The subtle ways in which design tools shape how we think and what we make

Figma is extremely powerful, but it is bending us toward a way of working that prioritizes structure over spontaneity. As designers, we should remain alert to this shift, not because Figma is inherently bad, but because the values it encodes can quietly reshape our practices. The best design work rarely starts with order. It starts with questions, with play, with a lot of mess. We need tools that make room for that. Because if everything is neatly aligned from the beginning, we may never discover what lies just outside the grid.