Advanced Interaction Settings in Figma

Figma's advanced interaction settings empower designers to create dynamic, responsive prototypes that closely mimic real-world user interactions. This guide delves into complex interactions such as sidebar overlays, fixed-position scrolling, and advanced animation techniques. By mastering these tools, you can craft user experiences that are both immersive and intuitive, elevating your prototypes to the next level, whether you’re designing for web, mobile, or beyond

In this section, we’ll cover the following topics.

Sidebar Overlay

Overlays are a common feature in modern UI design, often used for opening sidebars, modal windows, or pop-ups. Figma simplifies the process of creating these overlays with its intuitive Open overlay interaction setting.

How to Set Up an Overlay:

1. Select the Open Overlay Event: Start by selecting the element that will trigger the overlay (e.g., a menu button) and choose the Open overlay event in the interactions panel.
2. Choose the Overlay Frame: Specify the frame that you want to open as the overlay. This could be a sidebar, modal, or any other content you wish to overlay on the current screen.
3. Positioning: You can position the overlay relative to the current frame. Options include aligning it to the top, bottom, left, or right, or centering it on the screen.
4. Close on Click Outside: Enable this option to allow users to close the overlay by clicking outside of it, which enhances usability by offering an easy way to dismiss the overlay.
5. Background Settings: Adjust the background color or opacity of the underlying screen when the overlay is active. For example, darkening the screen can draw more attention to the overlay.
6. Animation Effects: Add animation effects to make the overlay appear more fluid. For instance, you can have the sidebar slide in from the left or fade in smoothly.

Fixed Position Scroll

Fixed-position elements are crucial in UI design, particularly for navigation bars, footers, or any UI components that should remain visible as the user scrolls. Figma allows you to fix the position of these elements, ensuring they stay in place while other content moves, maintaining key navigational tools at the user's fingertips.

If you have UI items that you don’t want to move when a user scrolls, such as navigation bars or footers, you need to fix their position. Typically, these components should remain stationary to provide consistent access and improve usability.

To see the difference in behavior between non-fixed and fixed-position component, check how the HOME button at bottom right behaves in these videos:

• Non-fixed position case:

• Fixed position case:

How to Fix an Element's Position:

1. Select the Element: Choose the navigation bar, footer, or any other component that should remain fixed during scrolling.
2. Access the Constraints Settings: In the right-hand panel under Prototype tab, change the Scroll behavior to Fixed (stay in place).

3. Set Constraints for Alignment:
   • For top bars, set the constraint to fix the element at the top of the frame.
   • For footers, use the bottom constraint to anchor them at the bottom of the frame.

Using these settings ensures that your navigation components remain visible and functional as users scroll through the page, enhancing the overall user experience.

Horizontal Scroll

Horizontal scrolling is an increasingly common UI pattern, particularly for displaying content like image galleries, product listings, or media libraries. Websites and apps like Netflix utilize this feature to allow users to browse through extensive content horizontally.

Watch the video below.

Steps to Set Up Horizontal Scrolling:

1. Prepare the Content: Start by placing the items you want to scroll horizontally into a frame. These could be images, cards, or any other content that extends beyond the visible frame.
2. Create a Nested Frame: Place the content within a nested frame that will serve as the scrollable area.
3. Adjust the Frame Size: Align the nested frame's width with the main frame to set the visible area for scrolling.
4. Enable Horizontal Scrolling: In the overflow settings, select Horizontal scroll to activate scrolling for the nested frame.
5. Clip Content: Optionally, enable Clip content to hide any overflowed content outside the scrolling area, simplifying the design view.

Watch the video below.

Horizontal scroll is especially useful for mobile interfaces where screen real estate is limited, allowing users to explore content without excessive vertical scrolling.

Other Figma Prototype Techniques

Figma offers a variety of advanced techniques to further enhance your prototypes. Here, we cover three frequently used methods: multi-direction scroll, hover effects, and smart animation. Watch the video below.

Multi-Directional Scroll

Multi-directional scrolling is often used for dynamic content, such as interactive maps, where users need to scroll both horizontally and vertically to view the entire content area.

How to Create Multi-Directional Scrolling:

1. Define the Scrollable Area: Create a sub-frame that defines the visible area for the map or content.
2. Place Content Inside: Drag the map or content into the sub-frame, making sure it exceeds the dimensions of the sub-frame in both directions.
3. Clip Overflowed Content: Enable Clip content to hide any parts of the content that extend beyond the sub-frame.
4. Set Scroll Directions: In the overflow settings, select both Horizontal and Vertical scroll options.

Watch the video below.

This technique is ideal for content that requires exploration, such as maps, large images, or dashboards, allowing users to navigate in all directions.

Hover Effect

Hover effects are an effective way to provide immediate feedback to users, making the interface feel more interactive and responsive. Figma’s interactive components make it easy to create these effects.

How to Set Up a Hover Effect:

1. Design the States: Create two versions of a button or element—one for the default state and one for the hover state.
2. Convert to Components: Select each version and convert them into components (Option + Command + K).
3. Combine as Variants: Combine these components into a single component set with variants.
4. Set the Interaction: Define an interaction from the default state to the hover state using the While hovering action.

Watch the video below.

Hover effects enhance user engagement by making interactive elements more visually responsive, thus guiding users through the interface more effectively.

Smart Animation

Smart Animation is a powerful feature in Figma that enables smooth transitions and dynamic actions within your prototype. This technique is particularly useful for showing changes in state, like a directional arrow moving across a screen.

Steps to Create Smart Animation:

1. Create the Components: Design the different states of an object (e.g., arrows pointing in different directions) and convert them into components.
2. Combine as Variants: Group these components as variants within a single component set.
3. Define Interactions: Add an interaction for each state transition. For example, tap on the left arrow to trigger a transition to an up arrow.
4. Select Smart Animation: In the animation settings, choose Smart animate for the transition effect. Customize the speed and easing to control the animation’s fluidity.
5. Chain Interactions: For a sequence of animations, use After delay to automatically trigger the next interaction after a set time.

Watch the video below.

Smart Animation is ideal for demonstrating complex UI interactions, such as dropdowns, sliders, or any component that requires a smooth transition between states.