You’ve likely heard of Figma and PowerApps. But have you ever wondered how to make these two powerful platforms work together?
Figma is a fantastic collaborative interface design tool, enabling you to create interactive UI designs and prototypes with ease. On the other hand, PowerApps, a product of Microsoft, allows you to build custom business apps that connect your team and bring your business data together.
It’s like Figma is the pencil that sketches your ideas, and PowerApps is the canvas where your masterpiece comes to life.
So, how do you make the magic happen? How can you take your Figma designs and transform them into functional PowerApps applications? The answer is less complicated than you might think.
In today’s article, we’re diving headfirst to show you the process of converting Figma designs into PowerApps.
Key Facts
- Microsoft’s Create Apps from Figma UI Kit allows users to design in Figma and convert it into an app using PowerApps.
- From designing in Figma to refining the app in PowerApps, the conversion involves four essential steps.
- The Figma to PowerApps toolkit is still in Preview and contains limitations and potential errors, like invalid Figma link or design structure.
Figma to PowerApps
The PowerApps Figma UI Kit is your starting point. It’s a package with supported components, instructions, and a sample app.
It’s crucial to note that this kit is still in the preview phase, so keep your adventurous spirits high while keeping an eye out for unexpected behaviours or quirks.
Let’s see what this kit offers:
- Screen Sizes: It supports both tablet and phone sizes, with options for both scrollable and static content. You can also integrate forms for user data submission.
- Components: Get hands-on with components for common interactive elements like buttons, labels, text inputs, combo boxes, and more.
- Sample App: Explore and learn from a sample app illustrating how you can fuse screens and components together.
Remember to only use components from this kit, and follow the kit instructions to ensure a smooth conversion process.
After conversion, you will get the visual components in your Canvas App. However, you still need to do the technical work to connect components to data and write PowerFx expressions.
Design to PowerApp Process
The process of creating your app from Figma designs unfolds in four main steps:
- Designing in Figma: Begin by understanding what the UI Kit supports and doesn’t. Design your app in Figma using the provided components and following the kit’s guidance.
- Creating Your App in PowerApps: After finalising your design, it’s time to shift gears to PowerApps. Provide the Figma design file link, and PowerApps will generate a new canvas app based on your designs.
- Converting Your Design: By providing a Figma link and token in PowerApps, you’ll initiate the conversion process.
- Connecting to Data: You need to manually connect components to your data.
- Refining Your App: Once the conversion is complete, you can add more screens and controls, connect to data, and add app logic to make your app more interactive and useful [1].
Since the Figma to PowerApps toolkit is still in Preview mode, remember to familiarise yourself with the feature overview, the UI Kit’s capabilities, and its components before diving into app creation to ensure it meets your app requirements.
Common Problems
Like any development process, you might encounter a few road bumps. Here are some common errors and their solutions:
- Invalid Link: Ensure you provide the link to a specific page or frame within your Figma file, not just the file itself. Make sure to include the “node-id” in the URL.
- Access Denied: This error often pops up if you provide an incorrect token. Make sure to double-check your Figma access token.
- Invalid Structure: Your app creation may fail if your Figma frame doesn’t have a valid structure or list of components. Remember to follow the ‘Detach instance’ step before using the frame to generate the app.
The Bottom Line
Converting Figma designs to PowerApps involves a series of thoughtful steps, from designing with the right toolkit to understanding common errors that might come up in the process.
With a good grasp of these elements, you’re well on your way to creating some truly compelling apps. Happy designing and coding!
P.S. If you would prefer we can convert Figma design to PowerApps for you. Contact us to get started.
