The Book of Grievances · Figma feature requests

80 grievances.0 shipped at Schema 2025.

We're not angry. We're just disappointed. (We're angry.)

My ever growing list of feature requests for Figma’s products is referred to by my co-workers as my “Book of Grievances”. It feels like Figma the company has forgotten about Figma the product.

Scroll to see how we got here

How we got here

Book of Grievances — Page 1

0 grievances. Bliss.

80grievances filed

GRV-1Keyboard shortcut to turn on/off “Ignore auto layout”

GRV-3Change the order of exposed nested instances

GRV-4APCA support in color contrast checker

GRV-5Change Variable Mode for a page in FigJam

GRV-6FigJam Annotations support

GRV-7Image component properties

GRV-8Apply variable to page colour

GRV-9Default property value per variant

GRV-11Prototyping should automatically select the right device frame

Schema 2025 Bingo

Slot rulesAPCADeprecationTablesSimplify InstancesVariable docsPage permissionsAlt text in SlidesAlpha + colour varsReady for reviewLine height %Duplicate collectionPage colour varFill defaultsHug vs FillIgnore auto layoutPick your propsPublic branchingFilled slotsAnnotation copyInstance swapLayout guidesCMD+D variablesFigpalsBetter stickers

Squares marked: 0 / 25

NOBODY WON

Ta-da.

SlotsComponents & PropertiesVariables & ModesLibraries & GovernanceCanvas & Everyday WorkflowFigJam, Slides & Accessibility

Chapter 1
Once upon a time, Figma was a design tool.
A calm, empty canvas. Nobody had opened a single forum thread. Nobody had a favourite way to say “why” in a comment.
Chapter 2
Then the requests started.
One grievance became two. Two became a dozen. Then came slots, and the list stopped being a list and became a lifestyle. It now stands at 80, and the cards keep landing.
Chapter 3
Schema 2025.
Bingo cards were printed. Hopes were high. Squares remained unmarked. Nobody won Schema Bingo, because Schema 2025 shipped none of the list. Leo will run it again next time Figma remembers to run Schema.
Chapter 4
So I started hacking around Figma’s shortcomings.
Five of them I got around myself, with tricks sneaky enough to belong in a magic show. (They are in one.)
Chapter 5
Pick your poison.
Six categories of quiet fury. Slots, components, variables, governance, the everyday papercuts, and the other products.

Grievances I've already hacked around

Five grievances, five workarounds, all five in the Converge 2026 talk “Sleight of Frame”. Pick a card to see how each one works.

Read the whole book

80 grievances in six flavours of quiet fury. Choose a category, or open the whole book and search it.

Open the whole book (80)

Got a grievance? Figma isn't listening, but I am.

No form, no ticket number, no “we'll get back to you”. Just a human who feels your pain.

Send it to me on LinkedIn Send it to the man responsible

80 grievances.0 shipped at Schema 2025.

How we got here

Schema 2025 Bingo

Once upon a time, Figma was a design tool.

Then the requests started.

Schema 2025.

So I started hacking around Figma’s shortcomings.

Pick your poison.

Grievances I've already hacked around

Read the whole book

Got a grievance? Figma isn't listening, but I am.

Publish components as an Instance Swap component without publishing them as their own components.

Can’t enforce limiting to preferred instances for a Slot

Annotations don’t transfer to instances / No DS maintainer annotations

Slots with content are invisible

No Deprecation Status