Furbyesque toy for your power users

What's the play

For April Fools create a cute lil toy for your most obsessed users and advertise it like a real 90s toy. Figma made 'FigPals,' a Furbyesque companion for designers who stare at Figma all day, with a beautifully camp toy commercial to go along with it.

What was the alternative?

A throwaway April Fools blog post

Results / what moved

Figma launched 'FigPals' on April 1, a Furbyesque toy inspired virtual companion for designers who spend all day in Figma, complete with a deliberately over the top toy style ad made with a production house. It leaned into the loneliness and repetition of the work in an affectionate way that designers ate up.

Cost breakdown

A few hundred for a small run of the toys

Time to pull off

a few weeks

Would you run it again?

Yes. Figma treats April 1 as a yearly ritual. they commit to the bits.

Steps

1. 1

   Find your users' shared reality

   Name the funny truth of your power users' day, like staring at your tool for hours.

2. 2

   Invent a toy around it

   Turn it into a whimsical companion for April 1.

3. 3

   Make a real toy commercial

   Produce an over-the-top nostalgic ad rather than a jokey blog post.

4. 4

   Make it affectionate

   Keep the joke warm and self-aware so it reads as love for your users.

Receipts

Figma blog: FigPalsFigma April Fools community file