AI-powered search, Figma integration, new page structure and link sharing

‍

After discussing with hundreds of creative teams, it is clear to us that marketers and designers waste too much time on work between the brief and publishing content because of suboptimal tooling and infrastructure for creative work. This is why we’re building Focal – We want to make creative collaboration painless.

As we continue to develop our platform, we wanted to share our thinking and Q1 product roadmap openly with the creative and branding community. Moving forward, we will continue sharing the key items on the roadmap quarterly to give the community a chance to influence our product direction.

Here are the four key functionalities we’ve now chosen to build to enhance the usability of Focal in Q1. These updates will make it more intuitive for teams to upload, tag, and share imagery, video, and creative copy. Your feedback is invaluable, and we would love to connect with any team battling these topics.

More intuitive flow to upload, tag, and manage creative assets.

1. AI-powered search for creative assets. Soon users can easily browse and search assets by just naturally typing what they are looking for, just like we do daily with Google Search. We’re currently experimenting with various cutting-edge computer vision technologies to provide the best way to search assets without having to define a rigid taxonomy.
   ‍
2. Figma integration. We're allowing users to instantly import their Figma files and frames to the Focal library, saving valuable time for designers from the mundane exporting of all the assets. This integration also keeps the frames in sync, so your future updates are automatically uploaded to Focal too.
   ‍
3. New page and folder structure. We’re streamlining how creatives and marketers can upload, structure, and share assets, making it easier to stay organized and on top of their ongoing creative projects. Folders allow your typical file-based organization of assets with a nested structure and are a familiar concept for everyone, whereas Focal pages bring a new way of collaborating around a new creative concept or documenting your brand assets in a more rich and interactive way.
   ‍
4. Link sharing. Some of your friends just want to have a link to download or review the assets you have put together. Link sharing is the right option when you just want to hand out a quick and easy link access to some creative formats.

‍

We believe these updates will help design and marketing teams focus on creativity instead of manual busy work. Let us know what you think!

You can now sign up at focal.inc and join our waiting list. We will be rolling out more updates and inviting more teams to test out the platform over the upcoming months. Focal becomes available to a broader audience during the spring.

-Tuomo