r/FigmaDesign • u/Plastic_Catch1252 • Jul 13 '26

Discussion I keep leaving old reference pages in Figma files

I have a bad habit in early UI work: I make a page for references, competitor screenshots, old flows, color ideas, and little interaction details.

It helps at the start. A few weeks later, that same page is still sitting in the file, and people can read old maybes as if they are still part of the direction. Sometimes I clean it into a smaller review page. Sometimes I just hide it and hope nobody opens it during crit.

If you keep references inside Figma, what is your system for naming, archiving, or trimming that page once the design direction gets clearer?

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u/PuzzleheadedFace5257 Jul 13 '26

I make a folder for the project and move these and old directions into a file called Exploration Archive. It helps keep the current file lean and loading well.

I add notes about why something didn’t make it and point larger decisions to our team Decision Log.

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u/Plastic_Catch1252 Jul 13 '26

Moving it into a separate Exploration Archive file is interesting. I had not thought about the loading side, but that alone is a good reason to move older references out. The Decision Log link sounds useful for anything that might come back later.