Create Apps Without Code: Buzzy

An AI Figma plugin that revolutionizes the way product designers work. With Buzzy, designers can effortlessly transform text into fully functional applications, even without coding expertise, enabling them to bring their ideas to life with incredible speed and efficiency.

Gone are the days of relying solely on coding skills to create applications, visual screens, and live prototypes based on a UI design kit. Buzzy takes your UI kit in a Figma file and works its magic by extracting text styles, color styles, and components, seamlessly converting them into a functional app. It's truly a remarkable tool that empowers designers to achieve more than ever before.

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Now, let's delve into the remarkable benefits that Buzzy offers to Figma users:

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1.?AI-generated briefs: Buzzy's integrated chat feature allows you to simply type in your requirements and generate a comprehensive brief. Before generating screens, you have the flexibility to fine-tune the brief to precisely align with your needs. This streamlines the design process, making it more personalized and efficient.

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2.?Seamless merger with design systems: Buzzy effortlessly transforms your entire design system UI kit into a tangible app, bridging the gap between design and development. This integration ensures that the design work closely resembles the final result, enhancing the efficiency of iterations and adjustments. What's more, any changes made to the design system UI kit automatically reflect in the app, disappears the need for manual updates and minimizing inconsistencies between design and development.

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3.?Say goodbye to prototypes: In the past, creating wireframes or high-fidelity prototypes in Figma required manual screen connections, resulting in representations of the final product. Buzzy changes this game entirely. With its functionality, the plugin generates a fully functional app, allowing you to test the actual product directly. This renders traditional prototypes obsolete, saving you valuable time.

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4.?Logic building without coding: Buzzy empowers you to build app functionality without any coding knowledge. While it may take some initial time to grasp the logic-building process, once understood, you can work swiftly and effectively, bringing your ideas to life.

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Guide to Using the Plugin:

1.?Establishing Buzzy and Figma Connection To begin using Buzzy, it is essential to connect it with Figma. Follow these simple steps:

_Launch the Buzzy plugin: Open the Buzzy plugin from the Figma resources tab and carefully follow the instructions on the screen to establish the connection.

To Provide your OpenAI API key: Obtain an OpenAI API key if you don't already possess one. You can generate it from the OpenAI website. Once you have the API key, enter it into the plugin's settings. Once entered, you can start utilizing Buzzy.

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2.?Utilizing a Design System UI Kit for the Buzzy Page Buzzy streamlines the design process for your application by utilizing the UI design from the Figma UI kit. This approach simplifies design generation as the tool understands how to create the design directly from Figma. Here's how to proceed:

_Copy a Figma component UI kit from the Buzzy page in the Figma community.

_Go to the Buzzy page in the Figma community and select one of the available UI kits to copy. Open the copied file and launch the plugin.

_Keep in mind that you can customize the styles in the UI kit to align with your app's UI design.

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3.?Generating a Project Brief To communicate the desired app to the plugin effectively, it is necessary to create a project brief, just as you would in your regular workflow. You have two options:

_Manual brief creation: Compose the brief manually using the dedicated brief tab in the app.

_AI chat assistance: Save time by utilizing the AI chat feature. Provide the chat with instructions, and it will generate the brief for you. You can review the generated brief and add additional instructions if needed.

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Here's a guide on how to create a brief from the chat using the Buzzy plugin in Figma:

1.?Open the Buzzy plugin in Figma and go to the chat section.

2.?Provide a detailed description of the application you want to develop. For instance, let's say you're designing a coffee shop menu app. Describe the different sections, types of food and drinks, sub-categories, and other relevant details. It's important to be specific about user roles, such as viewers and editors, and their respective functions within the app. The accuracy of your prompt will improve the results generated by the AI.

3.?Type your brief into the chat window and click "Send." The AI will analyze the information you provided and generate a brief based on it.

4.?Review the generated brief and make any necessary adjustments to ensure it aligns with your requirements.

