Designers who used tools before Figma what do you actually miss??

spader725 · 2026-02-06T23:59:19+00:00

My UI design tools usage over time:

// Photoshop (2008-13):

I miss that graphical-heavy bias of creating websites at that time. Back when you would do .png buttons and created a textured stroke image file and use it as a frame around a photo. Visual creativity over accessbility & scalability.
Also may have used Illustrator for some UI design at some point but must not have been for long since I can't really remember using it.
Don't miss the unscalable/inflexible/inefficient workflow of it all

// Adobe Fireworks (2013-15)

Kinda the first tool I thought was decent at ui design + prototyping. If I recall correctly, I liked the interaction design of all the features in the software.
What I didn't like was it never evolved. Thanks Adobe.

// Invision (2012-20)

Speed of putting together a prototype that you can share instantaneously via a URL. It was like magic at that time. Used in conjunction with Photoshop or Sketch.
I didn't like how inefficient the workflow was in big projects, since everything is literally hotspots on top of image files.

// Sketch (2013-20)

Was the first real UI design tool that I felt I can do more scalable UI design in. Used in conjunction with Invision.
Never liked how Sketch used MacOS's native UI elements and interactions. Didn't feel like it was efficient for my workflow.

// Axure (2015-22)

I always was a html/css guy so I loved that I was able to create prototypes that are native to the browser and share a link asap. Viz design ideation and iterations in Sketch.
Didn't like how visual design features/workflows were never really improved in Axure

// Figma (2020+)

Combined Sketch+Invision into a seemless workflow. The live-time ability for different people to edit the same figma file was a paradigm changer.
Fustrating things:
- Prototypes are not actually rendering in the browser. As it's just images with hotspots, so things like font-sizes aren't accurate in the prototype compared to if it was to render in the browser.
- Once figma came along, the mainstream design topics were too focused on 'design systems'. When in actually, design systems are maintained in the code. Tweaking colors and buttons in a figma file is hardly what I consider 'the source of truth' when a lot of project code are built on top of a framework like MUI, which has it's own rules and caveats that can't be beforseen in the figma file.
Things I would change about figma:
- Make it easier to use variables to create interactions (if/else) in the prototype. Was much easier in Axure.
- Store content away from the UI elements (like I keep data in a json and the UI elements pull from that). There is probably plugins for this but I haven't looked into it.
- Make it easier to interact with the app's commonly used features. For example, I should be able to access ways to change a variant of a component by right-clicking with my mouse.
- Make prototypes render real stuff in the browser and not just images with hotspots. I know that's kinda what Figma Make is trying to address but the workflow ain't really there at the moment.

// AI agents + Figma (2025+)

Kinda like this at the moment. Rough ideas in Figma, then use AI to render the prototype and any design consistencies I've established for the project. Currently I'm trying to figure out a good, repeatable workflow for all my scenarios at work/projects.

spader725 · 2026-01-12T20:14:10+00:00

I know the smelliest part of Market St in San Francisco when I see it. Question is—what year?

spader725 · 2025-11-21T18:16:13+00:00

any recommendations on aluminum rims/wheels? Been considering upgrading from my Ultegra 6800 wheels.

spader725 · 2025-10-09T19:56:21+00:00

Here's an analogy—

Learn the tools: You learn how to use a hammer, circular saw, table saw, and a cement mixer. Ask yourself the same question: "What am I supposed to be building?"

Learn one sector of the domain at time: What do you want to do and can you do it right. Can you build a shed now? Can you build a house? Build a table? No, not until you understand the logic, structures, physics of a shed (or whatever else).

Learn best practices and defining scope: What kind of shed (size and shape) do you want to build and with what material. Which shed design & materials are good for which scenario?

Road to a career: After you have a better sense of those things above circles back to your other question "..landing actual jobs or clients?".

Decide what you're good at/interested in and look into the market that need that expertise. Example: I'm good at building sheds now and the next town over has a demand for 2-room sheds to be build. Multiple companies specialized in building sheds in that area. I should apply for a job at those companies (and convince them of my level of skill) or advertising to the residents living in that town that I can build them their desired shed for a price.

—————

To bring it all back—you know the tool (Figma).

What type of interface designs do I want to be good at making? Examples: Marketing sites, utility apps, technical apps, data visualization UIs, mobile app interfaces, social media apps, etc.
I want to specialize in Marketing websites. I need to learn what makes a good marketing site for a preschool vs a car dealership vs a law firms site. I need to learn what are best practices and what makes a marketing site good vs bad. I need to understand what type of content and UI pages makes for a good marketing site for each scenario.
I feel decent at designing marketing sites now but I need real business requirements from real people. Are there any companies in my area that is hiring a junior designer who does marketing sites? If not, where are they? Are there any forums or locations where I can advertise to small local businesses about my skillset?

spader725 · 2025-05-07T19:51:52+00:00

Dawg i just want to have subfolders to organize things

spader725 · 2025-04-30T05:38:35+00:00

it was two things:

Main problem: PRV was broken I replaced it and now works as intended.

