The latest Config conference introduced generative AI for Figma. So there was a lot of talk in the office whether designers are being replaced. The history of design tools gives us a glimpse into the future and whether designers should look for a new career or not.

Growth and development can be divided into three different types:

Linear - grows at predictable, steady pace with predictable results.

Cubic - as growth increases, it takes off in a curve.

Exponential - grows greater and greater with time, hard to comprehend.

As mentioned, I believe that technology has potential for exponential growth. Tools supporting designers soon support other tools instead, and when the latter happen things move quickly.

Lets put "Output" on one axis and think of it as design that is being produced. And let's put "Time" on the other axis, as in how long it takes to develop new tools.

Illustrator - the output was low and the tool was already there. Workflow was screen by screen in different files, and handover was a PowerPoint to developers with specs.

Sketch - output was a little higher since the program was created with UI design in mind. Workflow is more convinient when you can use styles and have all of the screens next to each other. Hooking it up to Zeplin made handovers easier, yet it was manual translation of the design to code.

Figma - effective collaboration with other designers and developers. Higher output thanks to a lot of plugins as well. Possiblity to export design tokens (building bricks) and icons to code. Code still not really usable for production.

These tools are still considered to have low output. And it has taken over 10 years to go from Illustrator to Figma.

Lets call Figmas new features Figma 2.0 for simplicity and to keep it apart.

What exists to support high output?

• Generative AI that can design User Interface with prompts.
• Design tokens and icons being sent directly to code.
• Prototypes with variabels and logic.

What is missing?

• A chain from AI prompt to design to usable code.
• Automatic collection of insights from user research and data that generates new design solutions.
• Design system based on the points above, ready to use on all plattforms.
• Create a brand with everything from logo to palette to icons, based upon brand values in prompt.

So the 10 000 dollar question is when and how will Figma 3.0 (or another design tool) replace designers? To guess when it's happening would be really hard and I'm not going to try. Regarding the how Figma 3.0 will replace designers, my guess is that designers will not be replaced, but rather focus on solving problems for users at a much higher pace.

Let's replace "Output" with "Solving problems for users" on the Y axis. Now this is exciting for me, to create better user experiences with design. Maybe the circle to the left is the beginning of my design career, and circle to the right is somewhere in the not so distant future.

With time we are going to create a smoother user experience at at much high tempo than before. And then it's great business value to have a designer.