The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Figma Skills Won't Get You Promoted
Figma Skills Won't Get You Promotedby Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Today's advice letter concerns the design community's fetishization of Figma and how our obsession with tools gives the wrong impression. Let me explain. Everywhere you look, designer dudes are trying to sell you on Figma. Design is so much more than software for drawing rectangles. But still, you click this stuff. It's almost like you think that learning this one piece of software is the job...rather than, you know, learning how to design the software itself. I see designers offering advice on Figma as a way to move up the career ladder. To me, this is a red flag. 🚩 Here's why... Leadership doesn't care about Figma.People in a position to promote you don't care about your Figma skills. Figma skills don't set you apart in the job market. A designer who has mastered Figma? 🥱 Cool. Next resumé, please. And you've had way too many iced coffees if you think the rest of the organization cares about your Figma layers. Nobody cares about your layers or your plugins. Only the developers and PMs care a little, and I bet it's less than you think. Don't get me wrong. I love "design craft" and can spend hours in Figma, happy as a raccoon in a trash pile. My point is that people in a position to promote you don't appreciate our design craft in the same way as we do. Leadership and people who promote care about the impact of your designs. Leadership cares about how design fits into the current business strategy. They care about how design will make them money. They don't care if you're the team's dedicated layer mayor. What you can do instead of mastering FigmaThese skills will do more for your career than learning how to make animations in Figma:
TL:DR: Mastering Figma is a waste of time. Learn the basics and move on to something more strategic. This article was originally published on Jeff's blog. Read the full version Shared by Linus Mimetz in the Guild
Until next time! ✌️
|
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Why Your Portfolio Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It) By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Let’s talk about a harsh truth: Your UX portfolio might be the least important thing in your job search. Yep, I said it. You spent hours making sure it showcases your best work. You structured your case studies just right. You ensured your problem statements, research insights, and solutions flowed together. And yet… hiring managers are ghosting you like a bad Hinge date. Well, the problem isn’t your...
Chasing Competitors Instead of User Needs by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Have you ever had a CEO who was overly obsessed with beating the competition? I know I have. You may not have realized exactly how this can be toxic. So, I'd like to help you out with two case studies. Here is a tale of two companies and how they handled the competition. The first took a company-first approach while the second took a user-first approach. It goes like this... Company-First: The Rise & Fall of Google+ Google+...
Stop Being the ‘Nice’ Designer. Start Running the Room. By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Product design isn’t just about creating great experiences. It’s about getting sh*t done in a world where no one agrees on anything. You’ve been there. Stakeholder meetings where opinions fly, decisions stall, and somehow, you’re tasked with making it all make sense. What is Facilitative Leadership? Facilitative leadership is about leading without authority. It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room...