The best tutorials to learn Figma in 2024
Tutorials are a great way to learn Figma. That’s no different in 2024. Moreover, tutorials bring unique benefits that other forms of learning don’t. But with so many tutorials available, which one do you pick? Here’s my list of the best Figma tutorials for beginners and how to make the most of them.
- Updated on January 3, 2024
I’ve updated my list of recommended Figma tutorials to include new study material from 2024. But before we go to that list, let’s look at some reasons to pick a tutorial over UI design books or courses as the best way to learn Figma.
Table of Contents
Best way to learn Figma
One of the main reasons why tutorials are the best way to learn Figma is time management. When you learn something via tutorials, you can do that at your own pace. With so many tutorials available online, you can pick one (or more) that you like and pause it when you need to.
Yet, this is also where a potential problem lies. Because you have the time, there’s a risk of slacking off. To prevent this, make sure you time-box your tutorial work.
Schedule one or two hours of deep tutorial learning followed by a 15-minute break.
Tutorials vs. courses, classes, and books
Courses and classes require you to focus for a longer time. There’s a curriculum and a classroom that doesn’t wait on you when you need some more time. That’s stressful!
Oh, and did I mention that many Figma tutorials are available for free? You can watch most of them on YouTube without any additional costs. Unfortunately, courses can cost you a lot of money.
We live in extraordinary times with lots of valuable learning material available for free!
One downside is choice overload, or analysis paralysis, as we call it in UX. There are so many tutorials, courses, and books to choose from that it is getting more and more challenging to actually choose. Luckily, that’s where this post comes in. So keep reading!
What’s the best way to learn Figma? I wrote about a few ways you could do that. To summarize, take a look at the overview I created below.
After comparing multiple ways of learning Figma, I can only conclude that tutorials are one of the best ways to learn Figma. It is cheaper, easier, and more accessible. But how do you get started?
Getting started
If you want to start using Figma, you have to start with the basics. I wrote an introductory post on Figma where I explain what Figma is and the first steps you need to begin learning Figma, like downloading and installing the design tool.
Downloading Figma is optional as it is available as an online tool. However, I recommend you download Figma anyway, as that comes with better performance.
Once you complete the steps above, you can start using Figma. From this point, looking at the Figma Help Center and YouTube channel is the best way to begin learning Figma.
As shown in the picture above, I have this on good authority! I asked the official Figma Twitter account how to get started, and they recommended going to their help center and YouTube channel first.
Both pages provide excellent Figma tutorials to start with. The Help Center has a lot to offer, including the following.
- Getting started with Figma.
- Info on the Figma pricing plan.
- Guides, help, and access to the Community.
- And so much more.
Figma’s YouTube channel has a great number of playlists focussing on tutorials. I highly recommend these for everybody serious about learning Figma, ranging from beginners to designers with specific needs, like learning about auto layout or tutorials on Figma prototyping.
Figma tutorials for beginners
Let’s look at some Figma tutorials for beginners first. There are many tutorials available, but the ones I’m about to mention made the best impression on me.
For me, tutorial creators must be designers as well. They’re likely to have a lot of experience using Figma in their day-to-day jobs. Because of that, they know what they are talking about.
The following creators are designers sharing their knowledge with the world. I like that! Let’s take a look at their Figma tutorials.
Bring Your Own Laptop
First, here’s a list of Figma tutorials by the creator Bring Your Own Laptop. The instructor, Daniel, is a cool, down-to-earth guy that explains Figma very well. His tutorials are beginner-friendly, and you slowly work toward the more advanced stuff.
The video I’ve embedded above is a three-hour Figma tutorial for beginners. It is one of the best out there.
The entire playlist has over 30 videos, most of them being hours long. You start with the basics and work to complete a project in an easy-to-follow set of videos.
Charli Marie
Up next, we have Figma beginner tutorials by Charli Marie. She’s a designer from New Zealand. She speaks about many aspects of being a designer on her YouTube channel. One of them is about the tools you can use daily. That’s where Figma comes in.
Figma tutorials are just a tiny part of her entire channel. Nevertheless, it is worth checking out if you’re looking for an excellent designer channel. Start with the video I’ve embedded above.
