Figma's generative AI design tool, 'First Draft,' is back after being temporarily removed due to concerns about its resemblance to existing apps. The relaunched feature offers a wider range of design libraries, including wireframing and high-fidelity options, and utilizes off-the-shelf AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Amazon Titan to generate initial design concepts based on user prompts. Figma emphasizes that the tool does not train on customer data and provides a starting point for design exploration.

🤔 Figma's 'First Draft' generative AI design tool has been relaunched after being temporarily removed due to concerns about its resemblance to existing apps. Figma ensured that the tool does not train on customer data and uses off-the-shelf AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Amazon Titan. It generates initial design concepts based on user prompts and provides a starting point for design exploration.

🎨 The relaunched 'First Draft' offers a wider range of design libraries, including wireframing and high-fidelity options. This allows designers to choose libraries based on their specific needs and design goals, offering a more flexible and exploratory approach to design.

🚀 Figma emphasizes that 'First Draft' does not train on customer content. Instead, it uses off-the-shelf AI models with proprietary mobile and desktop design systems, components, and assembly examples. This ensures that the tool remains ethical and respects user privacy.

🖼️ Figma's other AI features, such as the ability to auto-generate text for designs, complement 'First Draft' and offer a comprehensive suite of AI-powered design tools.

Figma announced Make Designs in June as a way for designers to use generative AI to help start app designs, but early users quickly showed how it could mock up a weather app that looked remarkably close to Apple’s iPhone weather app. Although Figma insisted that the feature wasn’t trained on customer data — in fact, Figma said it didn’t train the off-the-shelf generative AI models used — the company removed the feature to give it more testing.

Now it’s coming back, called “First Draft,” and like Figma’s other AI features, it’s available currently in a limited beta.

Figma is also adding features to First Draft as part of the relaunch:

We’re also introducing some key updates, like letting you choose from one of four libraries depending on your needs—whether it’s a wireframing library to help you sketch out less opinionated, lo-fi primitives, or higher-fidelity libraries to provide more visual expressions or patterns to explore. This offers a looser, more exploratory counterpoint to the utility of our Visual Search feature, which allows you to search your Figma files via prompt or image to find existing files or components.

Image: Figma

In its blog post about the relaunch, the company also spelled out how First Draft works:

First Draft doesn’t train on customer content. It uses off-the-shelf AI models (like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Amazon Titan) with three key elements: model, context, and prompt. The context includes proprietary mobile and desktop design systems with numerous components and assembly examples. Users input their design goals as the prompt. The AI then selects, arranges, and customizes design system components based on these inputs, creating a starting point for designs.

Figma says it’s relaunched the feature after “extensive analysis, iteration, and testing.”

Figma’s other AI features also include the ability to auto-generate text for your designs.