User Experience | Techlist.io

figmaFeb 11, 20262 min readCurated summary

State of the Designer 2026: Designers Are Leaning Into the Messy Middle | Figma Blog

Designers are navigating rapid change by using AI as a complement to—not a replacement for—human craft. Figma’s 2026 survey of 906 designers finds that AI is helping many work faster, collaborate better, and improve quality, while strong craft remains central to satisfaction and business performance. The report’s overall conclusion is optimistic: designers are embracing uncertainty and turning new pressures into creative momentum. ## AI Improves Speed, Collaboration, and Quality - The survey was conducted by NewtonX across North America, APAC, Europe, LATAM, and the Middle East. - Respondents answered in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean. - 89% of designers say AI helps them work faster. - 80% say it improves collaboration. - 91% believe AI tools improve their designs, countering concerns that AI-generated work will reduce quality. - Designers who actively use AI are 25% more likely to report job satisfaction. - AI users are also more likely to say they drive business impact and contribute to company growth. - By automating or accelerating workflow tasks, AI gives designers more time for high-impact ideas. ## Craft Remains a Human Differentiator - As AI makes prototyping more accessible, craft becomes a key way for products to stand out. - Designers define craft in several ways: - Visual polish: 58% - Thoughtful problem-solving: 47% - Clear, intuitive UX: 36% - Emotion and delight: 35% - Consistency across products: 15% - Craft can mean technical skill, careful execution, intentional decisions, artistry, or solving difficult product problems. - Designers who associate craft with visible emotional and creative outcomes often receive more recognition than those whose craft involves less visible tactical work. ## Design Excellence Supports Morale and Growth - Designers are twice as likely to feel positive about their work when leaders prioritize design excellence. - Teams that value craft report stronger morale, faster business growth, and a clearer sense of momentum. - Leadership support, recognition, and opportunities for development help designers maintain quality while adapting to new tools. - The report links investment in craft with better outcomes for both designers and their organizations. Organizations should treat AI as a way to extend designers’ capabilities while continuing to invest in human judgment, creativity, quality, and recognition.

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User Experience Figma AI Prototyping+2

figmaFeb 9, 20263 min readCurated summary

Why Demand for Designers Is on the Rise | Figma Blog

Companies are investing more in design, with 82% of leaders reporting that demand has either increased or remained steady. The post argues that AI is not reducing the need for designers; instead, it is increasing demand for people who can use AI tools, design AI products, and connect design with strategy and business growth. Fast-growing organizations are leading this hiring momentum, while employers increasingly favor experienced, AI-fluent candidates. ## Design hiring is increasing across industries - Nearly half of hiring managers say demand for designers has increased, and most of them report growth of at least 10%; more than a quarter report increases of 25% or more. - Technology companies lead hiring, but demand is also growing in sectors such as retail, publishing, aviation, and other non-tech industries. - Companies are hiring designers to improve digital experiences, strengthen online presence, and create new customer value. - Planned hiring varies by company growth: - 46% of fast-growing companies expect to increase hiring. - 40% of average-growth companies plan to do so. - 33% of slower-growth companies expect increased hiring. - High-growth companies view design as a way to test ideas earlier, move faster, differentiate products, and drive revenue. - Although only 20% of managers believe the overall hiring market is improving, 40% plan to add design headcount within six months. - Design job postings among Designer Fund portfolio companies reportedly rose about 60% in 2025 compared with 2024. ## AI is fueling demand for designers - Rapid advances in AI models and tools are creating demand for designers who can immediately work with evolving AI processes. - Employers want both: - Proficiency with AI tools in everyday design workflows. - Experience designing AI-powered products. - 73% of hiring managers report an increasing need for AI-tool proficiency. - 79% report an increasing need for knowledge of designing AI products. - AI fluency is increasingly treated as a hiring requirement rather than an optional advantage. - Companies are prioritizing candidates who combine technical ability, strategic thinking, experimentation, and approaches such as human-in-the-loop and human-augmented AI. ## Seniority and broader judgment matter - The article begins a discussion of companies prioritizing senior talent, particularly as teams face pressure to deliver quickly. - Hiring managers are looking for designers with strong skills, judgment, and experience—not only executional ability. - The combination of design expertise, strategic thinking, and AI capability is becoming increasingly valuable. Designers can improve their prospects by developing practical AI fluency alongside core design skills, learning how to design AI products, and demonstrating strategic judgment and business impact.

