File tab placement should be placed next to the element that triggered it

Open existing files/run prototype

In the desktop app, the Figma Home Icon at top left is well understood as the place to open an existing file. When opening an existing file, I almost always have several other files open (8 at the moment).

The new tab spawns to the right of the farthest open tab. This is barely in my peripheral vision so I may not see the tab placement and the only clue it’s open is the reloading content area.

I expect it to open next to the Figma home icon since that’s where I launched it, and it’s where my attention and cursor is. If it opened there, I would linearly and smoothly move both to the next step.

The other benefit of this is that tabs would build up in chronological order from left to right, newest to the left. This is the intuitive read order for most users*.

The same pattern should happen for spawning prototypes. They should appear next to the file tab that launched it.

Applying this pattern would deliver a 100% consistent tab launch experience where the tab appears to the right of the trigger, whether it’s the Figma home icon, the file tab or the new tab icon.

Does anyone else feel the current pattern slows their flow down as I do? Does this suggestion make sense?

Thanks, TC

*With respect, I understand left to right is not global.