Prototype Interactions and Animations in Figma

Ali Song

09 Jun 2024 — 2 min read

Figma offers a variety of animation and interaction tools to make your prototypes more dynamic. Key features include:

Smart Animate: This feature automatically animates changes between frames by identifying matching layers and animating differences such as position, size, and color. You can adjust properties like easing (linear, ease in, ease out, ease in and out, and custom) and duration to fine-tune your animations (LogRocket Blog) (UI Prep).
Move In/Out Animations: These animations are used to show or hide elements by moving them into or out of view. Smart Animate can be used to create these effects by linking frames with different element positions (FigmaFy - Figma to Everything).
Custom Easing Curves: Adjusting the Bezier handles on a graph allows for custom easing, giving you complete control over the animation speed and timing (LogRocket Blog).

Nine Prototype Triggers

Figma provides multiple triggers to initiate interactions:

On Click: Triggers an action when an element is clicked.
On Hover: Triggers an action when the mouse hovers over an element.
While Pressing: Triggers an action while the mouse button is pressed.
On Drag: Triggers an action when an element is dragged.
Mouse Enter/Leave: Triggers actions when the mouse enters or leaves an element.
After Delay: Triggers an action after a specified delay.
Key/Gamepad: Triggers actions based on keyboard or gamepad input.
Scroll: Triggers actions based on scroll position.
Touch/Swipe: Triggers actions based on touch gestures (The Design Project) (LearnTube).

Prototype Actions

In Figma, you can define various actions that occur in response to triggers, including:

Navigation: Move between frames.
Overlays: Display additional information in an overlay panel.
Scrolling: Scroll within a frame or between frames.
Opening Links: Navigate to external URLs.
Setting Variables: Change variables within the prototype to manage state and logic (LearnTube) (FigmaFy - Figma to Everything).

By combining these triggers and actions with animations, you can create highly interactive and engaging prototypes that closely mimic the final user experience. Experimenting with these tools will help you find the best ways to convey your design ideas effectively.

For more detailed guides and examples, you can visit the following resources:

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