In today’s increasingly globalised and internet-driven world, the use of digital collaboration technologies by public and private sector organisations is becoming a sine qua non for smoother operations, increased job satisfaction and higher productivity. Furthermore, the growing acceptance and adoption of the remote/hybrid work model (especially during the peak of COVID-19) has accelerated the integration of digital collaboration applications by organisations all over the world.
A Google-funded study by Deloitte in 2013 found that 20 per cent of employees in Europe expressed more satisfaction with a workplace culture that provided them with collaboration tools. This figure rose to 34 per cent in cultures that prioritise both collaboration tools and innovation. More recently in 2020, McKinsey reported that productivity increases derivable from digital collaboration in manufacturing could amount to over USD 100 billion in value added. San Francisco-headquartered Figma is one of the many players in the thriving digital collaboration tools market. One of the products it offers to its impressive list of clients is known as FigJam.
What is FigJam?
FigJam is a digital visual collaboration whiteboard programme which UI/UX design and other teams can leverage to brainstorm, conceive, organise, evaluate and implement ideas on a real-time basis. It was developed by Figma in April 2021 and does not require previous know-how in design before a prospective user starts ‘jamming’. Figma describes FigJam files as lightweight and inclusive environments that welcome inputs from all. According to the company, FigJam should be regarded as a digital whiteboard where teams discover, explore, and execute ideas.
Figma says it aims ‘to make design accessible to everyone’. FigJam is just one of four products the company has created to ‘help people express their ideas visually and make things together’. The other three are Figma Design, Dev Mode and Figma Slides. FigJam has four main plans: Starter (free), Professional, Organisation and Enterprise.
When it comes to data security, users should have some peace of mind using FigJam. Figma’s security architecture surpasses data protection and security standards in its market. All data (whether in motion or at rest) are encrypted. AWS systems based in the US host the company’s services while servers domiciled in Figma-owned VPCs help guard against authorised requests on its network.
source: Figma
FigJam uses and relevance
FigJam enables teams working remotely to overcome constraints imposed by geographical barriers, allowing them to collaborate in real-time from any location with an internet connection. This minimises the need for face-to-face meetings, unnecessary phone calls, video calls and emails. FigJam's templates and other exciting features not only enhance visual collaboration among teams but also boost operational efficiency, employee job satisfaction and productivity. It is especially a valuable tool for agile-oriented teams who indulge in sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives, among other activities.
In the education industry, FigJam enables teachers to organise classroom discussions, brainstorms and other collaborative group learning activities where students are encouraged to be active participants. Though a relatively young product, FigJam has attracted significant patronage from some leading brands.
Here are some views from key figures in some of those companies:
‘The combination of Figma and FigJam helped us communicate better with all the stakeholders right from the outset of the design process. This alignment created a customer-centric, higher-fidelity product, helped us move to production faster and more cost-effectively,’ – Sandra Schaus, Lead UX Expert and Product Design, Volkswagen Group Services.
‘FigJam is a great tool for bringing more people into the process. It’s become really important when we’re sharing our products or concepts with a wider group of people in multiple countries and for doing presentations,’ – Nick Dutch, Group Head of Digital Channels and Experience at Vodafone.
‘FigJam has been awesome for the Discord product design team because it is so much like Figma itself—but a focused, uncomplicated version that works great for a brainstorm or a retrospective, or anything really,’ – Kevin Wilson, former Head of Design at Discord.
In a nutshell, some things organisations can do with FigJam include:
Brainstorm and ideate
Facilitate collaboration and alignment with project stakeholders in one location
Plan and organise interactive sessions such as meetings, and tutorials
Harness ideas, gather feedback, and conduct research
Construct mind maps and diagrams such as decision trees
Create design-focussed feedback sessions or critiques
Guide to learning and using FigJam
Like many other multifunctional apps out there, FigJam is loaded with a lot of useful and exciting features. This implies that if you’re a newbie, you have to commit some of your precious time to studying FigJam’s several functionalities. For an easy walk through into the numerous features of FigJam, the app’s developers have grouped its many functionalities into the following categories:
Tour the interface
Work on boards
Run meetings
Import and export
Use AI in FigJam
Touring the interface
A tour of the FigJam interface will provide you with a detailed guide on how it works, including how to explore FigJam files. As you tour, you’ll also find information about how to download and use FigJam on iPad (compatible with iOS 16 and later versions) and how it works on a screen reader or desktop device. Note that FigJam is not yet available on Android OS. However, a statement in reply to a query on the Figma Community Forum in March this year states that ‘This [Android compatibility] is definitely on our team’s radar, but we don’t have an exact timeline to provide yet’.
Working on FigJam boards
The Figma website lists up to two dozen ways work can be done through the programme. Here they are:
Creating and managing pages
Selecting (from over 300 built-in) templates
Customising templates
Using the ‘Quick Create’ feature to work faster
Creating mind maps
Organising your board through the use of ‘Sections’
Leveraging the ‘Pan and Zoom’ feature
Using drawing tools to ‘Doodle and Highlight’
Selecting, moving, and ordering objects
Visualising information through the use of shapes with text
Creating accessible boards
Resizing, rotating, and flipping objects
Using the sticky notes feature
Grouping objects
Placing GIFs, other images, and videos
Creating text and links
Applying colours
Using connectors and lines to construct diagrams and flows
Working with tables
Finding and replacing text
Locking and unlocking objects
Adding link previews
Using stickers and libraries
Using code blocks
Example
To create a text object in FigJam:
Click on in the toolbar or click on to add text to the FigJam board.
