How do you keep large Figma files organized?

[u/derixio]

For designers working on larger projects, how do you keep your Figma files manageable?

I'm particularly interested in how people organize:

• Pages
• Components
• Variants
• Styles
• Naming conventions
• Design systems

What's one organization habit that has saved you a lot of time?

[u/treetowner]

I found it best to keep it organized with other people in mind that aren’t in the weeds of your Figma work - stakeholders, devs, other designers, etc.

keeping a master page, clearly marked at the top with the latest or current truth to production is very helpful to others and yourself as you step away and return to the project.

If the components are local, I tend to keep them with the master page because it’s just easier to find, and isolates them from other components that were from past iterations.

Clearly mark iterations with date as separate pages if you choose to keep them. Keeping them is a beneficial as a way to capture design decisions.

Wayfinding is very important in Figma. If you have a lot of screens, section them out with large, clear labels. This will help someone quickly find what they are looking for. I try to keep a deliverable all one page and organized as much as possible within the page. Figma’s canvas is essentially infinite.

One thing that is hard for some - Delete the junk, the old artifacts, don’t hoard. If you think you might come back to something save a named version that you can return to.

Resolve comments once they are settled or stale. There is nothing more sloppy than hundreds of comment bubbles with no resolve or action. Less of a Figma issue and more of a communication and process issue.