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Hard Problems Are Still Hard: A Story About the Tools That Change and the Work That Doesn't | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

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Nikolas Klein reflects on seven years building Figma’s prototyping tools and how AI transformed the design landscape. While AI changes the tools and accelerates execution, it does not eliminate the difficult work of framing problems, making judgments, iterating, and collaborating. The central conclusion is that AI is another tool in the designer’s toolbox—not a replacement for human insight.

A Career in Prototyping

  • Klein describes moving from Figma designer to product manager.
  • His work centered on building interactive prototyping tools over several years.
  • Prototyping involved continual experimentation, iteration, and collaboration between designers and engineers.

AI Changes the Tools

  • The arrival of AI prompts fundamental questions about the future role of designers and prototyping.
  • AI can generate ideas and help produce outputs more quickly.
  • The shift can feel overwhelming because it changes familiar workflows and raises uncertainty about which skills remain valuable.
  • Klein ultimately frames AI as an addition to the existing toolbox rather than a complete replacement for traditional design tools.

The Work That Remains Difficult

  • AI does not remove the need to understand the underlying problem.
  • Designers still need to exercise judgment, evaluate alternatives, and decide what should be built.
  • Complex work depends on iteration, animation, interaction design, and close collaboration.
  • Human expertise remains important for turning vague ideas into coherent, useful experiences.

Collaboration and the Future

  • Designers and engineers continue to contribute complementary perspectives.
  • AI can work alongside people, supporting exploration while humans provide direction and context.
  • The tools may evolve rapidly, but the challenge of solving meaningful, complex problems remains.

The practical recommendation is to adopt AI as part of a broader creative workflow while continuing to develop the judgment, collaboration, and problem-solving skills that difficult design work requires.