The “Run last plugin” command in Figma is of great convenience, as it saves you the bother of typing in the last plugin (after cmd+/), or going through the monster of a plugin menu you might have. It really should have its own native keyboard shortcut to make it even more convenient.
But have you ever done something in Figma repeatedly? Something which takes several operations to execute? It’s quite tedious, isn’t it?
So, why not apply this concept to (most) Figma operations? Microsoft products have for a long time had a “Repeat last action” (Cmd+Y) command. Adobe products also have this (Shift+Cmd+Z). And Google also caught on, with their Redo (also Cmd+Y) which does the same thing.
And boy do I use this command all the time. It’s a huge productivity power-up. I’ll use it when changing colors, when manipulating objects, and for a whole bunch of other operations, some that require a selection, and some which don’t.
Most actions and operations in Figma (any creative software tool in fact) require some degree of effort - once you’ve selected an object (or objects), you often have to move the mouse cursor somewhere else, click a bunch of times, scroll, click some more, etc… before you get the result. And when you want to do the exact same thing again, on another selection, say on another page or another part of your page, you have to go through every step again. It’s quite tedious, time-consuming, and frankly, it’s often frustrating.
A “Repeat last action” would essentially remember the operation you last did, and apply it to your new selection (if it requires a selection), saving you all that repetitive effort. It’s a huge time saver too, keeping you in full creative flow and boosting your productive significantly. Do more in much less time.
And part of the power of this command, is having an ergonomic keyboard shortcut. Cmd+Y doesn’t require finger acrobatics (same with Adobe’s Shift+Cmd+Z). So the command can be used as a temporary proxy to keyboard commands that do require finger acrobatics. It’s like a multiplier effect of sorts.
It also has to be smart. If the operation doesn’t make sense for your new selection, the command would be greyed out. But if you select a valid selection, you’d be able to do it. Basically it just remembers your last action (even if it didn’t require a selection).
To take it a step further, Figma could even mention the type of operation that was last performed (i.e. “Tidy Up”, or “Paste Properties”) which helps you remember what it will do.
So, should Figma catch up and provide a “Repeat last action”?
I sure hope so. And under the Adobe house, I’m thinking it probably will. I just hope they won’t take too long to make it happen!