Plus UI Design · Practical guides

Build a thumbnail system for your team

A small set of consistent rules makes a large Figma workspace easier to navigate.

Start with file types

List the files your team actually uses: product work, shared libraries, experiments and archives. Give each type a clear written label. A color can reinforce the label, but it should not carry the meaning alone. An archived file must still say “Archived” when viewed in grayscale.

Use a repeatable layout

Reserve the same positions for the project name, file type and status on every cover. Create one reference cover for each type with FigGenius, then use those as your team’s visual examples. Decide who updates the cover when a project changes state. Avoid dates that nobody will maintain.

Review the workspace as a collection

Compare a row of covers in the Figma browser. The project names should be legible, long titles should wrap predictably, and the same status should mean the same thing across files. Ask someone outside the project to find a library and an archived file using only the covers.