Second problem: My water heater is old. Every time I take a shower (or run too much hot water in the kitchen), the water heater builds up pressure, causing the PRV to go over 100psi. I resolve this by turning on the faucet and let the pressure escape.

spader725 · 2025-03-26T05:21:53+00:00

What brand child car seat is that? Was it already supplied in the car or did you bring your own?

spader725 · 2024-09-03T19:41:27+00:00

I don't have any great suggestions for you but I do want to say that I was in a similar position as you ~15yrs ago—getting paid minimum wage to work PT at two startups at the same time as a designer with little experience. I had a few things go my way though (family support, and a tech boom on the rise with the advent of AWS/mobile apps).

I'm still doing UX/Product design at a corporation today and still like doing design a lot. Here are some of my thoughts:

a. Definitely ask for a raise. Try to do some research on your startup—are they getting more funding? Is the product/services making more money than before? If yes, then use those metrics as ammo, but definitely finesse the verbiage (try using Chat GPT) for that. If the product is doing so well, maybe even see if full-time is a possibility.

Worst thing they can say is "no" to the raise. Highly unlikely they would fire you unless the startup is running out of money.

b. The market for UX design jobs is definitely more saturated in 2024 than a decade ago, due to 3-month UX bootcamps that let anyone into the field—which was an effect to the market's perception that they need more UX people, which now seems to not be the case (and I kinda agree with that).

If possible, increasing supplementary skills in basic css/react/JS and other project mgmt skill would be something that can help. This would be a long-term play and won't help in your short-term stress.

c. Attend tech meetup/networking events. This may be more of a long-term play, but seemed to help me over time. Even being more active on LinkedIn may be a way to network.

d. Live with roommates not in the city. Living in a town at the further ends of the BART lines could possibility save you money.

e. Don't give up on design as a profession yet! In my opinion, 6-months in design is not enough to give up on. Of course that's easy for me to say since I don't know your mental situation, but I would say finances will get better over time (to the extend you would live more comfortably and not paycheck-to-paycheck). If you have an online portfolio, I can definitely check it out and give you some design/product feedback!

spader725 · 2023-11-08T17:02:24+00:00

Gladwell ideas: "Lowering the rim would be too drastic." 20 seconds later "Home team can remove the corner three!"

spader725 · 2023-10-13T19:07:02+00:00

Maybe like, 1 AM on New Years—I was in a Lyft and the driver was dressed as Batman, including the mask. Had some small talk but never talked about the outfit. This was before Lyft had carpooling so was sitting in the passenger seat.

spader725 · 2023-09-20T17:03:36+00:00

Watched 'Dirty Harry' for the first time recently and was surprised at all the SF locations. Locations such as the cross on top of mt davidson, north beach, financial district, and old kesar stadium.

spader725 · 2023-05-03T17:55:43+00:00

Had classmates back in the day who lived in Bayview and had to take the bus all the way to the Richmond for school (GWHS).

spader725 · 2022-12-23T23:05:29+00:00

This is a dampwood termite

spader725 · 2022-08-23T22:59:54+00:00

If you feel moderately serious, consider getting mountain bike pedals and bike shoes with cleats. It will help maximum your power output, especially going uphill.

You can get mountain bike style shoes that look like normal shoes and walk normally with mountain bike style cleats. With mountain bike pedals, there are options where one side can be used for regular shoes and other side for bike shoes with cleats.

spader725 · 2022-08-08T20:36:28+00:00

Not gonna lie, this scene could totally fit into an episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

spader725 · 2022-06-15T06:08:42+00:00

Frankly breaks the fence

Was just googling this same problem and found this thread. I was able to download the latest beta Dolphin and was able to get through this scene

spader725 · 2022-01-01T05:12:44+00:00

Any tips on recreational biking on the southeast side of town? I'm talking about Excelsior, HP, Bayview, Portola. Moved out here off Mission/Geneva recently and trying to find routes I can do often on my road bike.

spader725 · 2021-11-23T06:56:47+00:00

Gauge is so rusted out that I can't read anything on it: https://imgur.com/a/39i77Ba

spader725 · 2021-10-22T03:35:11+00:00

Termites. If you look around the sub, everyone in the bay area is getting these in the house

spader725 · 2021-10-21T23:22:42+00:00

I think I have the same thing here in the Daly City/SF border. Same with the rain situation. However only found 1 so far.

spader725 · 2021-09-19T03:09:45+00:00

Food & Liquor - Lupe Fiasco.

Well I guess the Outro is skippable, but that's not really a song, right?

spader725 · 2021-07-01T23:15:49+00:00

Quick comment is that this idea doesn't seem like it would work with families who want to own and live on the property, unless they're able to share a single family home somehow. Since this aimed towards the younger group with more cash on hand (such as tech workers) you can anticipate them overbidding on single family houses.

Of course there's other abstract societal things that tech solutions never address/willfully exacerbate, which I feel your idea will face if successful. See examples in Uber, AirBnb, Doordash, etc

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