In interface design, Figma has gone from challenger to market leader in the space of 10 years, neck and neck with Sketch and Adobe XD. In 2012, the American publisher created software for the development of mobile applications and websites. With the wind at its back, Figma is today opening two new offices, in Paris and Berlin, to serve its international ambitions.
Figma is a desktop software and an online service, which allows you to share a collaborative and interactive virtual whiteboard for your brainstorming meetings, your research for visuals and design graphics.
- Downloads: 54
- Release date : 06/09/2022
- Author : Figma Inc.
- Licence : Free license
- Categories:
Office automation - Operating system : Android – Online service All Internet browsers – Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11 – iOS iPhone / iPad – macOS
This international expansion is not the result of chance, underlines Dylan Field, CEO of Figma, passing through Paris. Currently, the US market represents “less than half of Figma’s revenue” and “83% of weekly active users are based outside the United States,” he told ZDNet.
Intended primarily for designers (but not only), Figma has conquered tech companies, from Google to Microsoft, via Uber. After the release of its flagship product, Figma Design, the Californian company launched its second tool called FigJam, which can be described as an interactive whiteboard intended to facilitate collaboration in hybrid mode.
FigJam and Figma go hand in hand, explains the publisher on its website. The entire design process, from idea generation to implementation, thus takes place in one place.
40% of the CAC40 have adopted Figma
Thanks to this diversification, Figma now attracts a more diverse clientele. In France, in particular, 40% of CAC40 companies have adopted Figma, starting with Société Générale and Thales, the team told ZDNet.
Before Paris and Berlin, the London office was the only intermediary in the region. The idea, from now on, is to take “to the next step by recruiting French-speaking interlocutors capable of addressing the local community directly”, explains Pierre Berlin, DG Europe of Figma, to ZDNet.
The French office will be led by Lucie Bordelais, former manager at Blackline. Twenty employees in France will be recruited for sales, marketing and support functions, specifies the company.
A transformation in all sectors
To attract new users, Figma has long relied on a freemium model, before starting monetization in 2017. If the publisher still attracts “a lot of free users”, assures Pierre Berlin (no official figure is given), three levels of subscriptions are offered, ranging from 12 to 75 dollars per month.
For Dylan Field, large global companies are becoming “more and more digital and design-oriented” as digital interactions grow, regardless of their core business.
Because design is becoming more strategic for business, the American leader has observed that “the number of designers has been increasing within companies” for a decade. Ultimately, managers have to follow what designers do. Taking this trend into account, Figma is aimed at professions that revolve more or less around interface design, both product owners and developers, sales managers and engineers, notes Dylan Field.