When should a startup move from wireframes to Figma?

In the last article Why startups shouldn’t start with Figma, we talk about why Figma is probably not the right place to start for most startups.

Figma is clearly a very capable tool though, so there must come a point where a startup could really use Figma.

• You have more designers than developers
• Your designers have time
  • There’s more designers than developers
  • Developers are focused on backend
• You want to make design an actual differentiator for your startup
  • Most startups are differentiated on other things, so this is probably not you
• You have outsourced some of your developers
• Your developers are more backend than front-end
  • While it seems that everyone is a full-stack engineer, people tend to lean more towards one than the other
• You have a Figma rockstar
  • If there’s someone on the team who is just so fast with Figma

Why some startups may switch too early:

• Someone in design decrees that all work must go through Figma first, tying the hands of developers. Developers want to be able to make changes without a lot of ceremony.
• The company becomes very risk adverse, where all changes must go through a lot handoffs and approvals
• The company undervalues speed
• The company undervalues product innovation
  • Focused on go-to-market
  • Anything that slows down innovation means that you may get disrupted