A few unpopular thoughts on Adobe acquiring Figma
A few thoughts on Adobe acquiring Figma - some of them might be unpopular from other designers’ opinions:
1️⃣ Figma doesn’t owe me anything - this is a business/strategy choice, not a betrayal or breaking commitment. It's not like a rich guy takes your boyfriend/girlfriend thing. It’s not personal, so don’t be emotional.
2️⃣ Now, we have the best product design tools compared to 10 years ago, we know that, and Figma knows that. If they screw designers' trust by doing things like Figma CC, people will leave Figma for a better tool (prob haven't invented yet, who knows), like what people did with InVision and Sketch.
3️⃣ The world sees the potential of the market (20B in just a few years), which is an excellent incentive for entrepreneurs who want to create awesome product design tools. We might have better tools in future - AI-aided design prob is not far away!
4️⃣ A good product designer should spend only 30% of working time in Figma: and spend more time on comms, preso, sketches and, generally, thinking. As long as Figma hasn’t been involved as part of my thinking process, it's okay.
5️⃣ I started my design career with Flash 15 years ago, and it was gone when Adobe owned it - that burned me. But it’s prob hard to say this is Adobe's fault.
6️⃣ Final reminder for myself: I should not be disturbed by a tool's business decision. People are much more important than tools.
As a realist, I differentiate what I feel and what I will do if things are not going well as I hope. Yes, I do feel bad when hearing the announcement, and my best hope for Adobe and Figma is the model as movie directors and Netflix: you take my money and keep doing your thing. But if that does not happen and Figma becomes another Adobe's endgame collection, I will leave and find another tool - not a big deal.