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Here's an example prompt you can use: "Create a brief for a coffee shop menu app. The app should have five main sections for different types of food and drinks: toast, bagels, bowls, coffee, and fresh fruit juice. There should be two sub-categories: one for food (toast, bagels, bowls) and one for drinks (fresh fruit juice). In the drink sub-category, the app should display the name and price of each drink. In the food sub-category, the app should show the dish name, additional information, price, and extras. The app should support two types of users: viewers and editors."

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Once you've reviewed the brief and are satisfied with it, you can proceed to generate the data model for your app:

1.?Review the description and generate a data model.

2.?The data model is crucial for organizing your app's data. It illustrates how different pieces of information relate to each other and the rules governing their interactions.

3.?After reviewing the brief, go to the Model section and click "Generate data model." You can manually fine-tune the structure afterward, once the plugin generates the initial structure.

4.?If you're new to building apps with no-code tools, this step might be unfamiliar, and you may need to study it. It's not difficult, but it's essential to understand how to make it work.

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Now that your brief and data model is ready, you can proceed to review the markup and generate the screens:

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1.?After generating the data model, move to the markup section and carefully review the information you've created. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure it meets your requirements. For example, you can modify the responsive design settings like the minimum and maximum width.

2.?Once you're satisfied with the markup, click the "Generate Screens" button to generate the app's screens. This process applies your UI kit and design system directly to the screens, ensuring consistency and accuracy in both the design and the actual app.

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Finally, review the generated screens and publish your app:

1.?Take a look at the Figma interface and witness the magic as all the screens are effortlessly generated.

2.?You can now examine and test the screens to ensure they meet your expectations.

3.?Once you're satisfied, proceed with publishing your app.

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It is now time to release the app. Buzzy eliminates the need for traditional prototypes by allowing you to directly test the actual app.

To publish your app, simply copy the link to the Figma page, go to the Publish tab, paste the URL, and click the 'Publish' button in the plugin interface.

Once the app has been generated, click 'Generate sample data' to populate it with

authentic information. Now you are all set to conduct your testing.

Click on 'View in live mode' and immerse yourself in the interactive product! No alternative text is available for this image The screens were generated by the plugin itself.

7.?Make necessary adjustments

While using the app, you may realize that certain areas require adjustments and issue fixes, as is common in the process of creating anything in order to achieve exceptional outcomes.

Refining and fine-tuning are crucial, and you might need to modify colors, typography, or experiment with the logic. So keep in mind that adjustments may be necessary. No alternative text is available for this image.

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Buzzy also equips designers with the ability to create and sell products tailored to specific industries or niches. For instance, one can swiftly generate functional apps like menu apps for restaurants or coffee shops using the plugin's capabilities. This opens up new avenues for generating revenue and showcasing design skills, which is especially valuable in the current economy where many designers face layoffs. As an example, you could create a menu app using this tool and offer it for sale to all the restaurants in your city.

Two additional noteworthy points

Before concluding this article, there are two important points worth mentioning.

Understanding the technical aspects: While coding knowledge is not required, it is crucial to comprehend the technical aspects of the Buzzy plugin in order to maximize its benefits. Familiarizing yourself with the logic-building process will enable you to create more sophisticated applications and utilize the plugin's features more effectively.

Access through wishlist registration: Access to this plugin is currently limited, and you must register for the waitlist in order to use it.

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In summary:

This article delved into Buzzy, an AI plugin for Figma that simplifies the creation of functional apps in a rapid and user-friendly manner. We discussed the advantages of using this plugin, including streamlined design workflows, seamless integration with design systems, and the diminished significance of traditional prototypes. Additionally, we offered a detailed, step-by-step guide on utilizing Buzzy to develop an app. Furthermore, we explored various use cases for the plugin, such as building affordable MVPs and creating and selling niche products. Lastly, we highlighted important considerations when working with the plugin and provided a video tutorial showcasing the app creation process.