Wayne L.

Tomorrow, my limited series podcast AI Product Builders drops. Here’s what you can expect: - Ideas and inspiration to kickstart your own AI projects - Insights on the tools designers are using to build their AI stacks. - Real stories that reaffirm why designers are essential in this tech shift - How to spot diminishing returns when prototyping with AI - What happens when prototyping and production start to blur - Why design leaders need to reframe their approach—or risk falling behind Traveling to Config tomorrow? Make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter. There’s over 5 hours of rich, free content ready for the trip. You can subscribe by hitting the ‘view my newsletter’ button on my profile.

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We hear a lot from executives and AI experts about generative AI. At Figma we wanted to also hear from the people designing and building the apps and sites we use every day. What do the designers and developers that are building the generative AI app layer think? I can sum our 2025 #AI report up with a quote from a respondent: “[It’s like] running a restaurant with a menu that changes daily.” We heard similar sentiments last year. But, like last year, we also see interest and momentum:  - ⅓ shipped an AI product, 50% more than the previous year - More than 80% say learning to work with AI will be essential to success in the future - When building AI products 95% say design is just as important, 52% say it’s even more important (a perspective that’s shared across developers and company leadership) And this group is all over agentic AI: Of those working on AI products, more than half are working on agentic products, 2x the number last year. One of the biggest tensions is efficiency vs quality:  - 78% say AI makes them more efficient  - only 47% say AI makes them better at their job  - And, there’s a big gap between designers and developers on this topic: developers are more positive on AI's impact Tensions between present and future, quality and speed, exploration and reality are always part of building new things. But right now, those tensions feel even more pronounced. Report linked below. Amazing to collaborate with Shane Johnston, Alia Fite and so many others on this.

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Figma IPO’d at $33 - and peaked over $120 during Day 1. The long-awaited IPO didn’t just meet expectations, it blew past them. Erica Brescia joined Bloomberg to break down the moment and what it means for the broader market. A few key takeaways from the segment: ➡️ We expected a strong debut, but early performance has exceeded even very bullish predictions. Public markets have been hungry for high-growth software companies, and Figma now stands alongside just one other public software business - Palantir - growing over 30% YoY. Figma has long proven they are an exceptional company, but the scale of the day 1 pop still impressed. ➡️ Regarding the rest of the private company pipeline… Many strong companies (think Databricks, Stripe, and SpaceX) have remained private thanks to ample access to capital, allowing them to delay IPOs and go public only when it aligns with long-term strategy. They likely won’t stay private forever, as there are still compelling reasons to go public, from boosting employee morale to unlocking new fundraising options. More from Erica here 👇

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The Design Org Pendulum Conundrum: To Centralize or not to Centralize That is the question... Let's be clear: scattered designers, integrated in the organization, have a limited ability to drive strategic impact. The result may be unpredictable: ⚠️ Inconsistent quality ⚠️ Tactical output over strategic thinking ⚠️ Career stagnation ⚠️ Duplication of effort ⚠️ A diluted design culture The embedded model might seem agile, but it often isolates designers, weakens influence, and reduces design to production work. By contrast, a centralized partnership design team is built for impact: ✅ Unified standards and tooling ✅ Clearer career paths and coaching ✅ Flexible capacity allocation ✅ Stronger cultural identity ✅ Strategic alignment across the org A Centralized partnership doesn't mean disconnected. It means orchestrated. It has a holistic view. Design is leveraged across journeys Where does your org sit today? Is your design team set up to lead, or just react? Share your experience or drop your questions. #DesignLeadership #OrgDesign #DesignOps #StrategicDesign #DesignScale #UX #Leadership #Design

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