Tutorials by Figma Training
Another great tutorial is the one created by Figma Training. It is a great course full of tutorials, tips, and tricks that have been updated to work with the most recent Figma updates.
What’s nice about this one is that you get a certificate after you’ve completed their tutorials. You can’t get that on YouTube. The downside, however, is that tutorials by Figma Training aren’t free.
Mizko
Last but not least, a playlist of beginner Figma tutorials by a designer called Mizko. The video below is the first tutorial in a growing playlist. There are a lot of positive comments on his Figma tutorials, so check him out for yourself.
There you have it—four great places to start learning the basics of Figma through great tutorials for beginners.
The recommended channels above all have playlists instead of individual videos. So if you start at the beginning, you can continue to the more advanced tutorials on the same channels later.
Figma tutorials in PDF
The tutorials I mentioned above are all YouTube videos. They’re easy to use, but they can result in a lot of clicking back and forth between multiple screens.
If you’re more of a reader than a video watcher, PDFs can be an excellent alternative method to learn Figma. They’re less interactive, but a big pro is that you can print your Figma PDF tutorials and put them right next to you while you work.
There aren’t that many PDF tutorials available that I thought were good enough for you to learn Figma. However, here’s the one Figma tutorial in PDF that I consider worthy of a recommendation.
The PDF tutorial I’d like to recommend is Designing User Interfaces by Hype4 Academy. With over 470 pages, this book is a must-read PDF for anyone looking for Figma tutorials.
The book has been bought well over 4000 times and has received a 5-star rating in 96% of all reviews.
Please note that this is a book on UI design in general. You can use it to learn Figma, but if you want a tutorial specific to Figma, use one of the tutorials I mentioned above.
Figma prototyping tutorials
One important subject to learn as a UI and UX designer is prototyping. You use it to test your UI design with users. To help you learn how to prototype, the Figma team has made a YouTube tutorial and a written guide.
First, here’s the guide to prototyping in Figma. The guide has a playlist of YouTube tutorials for you to follow. I’ll embed the playlist under this paragraph.
Figma auto layout tutorials
The second and final specific topic I’d like to highlight is auto layout. It is one of the main features of Figma. You can use it to apply rules to your components when you scale your designs. It is essential to design this way to be responsive to any screen size available in 2024.
Like I did before, I will mention the official Figma guide for auto layout and the tutorial playlist they use to demonstrate auto layout. Here’s the Figma guide to auto layout. I’ll embed the YouTube videos down below.
Frequently asked questions
To wrap up this post, I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Figma tutorials. These are particularly relevant when you’re not sure yet if you want to start using Figma for your design work.
Is Figma easy to learn?
Yes, Figma is easy to learn! In fact, that’s what this post is about. There are so many Figma tutorials available to help you learn this tool. If you’re already familiar with another design tool, learning Figma is even easier.
That’s because Figma works and looks a lot like many of the other available UX design tools. It is very intuitive to learn if you already know a different design tool, like Adobe XD or Sketch, for example.
These tools have some overlap in shortcuts and their way of working with layers, prototyping, and the inspector.
It will take a bit longer if you’re completely new to design tools. However, Figma remains easy to learn for you still.
How long does it take to learn Figma?
It takes only a few days to a week of practicing and following tutorials to learn the basics of Figma. It could take you less time if you already have a basic understanding of other design tools.
Keep in mind that you’re never done with learning a design tool. Whenever Figma releases a new update, you have new features to get familiar with. It’s an ongoing process!
Further reading
There’s a lot of great information available on Figma. It makes sense since Figma is a great design tool that has become the most popular design tool for UI and UX design in 2024.
If this has helped you, check out my post on Figma to continue to learn Figma.
Do you have feedback on this article? Missing something? Or just a question? Reach out to me and I’ll get back to you!
About the author
Hi! I'm Nick Groeneveld, a senior designer from the Netherlands with experience in UX, visual design, and research. I'm a UX coach that supports other designers and have completed design projects in finance, tech, and the public sector.
Through The Designer's Toolbox, I'm an Educational Partner for Interaction Design Foundation.
☎️ Book a 1:1 mentor meeting with me or let's connect on LinkedIn, Twitter and Medium.
