I’ve noticed a pervasive issue among Figma users that becomes particularly frustrating when using a new computer or joining a new team: missing or mismatched font files.
My philosophy on UX design begins with a deep understanding of user needs. I continuously observe and identify these needs wherever they arise, quickly diagnosing and addressing them with practical solutions.
Users from different regions have varying preferences—international users often favor cloud-based font libraries from companies like Adobe and Google, whereas users in China typically rely on offline font files. Figma only accesses these offline assets directly from the system library, and Windows lacks robust font asset management, leading to frequent issues with font availability whenever there’s a change in the production environment. Additionally, managing font assets effectively across teams proves challenging.
Is it possible to design a plugin that can quickly manage and synchronize the font files used in a Figma project?
Upon reviewing Figma’s documentation, I discovered that the idea is partially feasible. While it’s possible to index project fonts within Figma, managing system fonts requires additional permissions not granted to third-party plugins (as Figma’s plugins operate within a sandbox). Therefore, an approach combining a plugin with a cross-platform companion app is planned to implement the necessary functionality. But of course, ideally, Figma would create an integrated plugin, which would be more convenient but require more extensive permissions.
Although my background is in industrial design, I also enjoy programming, which allows me to quickly develop a functional prototype after designing a simple UI. For this case, I use Electron to create the app, with the plugin portion being straightforward HTML and JavaScript.
I distributed the software prototype to test users and, based on their feedback, further refined features such as account login synchronization of fonts, team project collaboration, file packaging for upload and sharing, and cloud font file management to enhance functionality. My accumulated UX thinking and cross-disciplinary innovation skills enable me to quickly provide effective solutions for users.
The plugin is now available on Figma plugin store, and the app can be found on my GitHub. Management and packaging export functionalities have been implemented, with cloud synchronization currently under development.
