"Slides", a presentation mode that we are all fond of and have at least used once in our lives, whether in a professional, academic, or creative setting. From PowerPoint to Google Slide, through Canva and Prezi, these tools have long dominated a market, covering all sectors and catering to all types of users.
A market that today attracts new players, including Figma. Unveiled at the Config 2024, this new product from Figma, originally known for its collaborative design tools, positions itself as a serious and innovative alternative to solutions like PowerPoint.
But why enter this market?What is its true potential?
How does this new tool stand out from the current leaders?
And most importantly, is Slides a serious competitor to other major solutions?
In this analysis, we answer these crucial questions by exploring the product's features and sharing our insights.
What is Figma Slides?
Figma Slides is a new tool integrated into the Figma platform, allowing users to create presentations in slide format, just as they would with Canva, Prezi, or PowerPoint. The idea for Figma Slides originated from a usage diversion by Figma users, who were already creating presentations from design files: 35K presentations were created between June 2023 and June 2024.
The tool thus offers a simplified and dedicated solution for designing presentations while incorporating the "Figma touch," such as collaboration and compatibility with other tools in the Figma ecosystem.
Features of Figma Slides
Figma Slides stands out due to several innovative features that make it a serious alternative to its competitors, including PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, and Prezi.
A Familiar User Interface
Figma users will not feel out of place discovering Slides, as the interface adopts the same principles as Figma's design files. There is a central canvas, sidebars on the left and right, and a toolbar at the bottom.
Slide or Grid View
Two view modes allow users to manage their presentations more easily:
- Slide view: to focus on each slide
- Grid view: to get an overview of all slides, group them, and reorganize
Real-Time Collaboration
Like other Figma products, Slides enables real-time collaboration, where multiple users can simultaneously work on the same presentation.
Integration of Design Elements
One of the major strengths of Slides is the ability to directly integrate elements created in Figma into your presentations, such as illustrations, interactive prototypes, and animations.
"Switch Mode" Between Simplified Presentation and Designer Mode
In a complementary approach with other Figma tools, Slides offers two usage modes:
- a simplified mode for quickly creating presentations, which includes basic functionalities such as adding shadows, managing image radii, and color management.
- a designer mode for accessing Figma’s advanced features, allowing customization of integrated design elements, such as accessing auto-layout properties, vector functionalities, etc.
AI for Optimizing Content
It's hard to launch a product these days without incorporating some AI...
Slides thus includes a artificial intelligence tool that helps optimize texts based on two variables:
- The tone from professional to relaxed
- and the length from shorter to longer
Note-Taking Features
A small feature that makes a big difference!
Users can now add custom notes under each slide and access them during live presentations.
One-Click Sharing and Presentation
Once the presentation is finalized, it can be shared via a simple link, with the ability to access notes and navigate between slides smoothly. You will find:
- A sharing link granting access to edit the presentation for collaboration
- A presentation mode that only displays slides, dedicated to the audience
- A presentation mode including notes and groups of slides, dedicated to the speakers
Figma Slides vs PowerPoint, Prezi, or Canva
While PowerPoint remains the benchmark tool for presentations, Figma Slides differentiates itself from this tool as well as from Prezi, Google Slide, or Canva in several key aspects:
- Deep design integration: Where PowerPoint offers basic design tools, Figma Slides leverages Figma's full design capabilities, enabling more visually sophisticated presentations.
- Integration of prototypes: Slides allows users to integrate web prototypes directly into their presentations, a feature highly oriented towards web design that PowerPoint does not offer.
- Live collaboration: While PowerPoint has introduced collaboration features, Slides offers a much smoother and more intuitive real-time collaboration experience, thanks to Figma's DNA.
- Live interactions: Slides allows users to integrate quizzes, polls, and dynamic surveys to make presentations more interactive.
- Flexibility and accessibility: Figma Slides offers a flexible approach with its switch mode, making it accessible for both novices and experienced designers.
- Professional and modern presentation templates: This is a key differentiator from PowerPoint! Slides offers pre-designed templates with various design styles that are not stuck in the early 2000s…!
The Strategy Behind Figma Slides
The launch of Figma Slides is part of a well-thought-out global strategy that goes far beyond merely responding to user needs. Figma aims to become a central platform for the entire creative process, from ideation to final presentation, through design and development. This ambition for centralization is accompanied by a thorough market analysis and a desire to create a complete ecosystem that can attract and retain an ever-growing audience.
Integrating into a High-Potential Market
The presentation tools market is vast and diverse. There are hundreds of specialized tools, as listed on Capterra, with historical players like Google Slide, Canva, Prezi, and PowerPoint claiming, as of 2016, 35 million presentations created every day by 500 million users.
More recent studies, while local, confirm this trend. For instance, in the UK, 53% of the population has used a presentation tool. This shows that presentation tools are now indispensable, not only in the professional world but also in education and other sectors.
However, the demand for more modern, collaborative tools integrated with other phases of the creative process remains strong, creating a market space that Figma is keen to exploit.
Targeting Large Enterprises
The presentation tools market is taken very seriously by large enterprises. Organizations such as EY, Deloitte, JPMorgan, and KPMG, which collectively employ hundreds of thousands of employees, extensively use PowerPoint in their daily operations. These companies, spread across hundreds of countries, including the United States, Canada, and Europe (France, Germany, etc.), represent a strategic target for Figma. More data on TheirStack
Figma Slides' entry into this market aims not only to attract a new audience but also to establish itself as a credible alternative to traditional tools.
The challenge is significant: Figma must not only convince these companies of the relevance of Slides but also demonstrate the added value of integrating this tool into Figma's broader ecosystem.
Creating a Tool Ecosystem: Strategy Inspired by Adobe
Just as Adobe has done with its ecosystem of tools for photography, motion design, graphic design, and video, Figma seeks to centralize the entire creative process within a single platform. This strategy facilitates the transition from one tool to another while providing a unified and integrated user experience. Today, you can find:
- FigJam : to meet ideation and brainstorming needs. This tool is aimed at marketing and product teams, allowing them to more easily integrate into creative brainstorms.
- Figma Design : the main design tool, built for UX/UI designers, remains at the heart of the ecosystem, allowing for detailed design and prototyping.
- Dev Mode: a space specifically designed for developers, providing tools to transform mockups into code and facilitating collaboration between designers and developers.
- Figma Slides : the new presentation tool, aimed at "anyone regardless of their role or experience with design".
Attracting a New Audience and Retaining Users
One of Figma's goals with Slides is to expand its user base by reaching profiles that have not been directly targeted by its tools until now. By offering an accessible and easy-to-use product, Figma hopes to attract marketers, entrepreneurs, educators, students, and anyone else needing to create presentations.
But Figma is not only focused on attracting new users: they seek to retain them by gradually introducing them to their entire ecosystem. A user who starts with Slides might eventually discover other Figma tools and integrate them into their workflow. This cross-selling strategy allows Figma to convert casual users into platform advocates, thereby increasing customer retention and satisfaction.
Accessible Pricing to Capture the Market
Finally, Figma has adopted a competitive pricing strategy. With pricing expected to be between $3 and $5 per month after the beta period, Slides positions itself as an affordable option compared to other tools in the market.
Conclusion: Strategic and Visionary Rollout
Figma Slides emerges as an innovative alternative to PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, and Prezi, adding a new dimension to presentations through its deep integration of design tools and collaborative functionalities.
Figma's strategy, aimed at centralizing the creative process, seems promising for attracting a new clientele focused on large accounts and thereby strengthening its position in the presentation software market.
For our part, we are impressed with the tool and have already started using it to prepare our presentation for the Webflow Conf. 2024 in London.
