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Let me start with an observation: Throughout my career, I’ve interviewed many designers and product managers. I always ask candidates to walk me through the process for one of their projects. In response, nearly every person shares a similar version of this story:

First, they began with research, then the team had a big brainstorm with Post-its (naturally), then a series of hand-drawn sketches, all culminating in a shiny pixel-perfect prototype, which was tested, and then shipped out into the world. Voila! It’s such a satisfying tale from conception to completion.

But here’s the thing: I rarely believe it. Products today never get built in such a clear, linear, and picture-perfect way. The reality is so much messier. So why do we act like it isn’t?

Today, every digital product is a
work in progress. And this has
changed how we design. ”

Well, for a long time, this was the process. Back when product design meant physical products, it was materially important that everyone follow a carefully constructed, linear process. As the world became increasingly digital, the spaces we designed for became faster to build and iterate on. Product teams can ship an update in a matter of minutes versus leaving their users stuck with a design for years to come. Today, every digital product is a work in progress. And this has changed how we design.

Our work never feels done because it isn’t. Our collaborators jump in and out of files, leaving feedback and iterating on designs while we’re creating them. Many of us can ship whenever, so it’s hard to know when new designs are actually ready. It’s the chaotic reality of modern product design and development. We spend a lot of time at Figma thinking about this reality, how to navigate it, and how to build for it. I’d like to share some of what we’ve found that works, and a few new features we introduced to make the other parts work better, too.

Files are no longer static documents that you attach to an email and send to collaborators. Browser-based tools make it so that work can be shared with anyone, anywhere via URL, allowing everyone to look at and work on the same file at the same time. As it turns out, when people are able to iterate on their work in real time, they share it earlier

, too. If you’ve ever added a “[WIP]” or “Work in Progress” annotation to the title of your file, you know the power of an in-progress draft. It’s a signal that lowers the stakes, letting any potential viewers know that this is, indeed, in progress. Designers can share early directions with product managers, just as writers can share rough drafts with their editors. Welcome to the “Work in Progress” world.