I’ve been using Figma for a couple years now, but like a lot of others, I came from Adobe XD and jumped into it head-first. I learned on the fly, figuring things out as I went. And honestly? I got pretty good at making things look right — even if the way I built them was kind of a mess.
I’d sort of force elements into place, nudge things around until they fit where I wanted, and call it done. It looked good, and since I wasn’t usually handing my files off to another developer, it didn’t really matter. If it worked, it worked.
(I guess maybe that’s one downfall to being the designer AND developer 🤔)
But over time, I found out that working that way actually made my life harder. Every new section felt like starting from scratch, and small tweaks took way longer than they should have. It took me a while to realize this, though, because nobody was there to tell me I was doing it wrong.
I hit a point where I knew I could do better. So I enrolled in a 4-week advanced Figma course, and that changed everything.
I finally understood not just how to use the tools, but why they’re structured the way they are. And that made everything clearer — from how I set up color variables to how I build components.
My background in developing websites has also made this click in a new way. I’ve always understood how a design eventually gets translated into code, but now I look at Figma through that lens from the very beginning. After taking the course, I’ve found a much stronger sense of continuity between designing and building — it’s no longer two separate steps, but part of one clear process.
Now, my designs are developer-friendly, my workflow is faster, and my process actually makes sense. I’m using the tools how they were intended to be used — so when I want to create a new button or card, I know exactly how it should be built.
And the bonus? If I ever hand off a file to a developer, they won’t have to spend hours untangling my mess.
Design to Dollars takeaway
“Good enough” design makes your life harder. It can be easy to get caught up in the hamster wheel of work, but when you pause to take the time to learn the tools you’re using the right way — and why you should do it that way instead — your work becomes stronger because of it.
Thanks for reading,