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User Experience Figma AI Product Design+1

tossJan 29, 2026Original article

6 Principles to Increase Marketing (opens in new tab)

Toss, a leader in the Korean fintech space, demonstrates that high marketing performance can be achieved without resorting to aggressive or deceptive copy. By analyzing hundreds of A/B tests within their app, they have identified specific UX writing patterns that prioritize user trust while significantly boosting engagement. The core conclusion is that clarity, psychological ease, and guaranteed rewards consistently outperform complex value propositions and exaggerated claims. ### The Power of One Core Message * Focusing on a single, immediate action is more effective than listing multiple service benefits. * In one test, replacing a complex benefit-driven headline with a simple "Take a 10-question test" resulted in a 10x increase in click-through rates (CTR). * Complexity creates friction; users are more likely to engage when they understand exactly what the next step entails without distractions. ### Prioritizing Guaranteed Rewards * Users show a stronger preference for "guaranteed small wins" over "potential big wins." * A campaign promising a "Minimum 100 won" reward saw 20x more exposure than one promising "Up to 1 million won," as large numbers can trigger skepticism or feel unattainable. * Phrases like "You will definitely get 1" outperform "Get as many as you want" because they provide a concrete promise rather than a vague possibility. ### Reducing Cognitive Load Through "Light" Language * The choice of verbs significantly impacts the perceived effort of a task. * Using "Prepare for travel insurance" instead of "Sign up for travel insurance" reduces the psychological burden, as "sign up" implies a long, bureaucratic process. * "Light" verbs make the service feel faster and easier to complete, encouraging immediate action. ### Strategic Information Framing * Clearly defining the nature of information—whether it is a "collection," a "list," or "new"—helps users categorize the value quickly. * Highlighting that a feature is "new" rather than explaining the specific benefits of the feature increased CTR by 6x. * Using terms like "View collection" for loan products provides a sense of organized efficiency that appeals to users looking for consolidated information. ### Specificity in Action and Conditions * Ambiguity leads to hesitation; providing exact numbers (e.g., "4 missions" or "8 blanks") increases conversion rates. * Specifying the number of tasks makes a goal feel attainable and removes the fear of an open-ended time commitment. * Quantifying the effort required (e.g., "takes 3 minutes") allows users to make an instant, friction-less decision to participate. ### Utilizing Intuitive, Everyday Experiences * Copy that mirrors real-life physical actions is more intuitive for users. * Changing a button from "View answer" to "Pick an answer" (accompanied by a stamp emoji) for an OX quiz significantly increased engagement by making the digital action feel more tactile and familiar. * Leveraging common vocabulary ensures that users do not have to "translate" marketing speak into practical reality. To maximize conversion, designers and writers should move away from broad marketing claims and toward radical specificity. By removing ambiguity and promising certain, low-effort outcomes, you can build a more effective and honest user experience.

User Experience Ab Testing Ux Writing Conversion Rate Optimization+3

figmaJan 12, 20262 min readCurated summary

The New Business Case For Design Systems | Figma Blog

Design systems are no longer merely efficiency tools or static component libraries; they are strategic investments that can influence revenue, customer loyalty, global expansion, and product quality. Research from the Design Executive Council shows that organizations are increasingly measuring design-system value through customer and business outcomes, not just reduced rework or faster handoffs. The strongest business case connects design-system work to metrics executives already care about. ## Linking Design Systems to Customer Outcomes - Teams can measure design-system impact through adoption, retention, engagement, satisfaction, and support metrics. - Freshworks attributed its design system to: - A 28% reduction in customer service costs - Faster support-ticket resolution - SAP collects more than one million in-app user feedback data points to improve its design system. - Freshworks uses CSAT scores, A/B tests, and funnel diagnostics to identify onboarding friction and guide new components, patterns, and features. - These metrics help design teams demonstrate business value while creating a roadmap for improving customer experience and product “stickiness.” ## Scaling Company Values and Product Quality - Design systems can scale not only brand identity but also company principles and product standards. - Linear uses its design system to support a culture of craft and quality, which contributes to customer loyalty and net revenue retention. - The system is intentionally flexible and continuously updated rather than governed by rigid rules. - Its goal is to ensure that products feel thoughtfully crafted while allowing teams to adapt components as needed. ## Supporting Global Growth and Localization - Design systems help companies expand internationally while maintaining consistency, brand identity, and cultural relevance. - Hyundai Motor Group uses one system across more than 30 vehicle models and three brands—Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis—while preserving each brand’s distinct identity. - Grammarly built localization into its design-system strategy from the beginning by: - Employing in-house linguists - Accounting for cultural nuances - Treating right-to-left readability as a core design input - Distributed teams across North America, South Korea, and Poland use a shared foundation to handle different languages, hardware constraints, screen sizes, and cultural expectations. - Hyundai’s 42dot uses custom Figma plugins to test multilingual user experiences. The practical recommendation is to frame a design system around outcomes that business leaders already value—customer satisfaction, retention, revenue, global growth, and product quality. Productivity improvements remain useful, but the most persuasive evidence comes from showing how design-system decisions change customer and business performance.

