In the past several weeks, we’ve had a lot of concurrent projects that needed fast ideation. For a small team, sharing ideas early and often is essential to turning rough concepts into solid ones. FigJam has helped us tackle three main challenges:

• How can anyone at the company share and collaborate on ideas, not just designers?
• How can we iterate quickly without sinking too much effort into perfecting concepts?
• How can we exchange feedback efficiently, without getting too attached to ideas that don’t make it?

FigJam makes it easy for everyone to contribute, iterate, and keep our projects moving forward. Here’s how we use it:

Easy Collaboration for Everyone

FigJam is a space where anyone—not just designers—can jump in and contribute. It’s simple to add photos of sketches, drop virtual sticky notes, or leave comments. Everyone can share quick ideas or detailed feedback without learning complex tools, keeping conversations flowing and ensuring all voices are heard.

Fast Iterations Without Perfection

We use FigJam to quickly work through ideas, focusing on exploration rather than perfection. You can copy elements, tweak versions, and build on each other’s ideas—saving time compared to starting from scratch or aiming for pixel-perfect mockups. Once we identify a strong direction, we bring it into Figma to refine it into a polished, shippable design.

One Real-Time Source of Truth

FigJam’s real-time interface means our team can collaborate without file sharing, with everyone seeing updates instantly. Once we make significant progress, I like to record a walkthrough video so that folks can catch up in their own time, avoiding the need for extra meetings. This keeps the process simple and helps us align quickly.

By allowing us to focus on creativity rather than perfection, and keeping the process streamlined and transparent, FigJam helps us move faster and ship a refined design sooner.

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Originally published as Parabol Friday Ship #417