The Linear Method: Opinionated Software | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)
Linear argues that software should be intentionally designed around a clear use case rather than offering unlimited flexibility. Its defaults reduce process debates and help teams start working quickly, while the company remains willing to evolve its opinions through customer feedback and experimentation. The approach balances strong product principles with deliberate, manageable compromises. ## Opinionated Software as a Default Way of Working - Linear was created by founders with experience at companies such as Airbnb and Coinbase, who wanted an issue-tracking and project-management tool suited to modern product teams. - Unlike general-purpose software, opinionated software guides users toward one effective workflow. - The goal is to prevent the chaos that can emerge when every team or individual invents a different process as an organization scales. - Linear does not insist that its default is the only possible approach, but it makes the recommended path clear. ## Designing at the Atomic Level - Linear favors familiar concepts such as projects, teams, labels, and due dates instead of introducing specialized jargon. - Users should be able to start without reading a handbook or learning an elaborate methodology. - The company is most opinionated about small, foundational decisions—such as treating labels and due dates as issue properties. - For broader structures, such as how projects should work, Linear responds more heavily to customer feedback because organizations differ in how they operate. - The intended result is less time spent configuring processes and more time spent building products. ## Managing Product Debt Deliberately - Linear distinguishes product debt from technical debt: - Technical debt is generally associated with poor or costly code. - Product debt comes from narrowing scope, postponing polish, or optimizing for short-term delivery. - The team treats product debt as borrowing against the future, with “interest” paid through later customer feedback, redesign work, or additional resources. - Settings are an example: Linear has continued adding features and preferences without redesigning the overall experience. - Because settings are not central to the primary workflow, the team considers the accumulated debt relatively low-interest and acceptable to repay gradually. - These shortcuts are framed less as reducing quality and more as intentionally limiting scope. ## Strong Opinions That Can Change - Linear does not treat its principles as a rigid recipe; it expects the product and its processes to evolve. - The team supports experimentation and iteration instead of preserving every decision indefinitely out of fear of user resistance. - Changes that disrupt established workflows require care, but the company believes software must retain the ability to remove or rethink features. - Strong opinions are therefore held firmly enough to guide decisions, but flexibly enough to change when evidence shows a better direction. Linear’s method is most useful when teams want to reduce workflow complexity without eliminating adaptability. Establish clear defaults for common tasks, be deliberate about where flexibility matters, and treat shortcuts as temporary product debt that should be tracked and repaid when its cost becomes significant.