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User Experience Figma Design Systems Design Tokens+2

figmaJan 7, 20262 min readCurated summary

Software Is Culture

Software has evolved from an invisible, mechanical tool into an intimate part of human experience. The next major shift is toward intelligent, adaptive systems that learn and change with users. The post argues that designers will shape this future not merely by automating tasks, but by deciding where technology directs human attention, curiosity, and creativity. ## Software as Human Experience - Software once operated behind screens as an efficient, obedient system. - Touch interfaces—pinching, swiping, and tapping—made software embodied and deeply connected to how people think, feel, and communicate. - As a result, user experience became inseparable from human experience. ## The Shift to Intelligent Software - Future systems will learn, adapt, and respond rather than follow fixed interactions. - Interfaces may change in real time based on users’ needs and behavior. - Static products will become fluid, adaptive, and increasingly “alive.” - Understanding this transition requires examining influential interactions and design decisions from the past two decades. ## AI as Tool and Collaborator - AI can amplify distinctly human qualities rather than simply replace human work. - Interaction is shifting from commands, layers, and parameters toward conversation, goals, gestures, and overall intent. - The central design question is not what to automate, but where people should focus their attention. ## The Designer’s Role - Designers are navigating how intelligent software will affect curiosity, meaning, and craft. - Their choices will influence how future generations experience and understand technology. - Finding a personal perspective as a designer is essential to shaping software’s cultural impact. The practical takeaway is to treat software design as cultural work: build adaptive systems thoughtfully, and focus on how they direct human attention and enable meaningful action.

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User Experience AI Machine Learning Software Design+3

figmaJan 4, 20262 min readCurated summary

Press Start: How Controllers Shaped Video Game Design—and Where Interfaces May Go Next | Figma Blog

Video game interfaces evolved from simple start screens into complex systems of menus, maps, inventories, and customization. Yet the controller’s directional inputs and buttons have remained a consistent foundation, shaping navigation patterns and preserving players’ muscle memory. The article argues that understanding how input devices define interfaces will be essential as AR, VR, and other technologies introduce new ways to interact with digital worlds. ## From Simple Screens to Complex Game Hubs - Early games such as *Tennis for Two*, *Pong*, *PAC-MAN*, and *Super Mario Bros.* offered minimal interfaces, often requiring only a coin insertion or a start button. - Modern AAA games support many features, including: - Multiple game modes - Character customization - Cosmetics stores - Maps and inventories - Quests and settings - These features have transformed games into interconnected hubs of screens, menus, and tabs. - The growth of gaming has helped make it a major cultural and economic industry, supported by livestreaming, esports, and Olympic recognition. ## Controllers as a Design Foundation - From the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 5, controllers have consistently combined directional controls with buttons. - This consistency allows players to transfer familiar muscle memory between generations of games. - Established controller conventions create predictable navigation patterns for players. - Designers and developers benefit from these conventions because they reduce the need to create entirely new interaction models for every game. ## The Input Defines the Interface - Every platform has a dominant input method that shapes its interface: - Desktop: mouse - Mobile: fingers and touch gestures - Television: remote controls - Mouse interfaces can use small, dense controls because the pointer is fast and precise. - Touch interfaces require larger, more widely spaced controls because fingers are less precise than cursors. - Mobile design also takes advantage of gestures such as tapping, swiping, and pinching. - The article’s broader point is that interface design must reflect the physical capabilities and limitations of the device used to navigate it. ## Preparing for New Forms of Interaction - Game interfaces increasingly connect 2D navigation systems with 3D worlds. - AR and VR controllers may allow players to engage with their physical surroundings as well as digital environments. - As input methods evolve, designers will need to rethink how people move through interfaces, rather than simply adapting existing controller-based patterns. The practical recommendation is to treat input as a core design constraint. By studying how controllers shaped game navigation—and how emerging technologies change physical interaction—designers can build interfaces that feel intuitive across future platforms.

