At Config 2023, we want to highlight stories from across the entire product development process. We‘re looking for designers, developers, product managers, engineers—any makers using Figma.

Here are the five main themes we’re digging into this year: 

1. Design in the details: Design is in the details. We want to know about the small (or big) details that have shaped your practice lately. How are you finessing your files, incorporating integrations, or getting weird with some wild effects? Don’t keep it to yourself—share it with the world! We’re looking for craft tips, new techniques, and best practices for pushing your Figma files to the next level.

2. Future of design systems: Over the past decade, design systems have become more accessible and powerful, enabling teams of all sizes to create polished interfaces across devices. So, what comes next? From solo practitioners to those working within multi-brand global systems, we invite you to share your guiding philosophies, frameworks, and any stories you might have from navigating this increasingly complex problem space. 

3. Designing for what's next: The next era of product design will push teams in new directions, challenge our expectations, and require all of us—and that means you—to shape it. We’re looking for those who are paving the way through groundbreaking projects, emerging technologies, or fresh perspectives on the future of technology and design. Share your vision for what’s next, and how we can all contribute to it.

4. Development & code: As design and development inch closer together, we want to hear about the abstractions that help you think about this new landscape, and the frameworks that make it easier, faster, and more secure to build. Have you come up with new ways to build on old platforms? Found interesting approaches to automate a process? Made an app more performant? Streamlined the handoff handshake with your design team? Tell us all about it! 

5. Build for a WIP world: We live in a world where our work is always in progress. Our processes are rarely linear, with unexpected stops and starts, twists and turns along the way. So, how do you make progress in an always-in-progress world? We’re looking for stories from product teams about how you’re making work happen. How do you bring your team together and how are you collaborating in the file?

Talks will be 35-40 minutes in length. We kindly ask that all speakers provide a brief talk outline that speaks to one of the above talk tracks.

Have more than one idea? Feel free to submit multiple proposals. 

We’ll look at submissions using these criteria:

1. Personal - sharing your own experiences and learnings
2. Specific - dives beyond the surface level
3. Relevant - applies to the themes and the community
4. Hands-on - allows attendees to feel involved in your narrative
5. Practical - able to be implemented easily and instantly

A group of Figma employees from different departments, backgrounds, and expertise will review all submissions. Each talk will be rated anonymously on the same criteria. We’ll reject submissions that are incongruent with our Code of Conduct or contain material that is vague, inauthentic, or plagiarized. 

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SPEAKER HONORARIUM

Each session will receive the same honorarium of $3,000. If there are multiple speakers, the honorarium will be split evently. If the speaker can’t accept an honorarium, we’re happy to donate $3,000 in the speaker’s name to a charity of their choice. Attending the conference will be free for speakers, and T&E will be covered. 

APPLICATION TIMELINE + SELECTION PROCESS

• Call for Speakers opens: Wednesday March 1, 2023
• Call for Speakers closes: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
• You’ll hear from us by April 6th, 2023

You can always send us a note to events@figma.com to ask questions before you apply!