I designed and developed a Figma plugin that reduced asset management time by 80%

Role: Project Lead, Design Engineer
Technologies: React, TypeScript, Figma Plugin API, Algolia
Impact: 80% reduction in asset management time, 5+ hours saved weekly per designer

Overview

During Backbone's company offsite, one of our UX designers approached me about a painful workflow: they were spending hours manually searching and importing game assets.

I built a Figma plugin that connected our design tools directly to our games database, turning a tedious multi-step process into a single click. The plugin quickly became a core part of the design team's workflow and led to the creation of Backbone's Labs team, where we focused on solving similar workflow bottlenecks.

The Challenge

The design team was dealing with thousands of game assets spread across multiple sources. Without a direct connection between Figma and our database, designers had to:

• Search for assets across multiple disconnected sources
• Download and manually import each asset individually
• Verify they were using current versions
• Repeat this process multiple times daily

This manual process was taking up to 25% of their productive time.

The Solution

The plugin I built created a direct bridge between Figma and our Games Database, providing three key features:

1. Live Database Integration

Direct connection to our production data sources, giving designers access to current assets without leaving Figma.

2. Intelligent Search

Algolia-powered instant search that made finding assets quick and forgiving of typos.

3. One-Click Asset Importing

Direct insertion of assets and metadata into designs, replacing the previous multi-step process.

Implementation Approach

I engineered the plugin to seamlessly integrate with designers' workflow while maintaining perfect consistency with our existing systems. The interface mirrored Backbone's established patterns, creating a natural extension of our product ecosystem with zero learning curve.

Using the standard stack for Figma plugin development (React, TypeScript with Figma Plugin API), I focused on creating a solution that felt native to both environments. The real technical challenge was in the seamless integration with our backend systems and optimizing performance for handling thousands of assets.

Results & Impact

The plugin transformed the design team's workflow with measurable impact:

• 80% reduction in asset management time
• 5+ hours reclaimed weekly per designer
• 100% team adoption within the first week
• Eliminated inconsistencies between design and production

The solution became essential infrastructure for the design team's daily workflow, allowing them to focus on high-value creative work rather than manual asset management.

Continuous Development

Since launch, I've maintained a rapid development cycle based on user feedback. Recent and upcoming enhancements include:

• Batch import functionality for multiple assets
• Context-aware layout templates
• Asset version history tracking
• Team favorites and usage analytics

Key Takeaways

This project demonstrated how targeted engineering solutions can dramatically transform design workflows. By bridging the gap between our data and the design environment, we eliminated friction and enabled designers to focus on creative work.

The success of this solution highlighted the impact of cross-functional understanding and solving specific, well-defined problems with purpose-built tools that deliver measurable business results.