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User Experience User Interface Augmented Reality Virtual Reality+3

woowahanDec 26, 2025Original article

For a Seamless User Experience (opens in new tab)

To provide a seamless user experience, Baedal Minjok (Baemin) successfully integrated KakaoTalk brand vouchers directly into its ordering system, overcoming significant technical and organizational barriers between platforms. This project was driven by a mission to resolve long-standing customer friction and strategically capture external purchase demand within the Baemin ecosystem. By bridging the gap between Kakao’s gifting infrastructure and Baemin’s delivery network, the team successfully transformed a fragmented journey into a unified, user-centric service. ### Bridging User Friction and Business Growth - Addressed persistent Voice of Customer (VOC) complaints from users who found it inconvenient to use KakaoTalk vouchers through separate brand apps or physical store visits. - Aimed to capture untapped external traffic and convert it into active order volume within the Baemin platform, enhancing customer retention and "lock-in" effects. - Defined the project’s core essence as "connection," which served as a North Star for decision-making when technical constraints or business interests conflicted. ### Navigating Multi-Party Stakeholder Complexity - Coordinated a massive ecosystem involving Kakao (the platform), F&B brands, third-party voucher issuers, and internal Baemin backend teams. - Managed conflicting KPIs across organizations, balancing Kakao’s requirement for platform stability with voucher issuers' needs for settlement clarity. - Employed "context-aware communication" to bridge terminology gaps, such as reconciling Baemin’s "register and use" logic with the voucher companies' "inquiry and approval" workflows. ### Standardizing External Voucher Integration - Developed a standardized technical framework to accommodate diverse external voucher issuers while maintaining a consistent and simple interface for the end-user. - Resolved technical trade-offs regarding API response speeds, error-handling policies, and real-time validation across disparate systems. - Empowered Product Managers to act as "technical translators" and "captains," proactively managing complex dependency chains and prioritizing core features over secondary improvements to meet delivery timelines. The successful integration of KakaoTalk vouchers demonstrates that overcoming platform silos requires more than just technical API mapping; it requires a fundamental shift toward user-centric thinking. By prioritizing the "seamlessness" of the connection over individual platform boundaries, organizations can unlock significant new growth opportunities and deliver a superior digital experience.

User Experience API Design Product Management Backend+3

naverDec 2, 2025Original article

Naver TV (opens in new tab)

The development of NSona, an LLM-based multi-agent persona platform, addresses the persistent gap between user research and service implementation by transforming static data into real-time collaborative resources. By recreating user voices through a multi-party dialogue system, the project demonstrates how AI can serve as an active participant in the daily design and development process. Ultimately, the initiative highlights a fundamental shift in cross-functional collaboration, where traditional role boundaries dissolve in favor of a shared starting point centered on AI-driven user empathy. ## Bridging UX Research and Daily Collaboration * The project was born from the realization that traditional UX research often remains isolated from the actual development cycle, leading to a loss of insight during implementation. * NSona transforms static user research data into dynamic "persona bots" that can interact with project members in real-time. * The platform aims to turn the user voice into a "live" resource, allowing designers and developers to consult the persona during the decision-making process. ## Agent-Centric Engineering and Multi-Party UX * The system architecture is built on an agent-centric structure designed to handle the complexities of specific user behaviors and motivations. * It utilizes a Multi-Party dialogue framework, enabling a collaborative environment where multiple AI agents and human stakeholders can converse simultaneously. * Technical implementation focused on bridging the gap between qualitative UX requirements and LLM orchestration, ensuring the persona's responses remained grounded in actual research data. ## Service-Specific Evaluation and Quality Metrics * The team moved beyond generic LLM benchmarks to establish a "Service-specific" evaluation process tailored to the project's unique UX goals. * Model quality was measured by how vividly and accurately it recreated the intended persona, focusing on the degree of "immersion" it triggered in human users. * Insights from these evaluations helped refine the prompt design and agent logic to ensure the AI's output provided genuine value to the product development lifecycle. ## Redefining Cross-Functional Collaboration * The AI development process reshaped traditional Roles and Responsibilities (RNR); designers became prompt engineers, while researchers translated qualitative logic into agentic structures. * Front-end developers evolved their roles to act as critical reviewers of the AI, treating the model as a subject of critique rather than a static asset. * The workflow shifted from a linear "relay" model to a concentric one, where all team members influence the product's core from the same starting point. To successfully integrate AI into the product lifecycle, organizations should move beyond using LLMs as simple tools and instead view them as a medium for interdisciplinary collaboration. By building multi-agent systems that reflect real user data, teams can ensure that the "user's voice" is not just a research summary, but a tangible participant in the development process.

