Figma Founder: Software Supply Surges but Usage Rates Remain Flat, Differentiation Needed in Design
Figma co-founder and CEO Dylan Field stated that there is an exponential increase in software design and product fields, but the usage and utilization rates of applications remain flat.
He pointed out that differentiation should come from design, perspective, branding, narrative, and "taste" (along with all related buzzwords). This view is based on the observation that the submission volume in app stores continues to grow exponentially, while per capita app usage remains flat.
Field has emphasized on multiple occasions that as AI lowers the coding barrier, code is becoming a commodity, and value is shifting to design, craftsmanship, branding, and perspective. Figma is promoting a full-stack creative canvas that integrates design and code layers, helping teams move from ideas to products.
He has referred to "design as the new code" and noted that AI lowers the creative floor rather than raising the ceiling, with human judgment and craftsmanship remaining the core of differentiation. About two-thirds of Figma users are non-designers, and the platform is expanding its collaborative scope.
The gap between software supply and attention is widening. More products are competing for a fixed share of usage, and funding and attention are shifting from purely functional builds to design capabilities that can establish brand and experiential differentiation.
Source: Public Information
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Dylan Field, who founded Figma in 2012, has long promoted browser-based collaborative design, expanding from a single tool to FigJam, Dev Mode, and code layers. He has repeatedly viewed AI as a tool to lower creative barriers rather than replace design judgment, with the path shifting from tool proliferation to value elevation.
In terms of capital strategy, Figma attracts more non-designers by integrating design and code workflows while enhancing design systems and brand expression capabilities. The strategic motive is to position the platform as a center for differentiation and craftsmanship as the cost of code generation decreases, rather than just an efficiency tool.
Similar cases include other design and creative tools emphasizing "taste" and systematic output in the AI era to cope with content oversupply. Current software products are in a phase of explosive supply and fixed attention, with differentiation shifting from functionality to experience and narrative.
Essentially, this involves technological substitution and the transfer of pricing power. AI commodifies code and basic functionalities, with the mechanism being an increase in supply while usage shares remain unchanged, forcing value to shift from implementation capabilities to design, branding, and perspective, which become the main levers for capturing user attention.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Supply grows exponentially, usage shares remain flat
- Code becomes material, design becomes a barrier
- Taste and perspective are the new scarce resources.