The constant tension between design tools and soft skills
As a designer, we’re constantly pulled in two directions: towards learning new design tools and towards honing our soft skills. But which is more important?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or any other organization I am affiliated with.
It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was going through my feed on X. It feels weird to call “Twitter” by a different name now. It’s like that kid in high school whom you’ve known by one name for a long time suddenly changes their name, just feels odd. Anyway, I discovered this thread by Artiom:
Designers, we have a problem. I call it Figmaism. Figmaism is an obsession with tooling at the expense of other (and often more important) skills.
I thought long and hard about it and proceeded to read the rest of the thread. Artiom made some very logical points highlighting the need for designers to grow by focusing on things that bring business value beyond pixels. He also had some pointers on how to do this:
These points underscore the need for designers to be multifaceted contributors, not just pixel creators. The role of designers has greatly expanded in recent years. We are no longer just responsible for visuals and aesthetics. To succeed today, you need to be able to check most of these boxes. All of this made complete sense, and he couldn’t have articulated it better. Towards the end of this thread, though, he ended it with this picture.
It felt like he caught me red-handed. Not only did I hear about the feature, I witnessed it live when it happened. I spent the next week on YouTube watching the Config videos. I watched how other designers were making use of these new features and how it would help me in my workflow. I spent hours exploring the new features and creating new prototypes. The moment made me question all of it. Should I have invested that much time learning the new features? Was it really worth it?
As I went through his older posts, I came across this one, and my face fell. This was the “the straw that broke the camel’s back” moment.
As I was processing this, part of me wanted to look for another perspective. One thing I’ve realized after being a part of Design Twitter for over five years is that we’re a really divided group. There is clearly a spectrum on which people fall on extreme ends regarding many issues.
I had just the right person in mind, whom I deeply admire, respect, and have greatly benefited from — the OG, Joey Banks. He’s one of the most popular figures on Design Twitter, teaching others how to improve their Figma skills, among other things.
In fact, Joey did share an in-depth look at variables and other important features that were introduced in Config. He wasn’t alone — notable designers like Jesse, Mizko, and others also shared helpful resources and content. This represents the opposite end of the spectrum.
This raised the question: as a designer, what should you do? Should you invest time in learning new features in design tools, or should you hone soft skills like clear communication, presentation abilities, and other skills that designers like Artiom advocate? I turned to other designers in the industry whom I look up to, like Hardik, who had offered perspectives on a similar issue.
As Hardik points out, there’s no question that Figma has become an essential professional skill. Not only do we use it to create designs, but it has also integrated into other workflows like presentations, notes, flow charts, brainstorming, hand-offs, and countless other uses. It’s hard to imagine life without Figma as a product designer. However, the tool’s importance isn’t up for debate; rather, the main point of contention is how deeply designers need to learn Figma. Where should the line be drawn on effort and time invested? What does a bare minimum proficiency look like?
Remember when I mentioned that Design Twitter is a divided group? Brett shared a hot take on using certain Figma features. While some may argue these capabilities are core to design workflows, Brett feels it’s fine to design without them. Personally, I can’t imagine designing without auto-layout or components.
I know designers who have faced consequences for this. I remember a friend who recently interviewed at a well-known hyperlocal startup but was rejected because he hadn’t used auto-layout in his files or named layers. For that startup, it was a red flag. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!
Speaking of naming layers, a major controversy erupted on X sometime ago. It began when Joshua Pekera shared his viewpoint on designers needing to organize their files properly, including naming layers.
Immediately, people began sharing their perspectives, with some in favor and many opposed — a classic example of Design Twitter being divided. Lots of people shared opinions on each approach: naming layers vs. not naming layers. I share the opposing view of someone I truly admire, Rasmus Anderson.
This ties back to the original premise of this article: how granular do you have to go in a tool to be a good designer? Rasmus, in his post, believes that good design has little to do with naming layers. To be fair to Joshua, naming layers does make collaboration easier within teams. But does not naming layers make you a bad designer? I hope not! It all comes down to whether your organization is willing for you to spend extra time naming layers instead of using that time to benefit the business in other ways.
And this is only one aspect of it — using tools. I haven’t even mentioned craft, creativity, or strategy, which also have varying thoughts across the spectrum. If you’re just starting out as a young designer, it’s easy to get lost.
While doing research for this blog, I came across this post of Hardik’s, and I think it perfectly sums up the whole situation.
If you’re still reading, you’re probably looking for the answer: Should you invest time in learning new design tool features, or should you focus on honing your soft skills?
Here’s what I learned
Design tools are constantly evolving, with new features being added all the time. It can be tempting to want to learn all of the latest features, but it’s important to be strategic about how you invest your time.
Whether you should focus on learning new design tool features or honing your soft skills depends on your current skill level, your career goals, and the company you work for.
- If you’re a beginner or junior designer, focus on building your core design skills (typography, color, layout) and developing fluency in the standard tools like Figma.
- As you move into mid to senior level roles, soft skills become more important. Work on collaboration, communication, business value, presenting work, giving/receiving feedback, mentorship, time management, organizational skills.
- If you’re a part of the design system team, like Joey, chances are you’ll be required to learn all these features in depth.
- However, if you run or work in a design agency, like Brett, it may not be essential to learn all of these features in depth, as the environment is fast-paced and requires you to move quickly.
The key is to focus on the skills that are most relevant and valuable based on your level of experience, career goals, and company/role. Eventually, the best designers are those who can combine both technical and soft skills to create innovative and user-centric designs.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Claps would be appreciated. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, or reach out to me at shumrozeb@gmail.com.