User Experience AI Large Language Models Prompt Engineering+5

tossNov 30, 2025Original article

In Search of the Toss Brand Symbol (opens in new tab)

Toss, a leading Korean fintech platform, embarked on a UX research journey to define its visual identity as it expanded from digital services into offline environments like Toss Pay payment stations. The study revealed that while users strongly associate the brand with seamless "usability," they lacked a single, clear mental image of a visual symbol. By analyzing user perceptions of fonts, colors, and shapes, Toss identified a specific visual formula—combining the app icon shape with a white, blue, and black palette—to ensure the brand remains instantly recognizable in the physical world. ## The Challenge of Offline Brand Recognition * The project began with the need to design "danglers" (small signage at payment counters) to signal that Toss Pay is accepted at offline merchants. * While Toss had successfully used various logo iterations online, the team realized that "Toss-ness" learned within the app might not automatically translate to unfamiliar offline environments. * Initial internal debates focused on superficial visual tweaks, such as background colors or language choices, rather than understanding the core assets that trigger brand recognition. ## Identifying Usability as the Core Brand Image * In-depth interviews were conducted with participants selected for their ability to articulate abstract brand impressions. * Research showed that users primarily associate Toss with keywords like "clean," "practical," and "convenient," rather than specific aesthetic elements. * One participant described Toss as a "program made by a genius engineer in Excel," highlighting that the brand’s value was rooted in its utility rather than a distinct visual symbol. * This presented a challenge: since the "app experience" cannot be felt through a static offline sign, the team had to find a visual surrogate for that functional reliability. ## Deconstructing the Toss Symbol: Font, Color, and Shape * **Font:** Testing revealed that the most recognizable font was the black English "toss" wordmark, primarily because users see it most often in external media and news rather than inside the app. * **Color:** Surprisingly, users did not associate Toss with a single shade of blue. Instead, they recognized the specific combination of a "blue logo on a white background." * **Logo:** When asked to draw the logo from memory, users consistently included a square border. This indicated that users perceive the brand’s "face" specifically as the smartphone app icon (the blue logo inside a rounded square) rather than the standalone logo mark. ## Implementing the "Toss Formula" in Design * The research led to a refined brand identity formula: **White background + Black bold English font + Blue app-icon-shaped logo.** * In the "10 to 100" 10th-anniversary campaign, the company shifted away from all-blue backgrounds in favor of this white-based combination to maximize recognition. * Toss Pay payment screens were updated to remove blue backgrounds, adopting the white-and-black layout to align with how users intuitively identify the service. For UX researchers and designers, this case demonstrates that brand identity is often a composite of environmental cues rather than a single graphic. When moving a digital-first brand into the physical world, it is essential to look beyond the logo and identify the specific "visual formula" that triggers the user's memory of the product experience.

User Experience User Research Fintech Brand Identity+2

tossNov 26, 2025Original article

The era when everyone does research (opens in new tab)

