I Stopped Using Figma – and Became a Better Designer
Matias Pietilä
About this talk
What happens when a product designer stops designing screens and starts building the actual product?
I recently launched a product (ballerscore.app) spanning native mobile and watch apps, web and backend – without designing a single screen in Figma. Instead, I used AI-assisted development as part of the design process itself, while still aiming for the level of interaction, animation and polish I would expect from a traditionally designed product.
This talk is a practical case study of what worked, what didn’t, and how the process changed my way of designing. More importantly, it explores a broader shift: how the designer’s output changes from a specification into the product itself.
That radically shortens the feedback loop between an idea and experiencing it in use. The result is not only greater efficiency, but potentially much higher product quality.
Speaker
Matias Pietilä is an independent product designer and digital product consultant with over 19 years of experience designing and building digital products. He runs his own consultancy, Next Time Design, and works with companies on product strategy, UX and digital services.
Alongside client work, Matias builds and launches his own products, using them to explore new ways of working across design, engineering and AI. He is also an experienced speaker and university lecturer, with a particular interest in how new technology changes the role and capabilities of designers.