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Lesson 1 of 4 · 5 min

FigJam tools, in five minutes

FigJam is a whiteboard inside Figma. It looks simple on purpose: few fonts, few colours, few options, so the conversation stays on ideas and not on pixels.

A whiteboard, not a design file

FigJam is a big free canvas where you write notes, drop images and links and work with other people in real time. It is not for designing interfaces. It is for the part before: collecting, comparing, deciding.

That is why the book starts here and not with design files. FigJam is quick to learn, and everyone on the team can take part, whatever their role.

The toolbar at the bottom

All the tools sit in one bar at the bottom of the screen. These are the ones you will use every day:

  • Select and HandV to select, H or hold the spacebar to move around
  • MarkerM to draw freehand, ⇧ Shift + M for the highlighter
  • Sticky notequick notes and comments, with the author's name
  • Shapes and connectorsdiagrams and flows, connectors follow the shapes
  • Text and SectionT for text, ⇧ Shift + S for coloured areas that group things
  • Stamps and commentsE for votes and reactions, comments for feedback that stays

Sticky note or shape?

They both hold text, so people mix them up. They behave differently, and choosing the right one keeps your board readable.

A sticky note keeps its width and grows in height with the text, and it shows who wrote it. A shape resizes freely in both directions: notes for ideas, shapes for diagrams.

One more tool you will love: Actions, with ⌘ + K on Mac or Ctrl + K on Windows. You type what you want to do, and FigJam finds it.

Try it

  1. Open the FigJam board you created in your Travel app project.
  2. Add three sticky notes with S and write one idea for a travel app on each.
  3. Draw a section around them and call it Ideas.
  4. Add two shapes and link them with a connector, then move one shape and watch the line follow.

Remember

  • FigJam is for research and decisions, Design is for interfaces.
  • Sticky notes for ideas, shapes and connectors for diagrams.
  • Sections group related content on the board.
  • ⌘ + K or Ctrl + K opens Actions.