The new variable feature is great but there are still many downsides to prototyping in Figma, making it hard to show workflows as realistically as possible.

For example, it is still not possible to create a filterable table using the new variable feature (or maybe if there is a way, it is not straightforward).

Example: I’ve tried to create a task list for a product I am currently working on. The tasks can be filtered by e.g. type and status. Since I am using components for the filter dropdowns and the multiselect ones have nested components (checkboxes), you will have to choose whether you want the click on the checkbox to set the variable (in this case Boolean - show a certain task type or status) OR change to its variant (checked checkbox).

The only solution I could think of would be to create instances for every single filter with every single combination of checked and unchecked checkboxes - which would exactly lead to the problem that was tried to be solved by Figma (pasta pictures).

Libraries, components and instances should be aligned better with variables - these features are great by themselves and come in handy for certain use cases, but it feels like they don’t work together really well.