Work

"Figma Is a Big Black Box:" The Mismatch Between the Interface and Its Underlying Structure

Year: 2026

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: High-fidelity digital prototyping tools play a central role in commercial design workflows. One of the most common tools is Figma, which incorporates programming-like concepts such as constraints and parameterization in the form of auto layout, components, and smart animate features. We studied how designers engage with and appropriate these concepts as they used Figma to prototype an interactive system. We found recurring breakdowns that stem from a mismatch between the interface, which encourages imperative manipulation of objects on a canvas, and the underlying declarative structure, which is governed by constraints. Based on these findings, we characterize Figma as a complex interaction substrate and derive implications for the design of future constraint-reliant tools.

Source: Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA)

DOI: 10.1145/3772363.3798460

Authors: Carl Abou Saada Nujaim, Victoria MeiFeng Myot, Michel Beaudouin-Lafon, Wendy E. Mackay

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique, Université Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique

Language: English

Topic: Usability and User Interface Design

Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Awards: G1190173965, Collaboration à long terme