In an era where AI moderators and non-researchers handle the bulk of data collection, the role of the UX researcher has shifted from a technical specialist to a strategic guide. The core value of the researcher now lies in "UX Leadership"—the ability to frame problems, align team perspectives, and define the fundamental identity of a product. By bridging the gap between business goals and user needs, researchers ensure that products solve real problems rather than just chasing metrics or technical feasibility. ### Setting the Framework in the Idea Phase When starting a new project, a researcher’s primary task is to establish the "boundaries of the puzzle" by shifting the team’s focus from business impact to user value. * **Case - AI Signal:** For a service that interprets stock market events using AI, the team initially focused on business metrics like retention and news consumption. * **Avoiding "Metric Traps":** A researcher intervenes to prevent fatigue-inducing UX (e.g., excessive notifications to boost CTR) by defining the "North Star" as the specific problem the user is trying to solve. * **The Checklist:** Once the user problem and value are defined, they serve as a persistent checklist for every design iteration and action item. ### Aligning Team Direction for Product Improvements When a product already exists but needs improvement, different team members often have scattered, subjective opinions on what to fix. The researcher structures these thoughts into a cohesive direction. * **Case - Stock Market Calendar:** While the team suggested UI changes like "it doesn't look like a calendar," the researcher refocused the effort on the user's ultimate goal: making better investment decisions. * **Defining Success Criteria:** The team agreed on a "Good Usage" standard based on three stages: Awareness (recognizing issues) → Understanding (why it matters) → Preparation (adjusting investment plans). * **Identifying Obstacles:** By identifying specific friction points—such as the lack of information hierarchy or the difficulty of interpreting complex indicators—the researcher moves the project from "simple UI cleanup" to "essential tool development." ### Redefining Product Identity During Stagnation When a product's growth stalls, the issue often isn't a specific UI bug but a fundamental mismatch between the product's identity and its environment. * **Case - Toss Securities PC:** Despite being functional, the PC version struggled because it initially tried to copy the "mobile simplicity" of the app. * **Contextual Analysis:** Research revealed that while mobile users value speed and portability, PC users require an environment for deep analysis, multi-window comparisons, and deliberate decision-making. * **Consensus through Synthesis:** The researcher integrates data, user interviews, and market trends into workshops to help the team decide where the product should "live" in the market. This process creates team-wide alignment on a new strategic direction rather than just fixing features. The modern UX researcher must move beyond "crafting the tool" (interviewing and data gathering) and toward "UX Leadership." True expertise involves maintaining a broad view of the industry and product ecosystem, structuring team discussions to reach a consensus, and ensuring that every product decision is rooted in a clear understanding of the user's context and goals.

User Experience AI Data Analysis Usability Testing+3

kakaoNov 19, 2025Original article

Were We Solving the Real Problem (opens in new tab)

The POPM (Product Owner/Product Manager) training course at Kakao focuses on restructuring existing professional knowledge into a cohesive framework for solving real-world business problems. Rather than simply delivering new information, the program emphasizes aligning strategy with execution, transforming "strategy" from a vague concept into a practical set of decision-making criteria. The ultimate goal is to move teams away from a "release-only" mindset toward a cycle of continuous hypothesis verification and learning. ### Strategic Thinking and Metric Modeling * **Strategic Decision Criteria**: Strategy is redefined as the standard for team judgment, utilizing frameworks like MECE, MVP, and priority-setting models to align daily tasks with long-term goals. * **Metrics as Problem-Solving Language**: Key indicators such as Funnel, Retention, Cohort, and LTV are treated not just as data points, but as a language used to define and reveal underlying product issues. * **Context-Based Design**: UX design is approached through "context-based logic" rather than intuition, encouraging teams to ask which specific design fits the current user journey. ### Systematic Experimentation and A/B Testing * **The MASS Framework**: Experiments are designed and evaluated based on being Measurable, Attributable, Sensitive, and having a Short-term cycle. * **Failure Analysis Routines**: The curriculum emphasizes the importance of establishing a routine for interpreting failed experiments, ensuring that every test contributes to the team's institutional knowledge. * **Incremental Testing**: Encourages a culture of "starting small," giving teams the confidence to run experiments without requiring massive resource allocation. ### Building Repeatable Execution Loops * **Metric-Based Retrospectives**: Teams transition from simply finishing a release to a structured loop of "Problem Definition → Hypothesis → Metric → Verification → Retrospective." * **Formalizing Problem Definitions**: Using templates to 명문화 (formally document) the problem, expected behavior, and success metrics ensures that the entire team—not just the PO—understands the "why" behind every task. * **Operational Rhythms**: Teams are adopting fixed weekly or bi-weekly cycles for sharing insights and adjusting priorities, turning data-driven execution into a natural habit. The most critical takeaway for product teams is to constantly ask: "Is the work we are doing right now actually a solution to a defined problem, or are we just busy releasing features?" Success lies in moving beyond the sense of accomplishment from a launch and establishing a repeatable rhythm that validates whether those efforts truly move the needle.

