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Using Attention Hotspots in Figma to Test Visual Hierarchy
The Designer’s Dilemma: Is Your Visual Hierarchy Really Working?
You’ve created a clean, well-structured design. But are users actually noticing the most important parts?
Heatmaps can give you clues. They show where people are most likely to look, using colors—red for strong focus, blue for weaker. It’s a helpful visual tool, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Here’s the problem: just because something is red doesn’t mean it’s getting the most attention overall. A small red spot might look important, but a bigger area with lighter colors could actually be seen more, just less intensely.
This can be confusing. Designers often assume that the brightest areas are the most important, but that’s not always true.
So, if you rely only on the heatmap colors, you might misjudge what’s really working in your layout.
Say Hello to Attention Hotspots
To help you quickly understand how your design draws user focus, we introduce a feature in our Figma plugin: Attention Hotspots.
Automatically generated from heatmap data, these hotspots highlight the areas that attract the most attention. You’ll see clear, outlined zones placed over the strongest attention areas in your design, with a percentage number shown in the center of each one.
That percentage shows how much of the total user attention is likely to land in that area. For example, if a hotspot displays 22%, it means that out of all the gazes across your entire design, 22% would be directed at that specific spot.
It’s not about how many people see it but how much visual attention that part of the design gets compared to everything else. In simple terms, the higher the percentage, the more visually important that area is to the viewer.
This helps you avoid over- or underestimating the importance of any element—especially in complex layouts.
Why This Changes Everything
Heatmaps are great at showing where people tend to look, but they often leave designers guessing. The colors tell you where attention is concentrated but not how much attention each area actually gets.
That’s where Attention Hotspots make a big difference.
By showing both the shape and the percentage of attention for each key area, hotspots take the guesswork out of interpreting heatmaps. You don’t have to wonder if a red area is more important than a large orange one—the numbers tell you exactly which parts of your design are getting the most attention.
This gives you a clear, fast way to judge whether your visual hierarchy is working. Are people paying the most attention to the headline? Is the call-to-action getting enough attention? You can now answer these questions confidently.
Navigating the Interface: A Quick Tour
When you run an attention analysis using our Figma plugin, Attention Hotspots appear directly on your design as outlined zones. These show you exactly where the strongest focus is happening.
Here’s what you’ll see:
- Free-form hotspot zones
Each hotspot surrounds an area of high attention. These shapes automatically follow the most visually intense parts of your design, based on the heatmap data. - Percentage values inside each zone
In the center of every hotspot, there’s a percentage number. This tells you how much of the total visual attention is focused on that specific area. - Heatmap color overlay
You’ll still see the traditional heatmap colors behind the hotspots—reds for high attention and blues for lower. These help you interpret the intensity of focus at a glance. - Left-side ranked list
On the left panel, you’ll see a simple list showing the percentages of the hotspots, ranked from highest to lowest. This allows you to instantly see how the top attention areas compare—whether one dominates or if attention is distributed more evenly across multiple spots.
How to Use Hotspots for Smarter Design Decisions
First, check which design elements the hotspots cover. Are they your key elements—like the headline, CTA, or product image? Or is attention landing somewhere less important?
Then, look at the percentage values. Do those percentages match the importance of each element? If something critical is getting very little attention, it might be a sign that your visual hierarchy needs adjustment.
Also, compare the size, shape, and color of the hotspots. A large, low-intensity area may collect more attention overall, but that attention is scattered. A small red hotspot means a strong, focused pull in a specific spot, even if the total attention there is lower. It shows where the eye is sharply drawn.
Combine color intensity and percentage values to spot both focused glances and broad attention coverage.
When it comes to shape, irregular shapes can reveal how attention flows around and between elements—helping you spot if nearby objects are competing for focus or if one element clearly stands out as the focal point.
Finally, check for unintended distractions. If a background element or decorative detail is getting more attention than your CTA, that’s a red flag. The goal is to make sure that the attention flow supports the user journey and your design’s purpose.
Use these insights to fine-tune hierarchy, improve clarity, and support the user journey.
When to Use Attention Hotspots
Even experienced designers rely on instinct, but Attention Hotspots offer clarity that intuition alone can miss. Here’s where they bring the most value:
- When your layout looks “off” but you can’t explain why
Some designs feel unbalanced even after multiple revisions. Hotspots give you an objective look at how attention is spread. You might discover that secondary elements are pulling focus away from your CTA or that no clear focal point is guiding the eye. - Before presenting or handing off a design
Whether you’re sending your work to developers, clients, or teammates, it helps to validate that attention flows the way you intended. Are users noticing the headline first? Is the visual hierarchy strong? A quick hotspot check gives you concrete data to back up your choices—or to spot last-minute issues. - To test first-glance clarity
In those first few seconds of viewing, what jumps out? If users aren’t immediately drawn to your message or product value, your design might need reworking. Hotspots help simulate those initial impressions and reveal if you’re leading users in the right direction from the very start.
These aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re fast, visual checkpoints that can catch issues you might overlook, even with years of experience.
Final Takeaway: Visual Hierarchy, Quantified
Attention Hotspots let you move from guesswork to clear, measurable insights. You can quickly see which elements attract focus, how attention is distributed, and whether your layout is working as intended.
It’s a faster, more confident way to evaluate and improve your design’s visual hierarchy—right inside Figma.