You can use text objects to either add text atop other objects or add them directly to the FigJam board. The five size presets available on the programme are: ‘Small’ (16 pixels), ‘Medium’ (24 pixels), ‘Large’ (40 pixels), ‘Extra Large’ (64 pixels), ‘Huge’ (96 pixels), and ‘Custom Size’. Small is the default text size for every text object. However, users can easily change the size of all their text or just a specific portion of such text.
To change from Small to any other preset text size:
Choose the line or portion to be resized.
In the toolbar, click on the size dropdown menu to make the desired change in text size.
Choose your preferred size for the text you wish to change or select a custom size.
Running meetings on FigJam boards
FigJam’s ‘Run Meetings’ category includes the following:
Using the ‘Spotlight’ feature to enhance collaboration during meetings
Tracking time and managing work sessions with the ‘Timer’ feature
Initiating voting sessions
Inviting visitors to be part of an open session
Utilising ‘Stamps,’ ‘High-fives’ and ‘Emotes’
Leveraging the ‘Cursor Chat’ mode to send messages
Mentioning individuals in text objects
Making comments
Chatting with team members via the ‘Audio’ feature
Utilising ‘Closed Captions’ for audio (available only on the Figma Desktop App or as ‘Live Caption’ on Google Chrome)
Example
To initiate a voting session:
In the top toolbar, click on the ‘Timer, Voting, and Music’ icon.
Input a voting prompt, e.g., ‘Mention three projects you think deserve top priority’.
Use the ‘+/-‘ icons to fix the number of votes permissible for each participant.
Click on ‘Start’ to commence the process.
The FigJam board promotes democracy through its voting feature. The objectives of voting in FigJam include:
Determining the most popular ideas in order to leverage them for quicker decision-making
To demand genuine feedback that is provided discreetly
Ensuring that every team member’s voice is heard
Import and export
FigJam allows for the importation, editing, movement and resizing of content from a variety of sources such as Mural boards, Miro boards, Lucid documents, and Google Jamboard. It is also possible to import, paste, drag, drop and edit images, videos, text, and spreadsheet data into a FigJam board. Another possibility in FigJam is the use of components and stickers made in Figma Design. In addition, users have the option of importing CSV data in the form of tables. Supported file types include GIF, JPG, PNG, WebP and TIFF image formats. Note that animation won’t work in imported GIF files. For videos, FigJam is compatible with MP4, WEBM and MOV formats.
Example
To migrate your Google Jamboard files to FigJam:
Launch Figma’s file browser.
From ‘Recents’ ‘Drafts’ or a project click on ‘Import’ located at the page’s top right corner.
Choose ‘From Jamboard’.
Sign in and go to your Google Drive.
Choose the Jamboard files to be imported and complete the process.
The following are some ways users can export the contents of their FigJam boards:
Exporting one particular section or the whole board in image format
Exporting FigJam tables and sticky notes in CSV format
Copying the FigJam board’s contents to a Figma Design file
FigJam’s export feature supports PDF, JPG and PNG image formats.
Example
To export your whole FigJam board as an image:
Go to the top toolbar and click on .
Locate ‘File > Export As’.
Choose your preferred file type. If it is JPG or PNG, choose a ‘Background’ style.
Clickon ‘Export’ to conclude the process.
Use of AI
source: X (formerly Twitter) Figma says its AI components are currently powered by OpenAI. Below are some examples of things FigJam’s AI tools will enable you to accomplish.
Create a variety of items
FigJam AI allows you to save the time you would have otherwise wasted in manually preparing and building boards (for meetings or other activities), flow charts, Gantt charts, visual timelines, and project plans.
Sort and summarise sticky notes
Playing host to collaborative activities such as brainstorming sessions, retrospectives and design critiques can generate lots of sticky notes to analyse and organise in order to determine the next steps to take. Too many sticky notes? No worries. Just use FigJam AI to sort the selected stickies according to theme as well as to summarise them.
Take advantage of Jambot
Jambot refers to a FigJam widget capable of leveraging the prowess of ChatGPT and applying it to FigJam boards. With Jambot you can:
Brainstorm on how to start a meeting
Generate a summary of the sticky notes captured on your FIgJam board and use the summary to help end your meeting
Generate AI-enabled visual mind maps
Reframe textual content to align with a particular audience, format, and/or tone
Provide instructions or prompts to the widget, for example, asking a question to obtain new insight or demanding that a topic be expanded
Generate code based on a prompt or description
Work prospects with FigJam skill
Figma offers a range of courses that can be valuable additions to your skill set. If you’ve acquired design, developer, operational or other skills related to Figma or FigJam, then there are lots of good opportunities out there for you. For example, Figma recently posted a vacancy for a FigJam software engineer position that will attract an annual base salary of between USD 149,000 and USD 350,000. Here are some other Figma-related jobs and their average annual base salary as of July 2024, according to payscale.com.
Role Average annual base Salary (USD) User interface designer 76,793
User interface designer (computer software applications) 77,500
FigJam by Figma has gained significant traction since it entered the market not quite long ago. The reasons for its acceptability are obvious – the business environment is constantly changing to embrace new technologies and possibilities. Moreover, remote and hybrid work are here to stay and companies all over the world are adjusting their business models to both. Lastly, FigJam is bound to make an impact because it comes with several features aimed at boosting workplace efficiency, job satisfaction, productivity and profitability. In summary, it is one software every serious organisation that seeks optimal collaboration and communication should try.
