We're turning into pixel pushers again.

This was my gut reaction to Figma’s new features at Config 2024:

• AI: regurgitated patterns.
• New UI: k.
• Slides: more superficial meetings.

I don't like being mean. But these features hold designers hostage to pixel pushing.

Figma is not design.

The type of design that modern design tools enable are workarounds. UIs are a necessary evil. A substitute. Screens are the closest we’ve come towards realizing our desires. I can access food, clothing, transportation and housing by tapping a few buttons. UIs make that extremely easy, but it’s still an intermediary.

If we could think our desires into reality, we’d all be out of jobs.

I’m not dismissing Figma. I’ve switched five companies over to Figma in my career. Figma immediately elevated the teamwork at these companies through multiplayer and real-time design updates. It’s still an incredible piece of software. And the new features will no doubt make production (and our lives) easier.

My concern is that the new features over-index on the tool itself. It makes sense, Figma needs to make money. But it's unsettling that a single design tool wields such a significant influence in shaping our industry.

I’d like to see design tools evolve in other directions:

• Design as working software. Framer looks promising.
• Design management, a tool that connects research and production, especially for service design.

Don't let the tools define you.