Contrary to traditional digital design, the modern AI-assisted workflow involves broad, conceptual exploration on canvas-like tools (e.g., Paper) and sweating the final visual details directly in code. Pixel-nudging in design software like Figma is becoming obsolete for last-mile fit and finish.

Design and engineering teams should stop treating Figma as the ultimate source of truth. It is a simulacrum. The real source of truth is what customers experience in production. Orienting the entire team around the live product ensures everyone is solving for the actual user experience.

At Perplexity, the design system lives in the codebase, not Figma. Designers contribute directly to the frontend, creating a single source of truth that eliminates drift between design files and production code, forcing a highly practical and collaborative process.

The design process has shifted from comprehensive Figma mockups to live in-app prototypes built with AI coding assistants. Figma is now used sporadically to explore multiple variations of a specific component quickly, but it's no longer the start or end of the design journey.

AI-powered "vibe coding" is reversing the design workflow. Instead of starting in Figma, designers now build functional prototypes directly with code-generating tools. Figma has shifted from being the first step (exploration) to the last step (fine-tuning the final 20% of pixel-perfect details).

Production code often evolves past design files, creating workflow friction. Figma's MCP tool uses AI to pull live application states directly into design files and push updates back to code, creating a synchronized source of truth.

When production code is the only source of truth, designers use AI to capture the live product and convert it back into a high-fidelity, componentized Figma file. This solves the common issue of undocumented engineering changes creating design drift.

Instead of creating static mockups in Figma, Cursor's design team prototypes directly in their AI code editor. This allows them to interact with the "life states of the app" and get a more realistic feel for the product, bridging the gap between design and engineering.

The current model of separate design files and codebases is inefficient. Future tools will enable designers to directly manipulate production code through a visual canvas, eliminating the handoff process and creating a single, shared source of truth for the entire team.