The Design World Before Figma
1. A World of Static Mockups and Clunky Collaboration
Before Figma waltzed onto the scene, the world of UI/UX design felt a bit like navigating a maze blindfolded. Remember sending endless email chains with static screenshots, praying that everyone was looking at the most up-to-date version? Version control was a nightmare, and collaboration often meant crowded conference rooms with people pointing at a projected screen. We relied heavily on tools that now feel well, ancient. Think Photoshop for layouts (gasp!), Sketch for the Mac users, and a patchwork of plugins to attempt real-time teamwork. It was a frustrating, time-consuming, and honestly, quite inefficient process.
The biggest pain point? Collaboration. Sharing designs meant exporting files, emailing them around, and hoping the recipients had the correct software and fonts. Getting feedback was a slow, iterative process, often leading to miscommunication and delays. Imagine trying to explain a complex animation sequence through static images — a recipe for creative burnout! Then came the issue of handoff to developers. Designers would create beautiful designs, but the translation into code often got lost in translation, requiring countless back-and-forths and pixel-perfect adjustments.
So, what exactly were we using? Well, Adobe Photoshop was a strong contender, even though it wasnt really designed for UI/UX. It was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut powerful but unwieldy. Sketch emerged as a more design-focused alternative, beloved by Mac users for its vector-based workflow. But even Sketch, while a step up, still lacked the real-time collaboration features that we now take for granted. In short, the design landscape was fragmented, with designers cobbling together workflows from disparate tools.
This era reminds me of dial-up internet. It "worked", but nobody wants to go back. We were all collectively dreaming of a tool that would streamline the design process, foster seamless collaboration, and bridge the gap between designers and developers. Little did we know, Figma was about to answer our prayers (or at least a good chunk of them).
