AI assistant for Figma on Mac: Lazur explains, points, guides and dictates

Mostly Metrics, summarizing Figma's S-1 filing, says about two-thirds of Figma's monthly active users are non-designers. About 30% are developers. That changes the help people need. A product manager opening a shared file for the first time asks different questions than a senior designer. Lazur is built for the first kind of question. It answers what is on screen, so you can keep working.

What Lazur does on the Figma canvas

Lazur does five jobs while Figma is open on your Mac. It explains what is on screen. It points at a control you cannot find. It walks you through a feature one step at a time. It drafts text and types it at your cursor. It dictates what you say into a text field. Every job starts with a held key and a spoken request. Lazur answers out loud, so your eyes stay on the canvas.

• Explain: ask what the selected layer is, what a panel does, or why a message appeared.
• Point: ask where the export setting is, and Lazur draws a circle and a label around it.
• Guide: ask for a walkthrough, and Lazur waits for each click before the next step.
• Draft: ask for a short label or description, and Lazur types it at the cursor.
• Dictate: hold fn, speak, and clean, formatted text lands where your cursor is.

Ask Lazur what is on screen

Start with the question you would ask a coworker standing behind you. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and say, 'What am I looking at?' Lazur reads the frame, the selection, and the panel that is open. Then it says what they are in plain words. This helps most with shared files. A file from a teammate often has frames nobody named, components in odd states, and warnings nobody explained. Ask about a warning, and Lazur tries to say what it means and whether it blocks your work.

Explanations depend on what is visible. Lazur answers from the screen at the moment you hold the key. If a menu is open, a dialog covers the canvas, or the file is still loading, that state is what Lazur describes. Close the menu, wait for the file, then ask again. A question about a layer that is scrolled out of view gets an answer about the wrong thing. Bring the layer into view first.

A worked example with a shared file you did not build

Say a teammate who left last month sent you a file called Final v3 copy. You need to change the label on a button. You click the card, and the right panel shows almost nothing. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask, 'Why is the panel empty?' Lazur can describe what it sees. Often the selection is a frame or a group, not the text layer. Ask next, 'Where do I select the text inside this card?' Lazur can circle the target, and you click it yourself.

Then ask for the new label. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and say, 'Draft a shorter label for this button.' Read the draft before you keep it. If your team has a style for button text, check that the label fits it. Lazur only knows your team's rules if you put them in the question.

How to phrase a question that gets a useful answer

Name the thing, the place, and the goal. 'How do I export?' is vague. 'Where is the export setting for this frame, so I can get a PNG for the handoff?' has a clear target. The second question gives Lazur something to point at, and it gives you a short answer you can act on.

One question per hold works better than a long speech. If the answer misses, add one detail and hold the key again. Keep each request to what is on one screen. Lazur answers from what it sees, so a clear question with a clear screen gets the best result.

Point at a button or panel you cannot find

Figma's menus and panels change over time. The Mac menu bar sits outside the Figma window. Preferences are under the Figma dropdown menu. Notifications appear in the Mac menu bar. When you cannot find one of these, ask, 'Where are Figma preferences?' Lazur draws a circle and a label around the item. You still press the control yourself.

Pointing also shows you when a help article is out of date. If Lazur circles a place that does not match the article, trust the screen. Then check Figma's release notes for the change.

Walk through a feature one click at a time

Guiding is different from explaining. Lazur shows one control, then waits for you to click it before it moves on. This pace suits a feature with many steps, like setting up Auto layout or preparing a file for Dev Mode. It also suits anyone who clicked the wrong thing and got lost. Lazur does not finish the task for you. You make every change, and you can stop at any step.

A simple first walkthrough is Figma's shortcut panel. Figma's keyboard help article lists three ways to open it on Mac.

1. Press Control Shift ? (⌃ ⇧ ?).
2. Click Help and resources in the bottom-right corner, then choose Keyboard shortcuts.
3. Type Keyboard shortcuts in the actions menu.

The panel has a Layout tab for keyboard layout preferences. Keyboard controls are on by default and cannot be turned off. The help article does not describe changing shortcuts, so test any remap in the app before you plan around it.

Draft text at the cursor and dictate with fn

Dictation and drafting are two jobs. Hold fn to dictate. You speak, and clean, formatted text lands at the cursor in any app. Figma text fields work the same way. Layer names, comments, frame descriptions, and notes in a shared file all take dictated text. Dictation is unlimited on both paid plans.

Drafting uses the same cursor. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask for a short empty state message, a button label, or a changelog line. Lazur types the draft where your cursor sits. Read every line before you keep it. Short drafts are the safest use. Long copy with product claims, prices, or numbers needs a human check.