User Experience Product Management Data Analysis Ab Testing+3

figmaNov 11, 20252 min readCurated summary

Figma Opens a New Hub in India | Figma Blog

Figma has opened a new hub in Bengaluru to support India’s rapidly expanding design and product-development community. India is now Figma’s second-largest market by monthly active users, with strong adoption among major companies and growing interest in AI-assisted design and development. The Bengaluru office is intended to bring Figma closer to local users while helping shape the future of product creation in India. ## Bengaluru Hub and India’s Growing Community - The office opened on November 12, 2025, after more than 7,000 people registered for the launch event. - Figma says India has nearly 25,000 Friends of Figma community members. - More than 40% of Bombay Stock Exchange 100 companies used Figma as of September 2025. - Major customers include Airtel, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, Myntra, Groww, and TCS. ## AI’s Impact on Design and Development Research surveying 730 design, engineering, and product leaders found that: - 93% of designers’ companies already use AI in design. - 85% of designers believe AI makes writing code easier. - 81% of developers say design is increasingly important to successful AI-powered products. These findings support Figma’s broader strategy of connecting design, code, collaboration, and AI in one platform. ## Figma’s Expanding Product Platform At the Bengaluru launch, Figma highlighted tools across its product ecosystem: - **Figma Design:** Create digital products. - **Figma Make:** Turn prompts or designs into prototypes and applications. - **Dev Mode:** Help developers translate designs into code. - **Figma Sites:** Design and publish websites. - **FigJam:** Collaborate through online whiteboards. - **Figma Slides:** Build interactive presentations. - **Figma Draw:** Create advanced vector illustrations. - **Figma Buzz:** Produce branded marketing assets at scale. Figma also introduced **Figma Weave**, based on its acquisition of Weavy, to add AI-native capabilities for image, video, animation, motion design, and VFX creation. ## Figma’s Global Expansion - 85% of Figma users were outside the United States in Q1 2025. - About half of Figma’s 2024 revenue came from international markets. - Bengaluru joins Figma offices in cities including Tokyo, Singapore, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, São Paulo, and New York. The new hub reflects Figma’s shift from a standalone design tool toward a global, AI-powered platform supporting the full journey from idea to product.

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User Experience Figma AI Design Systems+4

tossNov 6, 2025Original article

Creating the worst experience at Toss (opens in new tab)

Toss designer Lee Hyeon-jeong argues that business goals and user experience are not mutually exclusive, even when integrating controversial elements like advertising. By identifying the intersection between monetization and usability, her team transformed intrusive ads into value-driven features that maintain user trust while driving significant revenue. The ultimate conclusion is that transparency and appropriate rewards can mitigate negative feedback and even increase user engagement. ### Reducing Friction through Predictability and Placement * Addressed "surprise" ads by introducing clear labeling, such as "Watch Ad" buttons or specifying ad durations (e.g., "30-second ad"), which reduced negative sentiment without decreasing revenue. * Discovered that when users are given a choice and clear expectations, their anxiety decreases and their willingness to engage with the content increases. * Eliminated "flow-breaking" ads that mimicked functional UI elements, such as banners placed inside transaction histories that users frequently mistook for personal bank records. * Established a design principle to place advertisements only in areas that do not interfere with information discovery or core user navigation tasks. ### Transforming Advertisements into User Benefits * Developed a dedicated B2B ad platform to scale the variety of available advertisements, ensuring that users receive ads relevant to their specific life stages, such as car insurance or new credit cards. * Shifted the internal perception of ads from "noise" to "benefits" by focusing on the right timing and high-quality matching between the advertiser and the user's needs. * Institutionalized regular "creative ideation sessions" to explore interactive formats, including advertisements that respond to phone movement (gyroscope), quizzes, and mini-games. * Leveraged long-term internal experiments to ensure that even if an idea cannot be implemented immediately, it remains in the team's "creative bank" for future product opportunities. ### Optimizing Value Exchange through Rewards * Conducted over a year of A/B testing on reward thresholds, comparing small cash amounts (1 KRW to 200 KRW), non-monetary items (gifticons), and high-stakes lottery-style prizes. * Analyzed the "labor intensity" of ads by adjusting lengths (10 to 30 seconds) to find the psychological tipping point where users felt the reward was worth their time. * Implemented a high-value lottery system within the Toss Pedometer service, which successfully transitioned a loss-making feature into a profitable revenue stream. * Maintained user activity and satisfaction levels despite the increased presence of ads by ensuring the "worst-case experience"—viewing ads for no gain—was entirely avoided. Product teams should stop viewing business requirements and UX as a zero-sum game. By focusing on user psychology—specifically transparency, non-disruption, and fair value exchange—it is possible to achieve aggressive business targets while maintaining a sustainable and trusted user environment.

