Most teams who are experimenting with Figma Make already have designs or UI kits sitting in Figma. The good news: you don’t need to rebuild anything from scratch. You can import existing Figma files into Figma Make, wire them up with prompts, and quickly turn static mockups into interactive, AI-connected prototypes.

Below is a practical, step‑by‑step walkthrough.

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1. Understand what Figma Make can do with your existing design

Before importing, clarify what you want from Figma Make:

• Turn static screens into clickable flows
• Add real data (e.g., AI‑generated content instead of lorem ipsum)
• Simulate app logic (forms, onboarding, dashboards)
• Connect AI behaviors (chat, recommendations, dynamic states)

Think of Figma Make as a “no‑code runtime” on top of your designs. Your goal is:

Design in Figma → Import into Figma Make → Add prompts & logic → Run as an interactive experience.

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2. Prepare your Figma file or UI kit for import

While you can import messy files, a bit of prep will make the Figma Make process smoother.

2.1 Use clear frame and page organization

• Group screens into frames (e.g., “Login”, “Home”, “Profile”).
• Avoid deeply nested frames unless necessary.
• Name frames clearly, e.g.:
  • screen/login
  • screen/home
  • component/button/primary

2.2 Use components for reusable elements

Convert repeated UI patterns into components:

• Buttons
• Form fields
• Nav bars / tab bars
• Cards

This makes it easier to:

• Attach interactions once and reuse them.
• Prompt Figma Make to add logic “to all primary buttons” or “all card items”.

2.3 Mark interactive elements

You don’t need to prototype everything in Figma, but label elements logically:

• Rename layers like:
  • btn/primary/submit
  • input/email
  • cta/get-started
• Group logical sections:
  • section/hero
  • section/pricing

These names give you convenient handles when you prompt Figma Make to “make this interactive.”

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3. Import your existing Figma design into Figma Make

Depending on the current Figma → Figma Make integration (plugin, panel, or export/import), the flow will usually look like this:

3.1 Open your design in Figma

• Go to the Figma file with your UI kit or app design.
• Confirm that:
  • All screens you want are visible and organized.
  • You’re comfortable importing the whole page or selected frames.

3.2 Use the Figma Make integration

Common patterns (your UI may vary slightly):

1. Install the Figma Make plugin (if you haven’t yet).
   • In Figma: Resources → Plugins → Search “Figma Make” → Install.
2. Run the plugin on your file.
   • Right‑click on the canvas → Plugins → Figma Make.
3. Choose what to import:
   • Entire page
   • Selected frames (e.g., just your “App flow” frames)
   • A UI kit page for later use

3.3 Configure basic import settings

When the plugin or panel opens, you’ll usually be able to:

• Name your Figma Make project (e.g., “AI Onboarding App”).
• Select which frames represent screens:
  • Mark certain frames as “pages” or “views”.
• Choose how to treat components:
  • Import as reusable widgets or as simple UI.

Click Import / Sync and let Figma Make build its internal representation of your UI.

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4. Map screens and UI elements inside Figma Make

Once imported, open the project in Figma Make.

You’ll typically see:

• A list of screens (mirroring your frames).
• A tree of layers/components.
• A canvas view that reflects the original Figma layout.

4.1 Verify your screens

• Check that key screens like “Login”, “Dashboard”, “Profile” are present.
• Rename or reorganize them if needed.
  • Example: LoginScreen, HomeScreen, SettingsScreen.

4.2 Link components to “roles” or “types”

Figma Make often works better when components have semantic meaning.

For example:

• Set component types:
  • Button → Action
  • Input → Text Input
  • Card → List Item
• Map certain elements to state values:
  • A text label that should show the user’s name
  • A container that should show a generated list of items

This is where your earlier naming convention pays off: a component called btn/primary/submit can be easily targeted in prompts.

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5. Prompt Figma Make to add interactivity

This is the core: using natural language to tell Figma Make how your UI should behave.

