What is prototyping?
Before we dive into Figma’s prototyping capabilities, it’s important to understand what prototyping is and why it’s valuable. Prototyping is the process of creating a test version of a design to gather feedback and refine the design before building the final product. Prototyping allows designers to quickly test and iterate on their designs, reducing the risk of costly mistakes and ensuring that the final product meets user needs and expectations.
Benefits of prototyping in Figma
Figma offers a variety of benefits for prototyping, including:
- Speed: Figma’s design and prototyping capabilities are all in one tool, allowing designers to quickly create and test their designs without switching between multiple tools.
- Collaboration: Figma’s real-time collaboration features allow multiple team members to work on the same prototype simultaneously, making it easy to gather feedback and make changes in real-time.
- Customization: Figma’s prototyping features allow for a high degree of customization, giving designers the flexibility to create prototypes that match their vision and meet user needs.
- Integration: Figma integrates with a variety of other tools, including Slack, Trello, and GitHub, making it easy to share prototypes and gather feedback from team members and stakeholders.
Getting started with prototyping in Figma
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of prototyping in Figma, let’s dive into the process of creating a prototype.
Step 1: Create your design
Before you can create a prototype, you’ll need to create your design in Figma. This can include creating wireframes, designing individual screens, or creating a full mockup of your product.
Step 2: Add interactive elements
Once you’ve created your design, you can add interactive elements to your prototype. This can include adding links between screens, creating hover effects, or adding animations.
To add a link between screens, select the element you want to link and click on the “Prototype” tab in the right-hand panel. From there, you can select the destination screen and choose the type of transition you want to use.
To create hover effects, select the element you want to add the effect to and click on the “Prototype” tab. From there, you can choose the trigger (in this case, “Hover”) and select the action you want to occur when the user hovers over the element.
To add animations, select the element you want to animate and click on the “Prototype” tab. From there, you can choose the trigger (in this case, “Click”) and select the type of animation you want to use.
Step 3: Preview and share your prototype
Once you’ve added interactive elements to your prototype, you can preview it by clicking on the “Play” button in the top-right corner of the screen. This will allow you to interact with your prototype as a user would, giving you a better sense of how it will function in the real world.
To share your prototype, click on the “Share” button in the top-right corner of the screen. From there, you can choose the level of access you want to give to viewers (view-only or edit access) and share the link with stakeholders and team members.