constraints is another one of the precious advanced Figma tips for intermediate product designers. Constraints are a powerful feature in Figma that allow you to create responsive designs. With constraints, you can set rules for how layers behave when you resize the design.

For example, you can set a constraint on a button to ensure that it stays anchored to the right side of the screen, regardless of how much you resize it. To add a constraint to a layer, click on the “constraints” button in the right-hand panel and select the appropriate option.

Combining constraints with Auto Layout unlocks extreme flexibility of the designs you create.

Figma Components are reusable elements that can help you save time and maintain consistency across your designs. So, it’s no wonder we included them in our advanced Figma tips. How to use them?

For example, you can create a component for a button that includes all of the necessary states (e.g., hover, active) and reuse that component throughout your design.

To create a component, select the layers you want to include and click the “Create Component” button in the right-hand panel. Once you’ve made a component, you can easily reuse it by dragging and dropping it into your design.

If you want to go into heavy detail, check out our Advanced Figma Video Course, which, among other elaborate topics and tips, offers a thorough guide on Figma Components.

When talking about advanced Figma tips, you should know about Variants. Variants is a powerful feature in Figma that allows you to create multiple component versions with different styles and properties. For example, you can create a button component with diverse states such as hover, active, and disabled, each with unique styling.

To create a Variant, select the component you want to add a Variant and click the “Create Variant” button in the right-hand panel. From there, you can adjust the styling and properties of the Variant.

Variants can create more dynamic and interactive designs with less effort. Creating a single component with multiple Variants saves time and ensures consistency across your designs.

Using the Vector Network tool is another advanced Figma tip. This powerful tool in Figma allows you to create complex shapes and paths. With the Vector Network tool, you can create shapes that would be difficult or impossible to create with the standard shape tools. To access the Vector Network tool, select the Pen tool in the toolbar and click and hold the button until a dropdown menu appears.

From there, select the Vector Network tool. One of the most significant advantages of the Vector Network tool is that it allows you to create smooth curves and angles easily. Instead of creating multiple points to create a curved shape, you can add a single point and adjust the curve to your liking.

Finally, one of the critical advanced Figma tips is Team Library, which helps you and the whole team. Figma’s Team Library is a powerful feature that allows you to create and share design assets across your team. By creating a Team Library, you can ensure that all team members have access to the latest design assets and styles, which can help maintain consistency across your designs.

To create a Team Library, click the “Team Library” option in the left-hand panel, then click “Create Team Library.” From there, you can add design assets, such as components and styles, and share the library with your team members.

By using Figma’s Team Library, you can save time and ensure that all team members use the same design assets and styles, which can help improve collaboration and maintain consistency across your designs.

One of the most brilliant advanced Figma tips is to – use math. It may seem daunting initially, but professional designers often leverage math in Figma to achieve precise design adjustments and maintain consistency. 

The numeric values displayed in the right column of Figma offer great flexibility. You can effortlessly perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operations. 

With Figma’s calculation capabilities, you can quickly calculate and manipulate values, opening up a world of possibilities for exact and dynamic design adjustments.

So, by incorporating math in Figma, you’ll ensure that your designs are precise, responsive, and adaptable. It lets you maintain efficient workflows while achieving accurate and pixel-perfect designs.

Check out one of our recent Instagram reels where Jure utilizes math in Figma to create a specific spacing between the player and a button and to determine the correct dimensions for a player.

Mastering advanced Figma tips can help you become a more efficient designer. Organizing layers and learning Figma shortcuts to using powerful features like Auto Layout, constraints, and Figma Components will take your Figma skills to the next level. 

With Figma’s powerful tools and features, you can create dynamic and interactive designs that adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions. You can also accurately translate your designs into code and ensure your development team has the information to bring your designs to life. Whether you’re a mid-level UX/UI designer or an experienced professional, there’s always room to improve your Figma skills.

With these advanced Figma tips we’ve covered in this blog post, you can work more efficiently, save time, and create more polished and professional designs.

If you’re looking for additional ways to take your Figma skills to the next level, check out our Advanced Figma Video Course. This comprehensive video course is designed for mid-level and experienced UX/UI designers who want to boost their Figma skills and learn how to save time.

In this course, you’ll learn advanced Figma tips discussed in this article, such as organizing your layers, mastering Figma shortcuts, using powerful features like Auto Layout and Constraints, and creating responsive designs. With over 15 hours of content, this video course is packed with tips, tricks, and techniques to help you increase productivity and effectiveness.

Happy designing! 🥳