Why designers who code will always outperform Figma-only designers

As a designer, when I switched my workflow from design tools to code, I discovered countless advantages that radically improved my work. Yet, many designers who hear about these benefits prefer waiting for Figma to introduce new features, hoping to avoid learning code altogether.

Here are several reasons why designers who code will always have a significant advantage over those who rely solely on Figma.

1. The perpetual lag of design tools

All design tools are essentially wrappers around existing technologies. Creating these tools takes significant time, inevitably causing their functionality to lag years behind current frontend capabilities.

Consider this comparison:

Design tools consistently trail behind because they can only replicate existing frontend solutions rather than innovate at the pace of code itself.

2. AI won't close the gap—it might widen it

Could AI accelerate the development of design tools? Unlikely. Figma and similar tools are large companies with established user bases, meaning every product change is carefully scrutinized, slowing the pace of innovation.

Meanwhile, AI significantly boosts the speed of frontend framework creation. Even without AI, individual developers regularly build popular libraries from their homes (for example, shadcn/ui). With AI, this trend will only accelerate:

• Design tools: Innovation speed increases by ~10%.
• Frontend frameworks: Innovation speed increases by ~50%.

The gap isn't closing—it's growing.

3. Poor communication with developers

The stagnation of design tools directly harms designer-developer communication. Designers often unknowingly reinvent outdated solutions, while developers leverage cutting-edge, open-source libraries.

Designers think in proprietary terms like "auto-layout" and "hug content," while developers think in standardized CSS terms like flex containers. Bridging this gap through coding knowledge significantly enhances collaboration.

4. Proprietary nature of design tools

Most design tools use proprietary file formats, locking you into their ecosystem. You can't easily move your work between tools, and sometimes you can't even open files from just a few years earlier.

With code, you have universal, standardized formats that remain accessible and editable indefinitely.

It's always enjoyable when new tools like Cursor let you open your work directly, without the hassle of exporting or transforming files, unlike when moving from Sketch to Figma. With code, you can easily work on your project using multiple tools simultaneously!

5. High prices and changing monetization models

No matter how affordable a design tool starts, the trend toward increasing prices or limiting features is inevitable. Today, genuinely free or affordable tools barely exist.

While AI-powered tools like Cursor or Lovable fully unlock their potential only with a paid subscription, you can freely use open-source alternatives like Continue paired with VS Code—and they'll remain free forever.

As mentioned earlier, it's also easy to subscribe to Cursor temporarily, use it for a specific stage of your work, and then cancel after a month, smoothly returning to your free stack.

6. Superior control and realism

While Figma lets you create prototypes similar to presentation slides, code offers unmatched realism and deeper interactivity. Features like drag-and-drop interactions and real data integration are straightforward to implement in code but challenging or impossible in Figma.

7. Effective versioning and collaboration

Code inherently includes robust version control systems like Git, allowing seamless collaboration and comprehensive prototyping of entire applications. Figma's versioning system is limited, making comprehensive, interactive prototyping challenging at scale.

In Figma, I can't create a prototype that covers the entire product—only specific, isolated scenarios. However, with code, building a complete, fully interactive product prototype becomes entirely achievable.

8. Data ownership and security

Storing sensitive, future-facing product designs on another company's server is risky. Code allows complete control over data storage and security, eliminating dependency on third-party companies.

Conclusion

This article scratches the surface, highlighting just a few reasons why designers who embrace code have an unparalleled advantage. Code doesn't just enhance your work—it can accelerate productivity tenfold, even a hundredfold. I'll explore this further in upcoming articles.

If you're a designer relying solely on Figma instead of code, this next article is essential—it might just save your career.