Fons Mans’ Post

it is made by figma.

It's interesting how going 'Zero Figma' has become a bold statement. When did design (digital design) become so completely beholden, focused, enraptured and dependent on a single tool? Especially one that encourages ever more high-fidelity thinking and requires ever more investment in learning. Try a pencil or pen. You'll be amazed at the shallow learning curve.

I have kind of done the whole journey: from paper to whiteboards, balsamiq, axure, xd, figma, etc. To me all depends on the purpose of the outcome and how fast is needed. In my particular case, my designs are meant to drive conversations of what we are about to build, and I will use whatever tool that enables that in the most efficient and effective way. I might be missing the point, though 😎

I don't focus on using any particular tool and I can greatly appreciate Riley's push back against going full fidelity from Day One because that's what the tool wants you to do. I only learned to use Figma because of Figma. Basically because The Industry has become that lame that you actually just NEED to say you use Figma or you don't back in, and I KNOW I resent it. As a Creative, any time I am forced into One Way of doing something, I cringe and go along. I'm flexible, but anyone that's worked in Tech and Design long enough knows in their blood that there's always about this One Way Scenario that comes back to bite Business in the ass. I'm NOT going to say 'I told you so' out loud, but you'll see. The tools do NOT make the Designer. And by forcing trendy schlock as The One Way, you actually limit The Full Power of Design and The Designers you hire and work with. Figma's cute. It's a cute tool. Stop being so hyper-fixated. It's JUST one tool ... and it should be one tool of many.

I'm going Zero Figma for my next project (and for the foreseeable future for all projects in my lil cozy product studio) and documenting the whole thing. The gist isn't just 'get away from Figma because they're led by a terrible human' (but yes that is part of it) but also to push back against the idea that high fidelity design in a dedicated tool that isn't the browser is the de-facto approach to shipping well-crafted products. Idea is to lash some stuff on YouTube at various milestones and talk about how things were different/easier/more difficult/whatever compared to the traditional 'draw some rectangles then draw them again with code' process that for whatever reason is a cool and normal thing to do in this industry. Are there any areas in particular you (i.e. LinkedIn strangers trying to dodge sponsored messages from accounting software shills) would like to hear/see more about? Have you considered doing this yourself? Am I going to cry? LMK

let's start with Figma

get Start with figma

Smooth ? Made in Figma

"Drumroll, please! Super thrilled to announce my latest milestone: I'm now Google-certified in crafting high-fidelity designs and prototypes with Figma! It's not just a certificate, it's a testament to dedication and passion for design. Ready to bring creativity to life and redefine possibilities! #DesignDreams #FigmaFever #GoogleCertified"

The problem that's being mentioned here makes a lot of sense. During developer hand-offs, Figma frames and prototypes are not enough. It's important that you also make detailed design specs to ensure that the dev who will implement it has a good level of confidence on the experience that needs to be delivered. So with that being said, I also send these items aside from the Figma prototype: - Miro: A board that lays out a connected set of high-fidelity mockups connected like a user flow. We treat this as our primary source of truth. - Video recording: I use OBS or Loom to record the prototype that I made in Figma.