Being good at Figma is valuable.

You can build interfaces, prototype ideas, create systems, explore visual solutions and communicate concepts.

But Figma skills alone don’t make you a strong designer. 

The difference becomes clearer as designers grow.

A junior designer might ask:

“How do I make this screen better?”

A stronger designer starts with:

“What problem are we actually solving?” 

That’s the shift from execution to direction.

Figma Is Important

Don’t misunderstand this.

You absolutely need to learn your tools.

Figma helps you execute ideas, explore solutions and communicate what you’re thinking.

Important? Absolutely.

Enough? Not anymore. 

Build Product Thinking

Product thinking means asking:

→ Who has the problem?
→ Why does it matter?
→ What outcome are we trying to create?
→ What constraints exist?
→ How will we know it worked?

These questions change how you approach a design problem. 

Explain Your Decisions

A junior designer might say:

“Here’s my design.”

A stronger designer can explain:

The problem.
What we learned.
The options we considered.
Why we chose this direction. 

That’s where judgment starts becoming more valuable than tool speed.

Build Both

The goal isn’t to stop improving your Figma skills.

It’s to build the skills around them:

Figma skills → Execution

Product thinking → Direction

You need both.

But as you grow, your judgment becomes more valuable than your tool speed. 

So keep building:

→ Problem solving
→ Research
→ Product thinking
→ Decision making
→ Communication

And keep improving Figma too.

Just don’t let Figma become your entire design skill set. 

Where are you right now?

Improving Figma?
Improving product thinking?
Or working on both?

UX Crumbs: Bite-sized UX learning designed to help designers strengthen their UX and product thinking.

UX Crumbs Beta is now live:  ⁠get.uxcrumbs.app/welcome