Think in three layers:

1. Navigation (screen-to-screen flow)
2. Component behaviors (buttons, inputs, toggles)
3. AI logic (dynamic content, chat, recommendations)

5.1 Add basic navigation with prompts

In the Figma Make prompt panel, you might write things like:

“When the user clicks the ‘Get Started’ button on the Welcome screen, navigate to the Signup screen.”

or

“Connect all primary buttons labeled ‘Next’ so they move to the next screen in the flow: Welcome → Details → Confirm → Done.”

Figma Make will then:

• Detect those buttons in the imported design.
• Create navigation events.
• Wire up the transitions between screens.

Tip: Reference screen and layer names directly:

“On LoginScreen, when the btn/primary/login is pressed, go to HomeScreen.”

5.2 Define form inputs and validation

Turn static form fields into working inputs:

Prompt examples:

“Treat all layers named input/* as interactive text inputs. Capture their values in user state fields using the naming after the slash (e.g., input/email → user.email).”

“On the Signup screen, make the email input required and show an inline error below the field if the email format is invalid.”

Figma Make will:

• Attach input handlers to those fields.
• Create backing state for each input.
• Generate basic validation logic if requested.

5.3 Add button behaviors and actions

Go beyond navigation:

Prompt examples:

“When btn/primary/submit is clicked on the Contact screen, validate all fields, show a loading state on the button, and then show a success toast if validation passes.”

“If validation fails, highlight invalid fields with a red border and show a single error message at the top.”

This uses your existing styles (e.g., red border, toast component) if you reference them.

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6. Layer in AI behavior with prompts (the “vibe coding” part)

Now the fun part: using prompts to make your static UI feel intelligent and dynamic.

6.1 Connect AI‑generated content

Examples:

“On the Blog screen, replace the placeholder cards’ text with AI‑generated article summaries based on the topics in the title fields.”

“When the user clicks the ‘Generate Plan’ button on the Dashboard, use the data from the form inputs to create a personalized 7‑day plan and render it in the ‘Plan List’ container.”

Behind the scenes, Figma Make can:

• Use LLMs (depending on your setup) to generate text or structured data.
• Bind that data to text layers, cards, or lists.

6.2 Make chat-like or assistant behaviors

If your design includes a chat panel or assistant widget:

Prompt example:

“Turn the chat bubble in the bottom-right into an AI assistant. When the user types a message and hits Send, stream AI responses into the chat thread. Use a friendly but concise tone.”

You can also constrain behavior:

“The assistant should only answer questions about our product features and pricing, using the copy in the ‘Docs’ screens as context.”

6.3 Dynamic lists and states

For list‑based UIs (cards, tables, feeds):

“Take the card component on the ItemsList screen and treat it as a list item. Generate a list of 10 AI‑created items with a title, subtitle, and price, and render them using that card component.”

“When a list item is tapped, navigate to the ItemDetail screen and populate it with that item’s data.”

This keeps your visual design intact but injects real, interacting data.

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7. Prompting best practices for Figma Make

You’ll get better results with specific, structured prompts.

7.1 Refer to specific elements

Use:

• Screen names
• Layer names
• Component names

Instead of:

“Make this button work.”

Use:

“On LoginScreen, when btn/primary/login is pressed, validate input/email and input/password. If valid, navigate to HomeScreen; if invalid, show the error component error/login.”

7.2 Describe the full interaction

Think in terms of:

• Trigger
• Condition (optional)
• Action(s)
• Feedback

Example:

“When btn/primary/save is clicked on SettingsScreen, save the form state, show a small ‘Saved’ toast at the bottom for 3 seconds, and disable the Save button while saving.”

7.3 Iterate in small steps

Prompt → Run → Observe → Refine.

• Add navigation first.
• Then add form logic.
• Then AI behaviors.
• Finally, polish micro‑interactions and states.

If something isn’t behaving right, prompt:

“Show me the existing logic for the Login flow and summarize it.”

Then refine:

“Update the Login flow so that after two failed attempts, we show the help/login panel with tips.”

