Locofy Launches Lightning, an AI-Powered Tool

Singapore-based frontend development platform Locofy has introduced Lightning, a new tool that leverages its large design models (LDMs). 

It is a one-click solution to transform Figma and AdobeXD prototypes into code. Lightning automates approximately 80% of frontend development to address developer shortages and alleviate workloads. 

The tool will initially be launched for Figma, with plans to expand support for other design tools later in the year.

Lightning Addresses Developer Shortages and Workload Challenges:

Locofy’s founders emphasize the need for tools like Lightning due to developer shortages, leading to revenue loss for companies and overburdened developers. 

Lightning, developed in-house with an investment of over $1 million, targets startups and small teams in customer-focused enterprises, allowing developers to focus on core business activities.

Locofy’s Previous Offering – Locofy Classic:

Locofy previously introduced Locofy Classic in 2021, involving a multi-step process for design-to-code conversion. However, the new Lightning tool condenses these steps into a one-click solution. 

Locofy Classic required users to undergo design optimizations, tagging interactive elements, styling for different screen sizes, identifying repeating elements, and configuring preferred settings.

Advanced Techniques and Large Design Models (LDMs):

Locofy leverages advanced techniques, including image-based neural networks, multimodal transformers, graph-based neural networks, sequence-to-sequence models, stack-pointer networks, heuristic models, and Large Language Models (LLMs). 

LDMs, similar to OpenAI’s language models, play a crucial role in Locofy’s design-to-code transformation.

Future Plans and Monetization:

Locofy plans to extend its platform beyond design-to-code, incorporating tools for building design systems, utilizing public UI libraries, creating backends, integrating with Github Copilot and CI-CD, and introducing an AI assistant for designers. 

The company also plans to offer hosting and deployment services for full applications. While Locofy has been in free beta for two years, it aims to monetize in 2024, with pricing based on factors like the number of screens or components converted to code and maintained regularly with AI.