PlayInfoBox

Home /Education /How to Build a Prototype in Figma

How to Build a Prototype in Figma

Turn static Figma frames into a clickable prototype your team or clients can click through before a single line of code gets written.

  1. Switch to the Prototype tab

    Click the "Prototype" tab at the top of the right-hand panel to switch into the mode where you can wire screens together.

  2. Connect your frames

    Select a button or element, then drag the blue connector that appears to the frame you want it to lead to. Each connection becomes part of the flow that plays out when someone clicks through your prototype.

  3. Set a trigger and transition

    Click a connection line to choose a trigger β€” like a click, hover, or delay β€” and a transition style, such as a dissolve or Smart Animate, so screens change the way they would in a real app.

  4. Preview in Presentation mode

    Hit the play button in the top right to click through your prototype exactly as a user would, without leaving the Figma tab.

  5. Share a link for feedback

    Generate a share link and send it to teammates or clients so they can test the actual flow and leave feedback before any code exists.

  6. Why this matters

    Testing a clickable mockup before development starts surfaces usability problems early, when they are far cheaper to fix than after the build is underway.

Picking the right trigger

On Click works for buttons and standard navigation, On Drag suits swipeable cards or carousels, While Hovering is useful for tooltips and menus, and After Delay is handy for onboarding screens or auto-advancing slides. Matching the trigger to the real interaction makes a prototype feel far more convincing in a walkthrough.

Smart Animate vs. a simple transition

A simple transition swaps one whole frame for another. Smart Animate instead matches layers with the same name across two frames and animates the differences between them β€” position, size, opacity β€” which is what makes toggles, tab switches, and expanding menus feel smooth instead of abrupt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know how to code to build a prototype in Figma?

No. Prototyping is done entirely by connecting frames inside Figma β€” no HTML, CSS, or JavaScript required. Coding only comes in later, if a developer uses the file as a reference for the real build.

Can someone test my prototype without a Figma account?

In most cases, yes β€” a shared prototype link opens and can be clicked through in any browser. Depending on the file’s sharing settings, though, the file owner may still restrict access to logged-in viewers, so it is worth double-checking the link’s permissions before sending it out.