Designing and Prototyping Interfaces with Figma

A fully updated guide to Figma's most powerful features, built around a new project and refreshed interface, giving you everything you need to design adaptive UIs, prototype realistic flows, and streamline handoff with Dev Mode

Key Features

• Third edition of the bestselling book, updated with a new project, refreshed interface, and the latest design trends
• Build adaptive, production-ready UIs with variables, modes, components, variants, AI, and Auto Layout
• Prototype branched flows with conditional interactions and interactive components

Book Description

Figma has evolved, and so should your workflow. In this fully updated third edition of Designing and Prototyping Interfaces with Figma, you will explore the platform’s most powerful additions, including Variables, Conditional Prototyping, and a redesigned interface that reshapes how you work. This edition is built around a new, real-world project that takes you from brief to handoff and anchors every concept in practical, day-to-day design tasks.

Across the project, you will create responsive layouts with Auto Layout, components, and variants; build scalable design systems; and prototype realistic, branched flows with conditional interactions. You will test on devices, collect feedback, and iterate with confidence, applying patterns and checklists that translate directly to team workflows and real product constraints.

Collaboration gets equal focus. You will learn how Dev Mode bridges the work of designers and developers for a smoother, more structured handoff with clear specs and variable-aware inspection. The book closes with a pragmatic look at emerging AI-powered tools, helping you evaluate where they might add value without replacing your creative judgment. Whether you are new to UI/UX design or sharpening your practice, you will come away with a proven workflow to ship adaptive, production-ready designs.

What you will learn

• Create mobile-first wireframes focused on structure, using shape tools, the Pen tool, and vector networks
• Use Variables and Modes to manage content, states, and themes at scale
• Prototype realistic flows with transitions, Smart Animate, overlays, and interactive components
• Make layouts truly responsive with Auto Layout, nesting, resizing, and constraints
• Build, document, and maintain scalable design systems with Components, Styles, and Dev Mode for handoff
• Explore AI plugins as an optional aid to support, not replace, your design workflow

Who this book is for

This book is for aspiring UX/UI designers who want to get started with Figma as well as established designers who want to migrate to Figma from other design tools. This guide will provide you with a walkthrough of the entire process of creating a full-fledged prototype for a responsive interface using all the tools and features that Figma has to offer. As a result, this book is suitable for both UX and UI designers, product and graphic designers, as well as anyone who wants to explore the complete design process from scratch.

Table of Contents

1. Exploring Figma and Transitioning from Other Tools
2. Structuring Moodboards, Personas, and User Flows within FigJam
3. Getting to Know Your Design Environment
4. Wireframing a Mobile-First Experience Using Vector Shapes
5. Designing Consistently Using Grids, Colors, and Typography
6. Creating a Responsive Mobile Interface Using Auto Layout
7. Building Components and Variants in a Collaborative Workspace
8. User Interface Design on Tablet, Desktop, and the Web
9. Prototyping with Transitions, Smart Animate, and Interactive Components

(N.B. Please use the Read Sample option to see further chapters)

Fabio Staiano is an Interface Designer, educator, and Figma Community Leader based in Italy, with a degree in Communication Design and a background in digital product design. After several years at the Italian creative agency Geko, where he later became a company partner, he contributed to digital products for established brands while supporting the local creative community. He began teaching user interface and web design in 2016 at The Guru Lab and later expanded his skills at the Apple Developer Academy, specializing in frontend development. Today, Fabio works as a design consultant, teaches at design academies, and delivers corporate training programs in Italy and abroad, focusing on interface design, design systems, and prototyping.