Building Interactive Components in Figma Like a Pro

Design is no longer just about static screens; it’s about creating experiences that feel real. In Figma, interactive components make that possible. They let designers simulate real user interactions, like button clicks, hover effects, or toggle switches, directly within prototypes.

Mastering interactive components doesn’t just speed up your workflow; it helps you communicate ideas clearly and build prototypes that behave like actual products.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to create, organize, and refine interactive components in Figma so you can design with precision and confidence.

​​Understanding Interactive Components in Figma

Before diving into building, it’s important to understand what interactive components actually are. In simple terms, they’re Figma components that can respond to user interactions like a button changing color when hovered or a switch toggling between on and off.

Instead of creating multiple frames to show different states, interactive components let you connect those states inside a single component using variants and prototype interactions. This makes your prototypes cleaner, faster, and easier to manage.

Examples of Interactive Components

• Buttons with hover and pressed states

• Toggle switches (on/off)

• Dropdown menus that open and close

• Navigation tabs that highlight the active section

Setting Up Your Figma Workspace

Before creating your first interactive component, it’s worth taking a moment to set up a clean and well-structured workspace. A tidy file helps you work faster, stay consistent, and scale your design system more easily as the project grows.

1. Organize Your Pages and Layers: Create separate pages for Design, Components, and Prototypes so everything stays clearly separated. Within each page, group related elements such as buttons, inputs, or form fields into labeled frames. Use a consistent naming system like Button / Primary / Hover to keep your layers easy to understand and navigate.

2. Leverage Figma’s Assets and Libraries: If you are working with a team, publish your components to a shared library. This ensures that everyone is using the same interactive elements and prevents duplicated or outdated versions from appearing across different files. Centralizing your components makes updates smoother and more reliable.

3. Use Variables for Consistency: Figma’s Variables allow you to manage design tokens such as colors, spacing, and typography in a single place. Applying variables across your component states helps maintain consistency without adjusting values manually for each variant. This becomes especially valuable when your system needs updates or theme adjustments.

4. Set Up Component Properties Early: Before you begin linking interactions, define the component properties you will need. These can include text labels, visibility toggles, or instance swap options. Preparing these properties early makes your components easier to reuse and adapt as your design system grows.

Creating Your First Interactive Component

Now that your workspace is ready, let’s build your first interactive component step by step. We’ll use a simple button as an example, but the same process works for toggles, tabs, or dropdowns.

1. Create the Base Component

• Design your button in its default state (e.g., blue background with white text).

• Select it and press ⌥ + ⌘ + K (Mac) or Ctrl + Alt + K (Windows) to create a component.

• Name it clearly, for example, Primary Button

2. Add Variants

Variants allow you to create multiple states within a single component.

• With your component selected, click Add variant in the right panel.

• Create a hover state and a pressed state.

3. Link the States with Interactions

• Switch to the Prototype tab in the right sidebar.

• Select the Default variant and drag a connection to the Hover variant.

• Choose While hovering as the trigger.

• Do the same from Hover > Pressed (trigger: While pressing) and Pressed > Default (trigger: After delay).

4. Preview the Interaction

• Click Present (⌘ + Enter / Ctrl + Enter) to test it.

• Your button should now respond to hover and click actions just like a real one.

Pro Tip:

Use Smart Animate for smooth transitions between states — it gives your prototype that polished, real-app feel.

Using Component Properties to Boost Flexibility

Once you’ve built a few interactive components, the next step is making them flexible and reusable. That’s where Component Properties come in. They allow you to control aspects such as text, visibility, and variant options without detaching instances, ensuring your designs remain consistent and efficient.

1. What Are Component Properties?

Component Properties define how instances of a component can be customized. Figma supports several property types:

• Text properties – Let you change button labels or headings.

• Boolean properties – Toggle visibility on or off (e.g., show/hide icons).

• Variant properties – Switch between design variations (e.g., default, hover, pressed).

• Instance swap properties – Replace nested components (like swapping an icon).

2. Applying Properties to an Interactive Component

Let’s say your button component has an icon:

• Select the icon layer and click “Create property” → “Boolean”.

• Name it Show Icon.

• In each variant, you can now toggle the icon visibility with a single click.

3. Simplify Your Workflow

Component properties make your design system easier to maintain:

• No need to create separate components for minor differences.

• Team members can adjust instances (like text or icons) without breaking the design.

• It keeps your interactive components clean, consistent, and scalable.

Prototyping Like a Pro

Once your components and variables are set up, it’s time to bring everything together in an interactive prototype that feels like a real product. This is where your design starts to tell a story with motion, transitions, and logic that mimic real user experiences.

1. Connect Your Components

Start by placing your interactive components (buttons, toggles, menus, etc.) on a frame that represents a screen.

• Use the Prototype tab to link components across frames or states.

• Use triggers such as On Click, While Hovering, or After Delay to define how elements respond.

2. Use Smart Animate for Smooth Transitions

Figma’s Smart Animate bridges the gap between static screens and fluid interactions.

• Apply it between two frames or variants with matching layers.

• Figma automatically animates the changes such as color, size, or position.

• Adjust the easing and duration for a polished motion effect.

3. Combine Variables for Dynamic Behavior

If you’ve set up variables (like light/dark modes or toggle states), use them in your prototype to switch between modes.

• Open the Prototype tab > Set variable > choose the variable to change during interaction.

• This makes your prototype more realistic and saves you from creating extra screens.

4. Test and Refine Your Prototype

• Preview your prototype using Present Mode (⌘ + Enter / Ctrl + Enter).

• Watch how your interactions behave, tweak the timing, easing, or triggers to feel more natural.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced designers can trip up when working with interactive components. Here are some of the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them so your prototypes stay clean, efficient, and error-free.

1. Over-Nesting Variants: It’s easy to go overboard with variant combinations like having 20 states in one component. This can make your setup confusing and hard to manage. Keep variants simple and purposeful. Split complex components into smaller, reusable ones.

2. Inconsistent Naming: Poor naming conventions lead to messy files and broken interactions. Use clear, consistent naming like Button / Primary / Hover or Input / Error. This helps Figma keep variant logic organized.

3. Forgetting to Update Interactions: When duplicating or editing components, it’s common to lose prototype connections. After duplicating, always check your prototype tab to make sure interactions are still linked.

4. Ignoring Responsive Resizing: An interactive component that works on desktop but breaks on mobile can ruin your prototype flow. Use Auto Layout and constraints to ensure your components resize gracefully.

5. Animating Everything: Not every element needs motion. Too many animations can make prototypes feel slow or chaotic. You should focus on intentional micro-interactions that enhance usability, not distract from it.

Final Thoughts

Interactive components in Figma let you bring your designs to life. They save time, reduce repetitive work, and make prototypes feel real and intuitive.

By combining variants, component properties, and variables, you can create components that are flexible, reusable, and easy to maintain.

Whether it’s a button, toggle, or complex UI element, interactive components let your prototypes behave like the real product.

Frequently Asked Questions