Last week, Friends of Figma Austin gathered at Atlassian's office for a mini Figma Make-athon.
The night kicked off with lightning talks from local design leaders who shared how they’re using Figma Make today. Speakers emphasized the importance of clarity in prompting, starting with functionality over polish, and letting Make handle the heavy lifting before refining.
From there, attendees jumped into a mini make-athon — building ideas on the spot, collaborating with new faces, and pushing concepts further than expected. The evening wrapped with a show-and-tell and community voting, celebrating work that was thoughtful, playful, and delightfully experimental.
Lightning talks ⚡
Rick Messer, Principal Product Designer @ Atlassian
Charlotte Wittels, Senior Product Designer @ Atlassian
Stephanie Darenkamp, Principal Product Designer @ Realtor.com
Neil Petty, Senior Manager Content Design @ Target
Peter Le, Senior Product Designer @ Rocket Loans
Speaker tips 📝
Here are just some of the helpful tips speakers shared with the audience:
Be specific with prompts (vague inputs = chaotic outputs)
Design the intelligence, not just the interface
Use images and links to guide aesthetic direction
Start broad, then refine with point-and-edit tools
Outline user needs and jobs-to-be-done before building
Combine iterations thoughtfully to work smarter (i.e. save on credits)
Make-athon highlights 🏆
The environment made it easier to try things and move quickly. Truly delightful ideas across the board! A special shoutout to the winning teams below.
Panel Picks & Crowd Favs:
Habitris (Joy Deng)
Punch Up (Jackson P, Emmaline B, Kailey C, and Maggie B)
Does This Meeting Need to Exist? (?)
Honorable Mentions:
Girlhood (?)
Speaker Profile (Obianuju O)
Thanks 🙏
Huge thanks to our speakers, volunteers, and everyone who showed up ready to build. Special appreciation to Atlassian for hosting and supporting the Austin design community.
We’re already excited for what we’ll make together next 💛