User Experience Product Design A B Testing Gamification+3

figmaSep 8, 20252 min readCurated summary

How to Harness Skills That AI Can’t Automate | Figma Blog

Great products require more than AI-generated functionality; they depend on human craft, including curiosity, intuition, taste, and intention. AI accelerates prototyping and iteration, but people must decide what questions to ask, when to expand the scope, and whether an experience truly resonates. The article argues that these uniquely human skills are essential for steering AI toward thoughtful, high-quality outcomes. ## Curiosity: Starting from First Principles - Curiosity means asking “why” and “what if,” exploring multiple directions, and validating ideas through iteration. - Tools such as Figma Make, Claude, and ChatGPT make it faster to generate prototypes, campaign concepts, and alternative approaches. - AI can expand possibilities within a prompt, but it cannot independently challenge the original scope, follow an unexpected hunch, or recognize that a tangent deserves deeper investigation. - Early exploration improves confidence and reduces rework: - Figma designer Natasha Tenggoro used Figma Make to test video-playback concepts for Figma Buzz. - Prototyping exposed edge cases, clarified feasibility, and helped engineers understand the feature before implementation. - Curiosity can also lead to valuable scope expansion: - While designing icons for four new Figma products, Tim Van Damme realized the existing icon family needed a broader redesign. - He explored hundreds of variations and redesigned the suite for greater consistency, distinctiveness, scalability, and a unified Figma identity. ## Intuition: Following a Feeling - AI can help bring products to market quickly, but it cannot determine what will emotionally or practically resonate with customers. - Human designers can recognize when an interaction feels confusing even if it technically works. - Intuition may also identify qualitative improvements—such as adding white space to a crowded layout—that are difficult to express as strict requirements. - Eliel Johnson of CVS Health describes design as an active practice centered on asking whether an experience “feels good,” not merely whether it satisfies functional constraints. The practical lesson is to use AI for speed and breadth while reserving human judgment for direction, exploration, emotional resonance, and quality. Human craft is what turns technically workable output into a product people genuinely value.

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figmaSep 4, 20252 min readCurated summary

How To Build A Resilient Design Team | Figma Blog

Design teams must build resilience by creating psychological safety, encouraging experimentation, and preserving high standards of craft. The article argues that leaders should prepare teams to adapt to changing technologies, roles, and constraints rather than rely on a fixed playbook. Resilience comes from trust, flexibility, thoughtful capacity planning, and a willingness to question established assumptions. ## Start with Team Health - Stress, burnout, overwork, and fear prevent people from doing their best creative work. - Leaders should build trust and a shared mission while encouraging candid, non-personal critique. - Provide both synchronous and asynchronous ways for people to contribute so the loudest voices do not dominate. - Make it safe to share work at every stage, from rough sketches to polished designs. - Use regular 1:1s, career conversations, and feedback surveys to identify problems early. - Plan realistically around team bandwidth instead of overcommitting. - Model vulnerability by openly acknowledging uncertainty and personal challenges. ## Encourage Experimentation and Shifting Roles - Designers have different strengths, so teams should combine complementary skills and create opportunities for mutual learning. - Boundaries between design, research, product, and engineering are becoming more fluid. - Encourage designers to work closer to production through AI prototyping and code experimentation. - Sharing unfinished work and lessons learned—such as through Figma’s `#design-wip` channel—helps normalize experimentation. - Invite cross-functional partners into design critiques to bring broader perspectives into the process. - Balance shipping current work with inventing and testing new approaches as technology changes. ## Treat Craft as a Differentiator - High-quality, carefully executed products can distinguish a company in crowded markets, strengthen user loyalty, and drive growth. - Craft is especially valuable in enterprise software, where design quality is often neglected. - Strong execution requires attention to detail and may involve trade-offs, such as refining the user experience instead of adding more features. - Fast-moving teams must deliberately protect time for visual consistency, clarity, and overall product quality. ## Practical Recommendation Build resilience as an ongoing operating practice: protect team health, make experimentation routine, support fluid collaboration across roles, and treat quality as a strategic advantage rather than an optional extra.

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