A three-line WIP
Torn about this article: Welcome to the WIP. One on hand, it codifies some longstanding truths: our linear design narratives are fictions; regular crit makes better products, etc. So far, so solid. But as I read it, I liked its vibes less and less. I think there are two reasons.
1. The piece was written by the Figma CPO Yuhki Yamashita, and published on the Figma blog. The thrust is that Figma is highlighting emerging design trends, and supporting them through its product choices. But I question the direction of travel. Figma’s market dominance arguably means it gets to establish design trends. Figma has always prioritised showing WIP / cross-functional design collaboration / people poking their damn noses into incomplete work they lack the expertise to properly evaluate (delete as appropriate): this piece doesn’t interrogate the company’s role – and the role of tooling more generally – in shaping industry practice. Figma isn’t paving the cowpaths: it’s bulldozing the construction site.
2 – and this is where I indulge some industry-elder-type grumbling – these trends, whether emergent or engineered, contribute to the ongoing commoditisation and devaluation of design skill (pioneered by our uncritical embracing of design systems), and to a forced ideological commitment to incrementalism, faux empiricism, and to launching mediocre products.
‘And yes, this means some imperfect launches. But customers aren’t judging our products based on that singular moment’ says Yamashita. Perhaps so for Figma, but elsewhere, customers absolutely do judge products on singular moments. With a thousand competitors, a botched launch means an instant install-and-delete, and customers lost to you forever.
There’s certainly a place for scrappiness in design, and a WIP-iterative way of working. But, whatever empirical dogmatists might have you believe, there’s also a role for polish and finesse, even before launch. Advanced design expertise involves matching the approach to the scenario. I’m not sure Figma understands or welcomes that fluidity.
