This paper describes design methods for microflexures that serve as a suspension system in a laterally-resonating electrostatic microactuator. An emphasis has been made on the strategy applied in two successive microsuspension design stages : a conceptual design stage and a dimension design stage. In the conceptual design stage, three different forms of microsuspensions have been analyzed. Important issues influencing the design and performance of microsuspensions are identified, quantified and compared. On this basis, a crab-leg form of the microsuspension has been selected for use in resonant microactuators. In the dimension design stage, two kinds of design methods are introduced : an equal-stress design method for low-stress design and an equal-stiffness-ratio design method for stiffness specification. Both design methods are applied in the size decision of the predecided crab-leg microsuspension, thereby generating a set of suspension prototypes within realistic range of microstructure sizes. The present design methods can be applicable to the microflexure design for laterally driven microelectromechanical systems, including microaccelerometers, resonant microsensors, microgyroscopes, microfilters, optical shutters and laser-beam choppers.