Three small tools help with repeated text. Snippets hold phrases you type often. The personal dictionary keeps names and product terms spelled your way. Clipboard slots hold text you paste again, such as a component name or a link. Set up the phrases you use every day first, then dictate the rest.

Where Figma users get stuck, according to the research

Figma does not publish which help articles get the most views, so there is no official list of top struggles. The closest data comes from third-party review sites. Orbye lists complaint shares from an undisclosed method it describes as 14 signals. CrazyEgg says the steep learning curve is a consistent remark on G2 and Capterra, and that some reviewers struggle with big or complicated files. Treat these as directional, not as a survey.

Each theme fits Lazur differently. The learning curve is the best fit. Ask 'What does this panel do?' and you get a plain answer in the moment. Slow files are different. Lazur cannot make a file faster, and it cannot split a big file for you. It can explain a warning or a slowdown message if one shows on screen.

Billing and seat questions need the source, not a guess. Lazur does not read your invoice or change your seats. Figma's 'Which plan am I on?' article shows how to check your plan. For Dev Mode seats, check Figma's own plan documentation before you buy.

Mistakes people make with an AI assistant in Figma

• Letting go of the key early. Lazur listens and looks only while the key is down, so hold it until the question is done.
• Asking about a window that is not in front. Switch to Figma first, then hold the key.
• Expecting a click. Lazur points and guides. It does not press buttons or edit your file.
• Trusting a draft without reading it. Check names, numbers, and product claims every time.
• Asking billing questions from memory. Plan names and limits change, so check Figma's help center.
• Assuming you can remap shortcuts. The help article does not describe it, so test first.
• Packing a long task into one question. Break the job into steps and ask for one step at a time.

A review session that uses ⌥ ⌘ and fn together

Review sessions use both keys. A product manager reviewing a shared file might hold ⌥ ⌘ to ask what a frame is for, then hold fn to leave a comment. Keep the two jobs apart. Ask first, then dictate. Mixing them in one hold confuses both answers.

Here is a short run. Open the frame, hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask, 'What is this frame for?' Lazur answers from the screen. Then select the frame, hold fn, and say, 'The empty state needs a link to the help article.' The comment box gets that text at the cursor. Read it once. Post it. Repeat for the next frame.

Limits show up here. Dictation writes what you say. It does not decide whether the comment is right. Long review notes work better as one comment per hold, because each comment then stays on one frame. Three short comments are easier for a teammate to act on than one long note that covers five frames.

Figma desktop app on Mac: check your version first

Figma's desktop guide says the app requires macOS 12 or later. It supports Intel Macs and Apple silicon Macs. The same guide says each Figma version stops getting support six months after release. The app prompts you when you fall behind on updates, and a beta app can run next to the standard one.

Keep Figma current before you test Lazur. That way the screen you ask about matches what your teammates see. Figma's release notes archive dates each change, including 'Faster file transitions on desktop' from May 1, 2026. Check the archive when a feature behaves differently than a help article describes.

Present a prototype with tabs visible on Mac

When you present a prototype, Figma's desktop guide says to use View > Always Show Tabs When Presenting to keep tabs visible. This option is Mac only. Open the View menu first, then ask, 'Where is the option to keep tabs visible while presenting?' Lazur can point to the item while the menu is open.

What Lazur sends and what it keeps

Lazur listens and looks at the screen only while you hold the shortcut. When you ask a question, your audio and a screenshot go to AI providers so they can answer. Those are not stored. Your content is never used to train AI models. Memory of what you asked and did stays on your Mac.

The Figma file is still your team's file. Before you hold the key on a client file or an unreleased design, decide whether the answer needs the screen at all. If it does not, describe the problem in your own words and ask without a screenshot in view.

Figma plan limits to know before you start

Figma's plan article says Starter is the free plan. You are on Starter if no Professional label sits next to your team name, and no Education banner shows on the folders page. The plan names Figma lists are Starter, Education, Professional, Organization, and Enterprise.

Figma's rate-limit article says requests to a file on a Starter plan are capped at 6 per month, even for a Full seat on a paid plan. Upgrading can raise the limit. The article also lists per-minute and per-month limits, with no daily limits. Check the right window before you assume something broke.

Lazur does not change Figma's plan, its seats, or its limits. Treat it as a helper for the app you already use.

Next steps with Lazur in Figma

Start with one file you know well. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask what is selected. Then ask Lazur to point at one panel you use often. Try a short dictation in a comment box with fn. These tries take little time, and they show the jobs most people use first.

Lazur runs on macOS only. Windows is planned, not available. If your Mac fits, get the app from the download page. To compare plans, see pricing. If you want to know how much time dictation could save, try the typing speed test.