◆ Figma

Apply layer effects and shadows

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskAdd a subtle elevation to the card list with a 6px y-offset shadow, 12px blur and 15% black…+
Add a subtle elevation to the card list with a 6px y-offset shadow, 12px blur and 15% black opacity, and apply it as an effect on the Cards component so it updates across the library. Ensure the shadow is layer-effect only (not rasterized) and that it preserves corner radii on hover and expanded states.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I release the new card elevation, make the shadow easy to review: show the card at…+
Before I release the new card elevation, make the shadow easy to review: show the card at normal and hover states side by side, list the exact effect values (offset, blur, spread, color, opacity), and highlight any instances where a second inner shadow or background image will mute the lift so reviewers can decide if the effect should be component-level or frame-level.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentI applied the same drop shadow effect to every card component but on a few pages the elevation…+
Card shadows look stronger on some screens than others
I applied the same drop shadow effect to every card component but on a few pages the elevation reads much stronger. The product manager and the frontend engineer are watching. I don’t know whether this is due to stacking multiple shadows, a background color contrast issue, or export flattening. What is the most likely reason and the immediate test to confirm it?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternWe often ship components where shadows were flattened into bitmaps or duplicated, causing…+
Shadows and effects get accidentally flattened before handoff
We often ship components where shadows were flattened into bitmaps or duplicated, causing awkward contrasts and missed updates. I’m the senior designer and it forces engineering to patch visuals. Which habitual change in how we apply or document layer effects would stop this, and what one check should we add to our pre-release checklist?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from Figma's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.