---
title: I stopped starting my designs in Figma
description: "Every product designer is now expected to push real code to production. So my process starts in Claude Code, inside the repo, with five directions instead of one."
date: 2026-11-04
tags: [ai, design, process, claude-code, video]
url: "https://mahdif.com/blog/i-stopped-starting-my-designs-in-figma/"
---

# I stopped starting my designs in Figma

Every product designer is now expected to push real code to production. So my process starts in Claude Code, inside the repo, with five directions instead of one.

<figure style="margin:0 0 2.75rem;" data-wide>
<div style="position:relative;width:100%;aspect-ratio:16/9;border:1px solid var(--border);border-radius:var(--radius-lg);overflow:hidden;background:var(--card);"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/r54Z2wCM6eo" title="I stopped starting my designs in Figma" style="position:absolute;inset:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen loading="lazy"></iframe></div>
<figcaption>17 minutes. The five directions start at 4:44.</figcaption>
</figure>

For most of my career, a design went from a product spec straight to Figma. I spent about 80% of my time there, making every button pixel perfect, then handed the file to the engineers.

That's not the job anymore. Now I start in Claude Code, inside the repo, where most of the context already lives. I dictate everything else I know, add the requirements and the feedback from the team, and ask for five completely different directions.

I flip through them and leave comments right on the designs. The comments go back to Claude, and we go again. Once one direction wins, I go vertical: the copy, the spacing, the colors, the radii.

Around that sit the things I couldn't easily do before. Paper MCP for fast iterations on a canvas. Subtle sound effects from cuelume. Shaders. A taste file of things I never want to see, eyebrow text for one. And image models for logos and bold visuals.

Figma is still a good design tool. It's just not where I start anymore.