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Figma and the enshittification of Product Design

How profit-focused software has delegitimized the entire design industry

Jon Upshaw
UX Planet
6 min readFeb 16, 2025

Behold, the new (and boring) face of design.

Figma has become the design product that is synonymous with what we call modern-day product design. But how did it happen? We know that design as a discipline began long before this software won our hearts and minds and made its way into the mainstream. Our instincts tell us that Figma is the perfectly normal choice for designing digital products because — it’s easy to use, it’s free and, hey, the features are all there!

Our world would not be the same when Figma made its debut in 2016. Since its release, it has gone on to gross billions in revenue, even almost selling out to Adobe before refusing the offer. Its grip on the design industry is only a minor testament to its incredible contribution to the accessibility of design. Just think — what other product allowed developers to collaborate with design on such an intimate level? No other product matches the usability and versatility of Figma.

So what’s the deal?

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels

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Published in UX Planet

UX Planet is a one-stop resource for everything related to user experience.

Written by Jon Upshaw

I write on productivity, culture, design, entrepreneurship, and life in general.

Responses (3)

What are your thoughts?

Great article, although I would argue that Figma became the de facto piece of software for product design at the launch of design libraries. that allowed for the build-out of these specialized design system teams, which then leads people to think that design is just a Lego set.

Figma has become the design product that is synonymous with what we call modern-day product desig

/Software/ Design. I’m pretty sure Figma isn’t used to design washing machines, phones, cars or furniture :)

And if it is? Well IKEA keep coming up with creative ideas all the time.

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