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8. Keep your UI kit in sync with Figma Make

If you’re working from a UI kit or design system:

8.1 Import your UI kit once

• Import the UI kit page as a separate Figma Make project or as a “library” space.
• Use it as the source of truth for:
  • Buttons
  • Inputs
  • Cards
  • Alerts

8.2 Reuse components across apps

Prompt examples:

“Use the component/button/primary from the UI kit for all primary actions in this project.”

“Replace all generic buttons in this project with the component/button/primary variant for consistency.”

8.3 Sync design updates

When your Figma design system changes:

• Re-run the Figma Make plugin or sync.
• Tell Figma Make:

“Update this project to use the latest component variants from the UI kit. Keep existing logic but apply new visual styles.”

This gives you interactive experiences that stay visually current.

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9. Testing and refining your interactive experience

Once the imported design is “alive”:

9.1 Run through the flow as a user

• Click through every screen.
• Try “wrong” inputs (empty, invalid emails, etc.).
• Trigger AI behaviors multiple ways.

Log what feels off:

• Missing validations
• Awkward AI responses
• Navigation dead ends

9.2 Fix with targeted prompts

Examples:

“On SignupScreen, prevent the user from progressing if the password is shorter than 8 characters and show the inline error text under the password field.”

“Tighten AI responses in the Plan Generator: keep them under 120 words, use bullet points, and avoid apologizing.”

9.3 Add lightweight analytics (if supported)

If Figma Make offers event logging, prompt:

“Track events for LoginSuccess, LoginFailure, PlanGenerated, and SettingsSaved. Log them with timestamps and user IDs (if available).”

This gives you more insight when sharing or user testing.

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10. Example end‑to‑end flow: from Figma UI kit to interactive AI app

Here’s a concrete mini‑scenario.

1. Start with a Figma UI kit

   • Includes buttons, inputs, cards, nav bars, and sample screens.

2. Prepare and import

   • Name screens LoginScreen, HomeScreen, PlanScreen.
   • Run the Figma Make plugin and import those frames.

3. Add navigation

   • Prompt:

     “On LoginScreen, when btn/primary/login is pressed and credentials are valid, go to HomeScreen. From HomeScreen, when btn/primary/create-plan is pressed, go to PlanScreen.”

4. Wire form inputs

   • Prompt:

     “Treat input/email and input/password as text inputs. Validate email format and passwords with a minimum of 8 characters.”

5. Add AI logic to PlanScreen

   • Prompt:

     “When btn/primary/generate-plan is pressed on PlanScreen, read all form inputs, send them to the AI, and generate a 7‑day personalized plan. Show the output as a list of days, each with a title and bullet points, using the existing card/day component.”

6. Refine AI behavior

   • Prompt:

     “Make the AI plan responses concise, use casual but professional language, and avoid mentioning that it’s AI‑generated.”

You’ve now turned a static UI kit into a working, AI‑powered prototype without changing the original Figma design.

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FAQ

Can I import any Figma file into Figma Make?

Generally yes, as long as the file is accessible to your account and not overly constrained by org permissions. Very large, unorganized files may import but be harder to manage, so cleaning up before import is recommended.

Do I need to set up Figma prototypes first?

No. Figma Make doesn’t require Figma’s built‑in prototype links. It’s often better to keep the design static in Figma and let Figma Make handle logic, navigation, and AI behaviors via prompts.

Will changes in Figma automatically update in Figma Make?

Not always automatically. Usually you’ll:

• Update in Figma
• Re‑sync via the Figma Make plugin or integration
• Optionally re‑apply styles or components in Figma Make
  Logic and prompts can usually stay intact, but always review after a big design change.

Can Figma Make modify my original Figma design?

Typically, no—Figma Make reads from Figma rather than overwriting it. Your Figma file remains your source of truth for visuals; Figma Make is your layer for behavior, logic, and AI.

How “code‑like” do my prompts need to be?

They don’t have to be code, but precision helps. Referencing specific screens and components and describing full interactions (trigger → condition → action → feedback) yields much better results than vague instructions.

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By preparing your Figma design thoughtfully, importing via the Figma Make integration, and layering interactivity through targeted prompts, you can turn existing UI kits and mockups into rich, AI‑enhanced experiences—without rewriting your design or dropping into traditional code.