Figma Last: A Faster, Smarter Way to Build Together

Hyun Kim, Founding Product Designer

At Cogent, we are not just building agentic software. We are building smarter ways to develop that software. AI is part of how we create, not only in our products but in our process.

Recently, we introduced a new way of working that we call “Figma Last.” Instead of beginning every idea with high-fidelity design, we start by defining the experience, validating it early, and saving the visual polish for the end. It is faster, more collaborative, and more adaptive to how modern teams work.

The Anatomy of “Figma Last”

Here is how the process works:

Product requirements: A PRD, feedback, or even a Slack thread sparks the idea.
Prototype in Loveable or Figma Make: Using AI tools, we generate a working UX that satisfies the requirements.
Engineering builds the foundation: The product takes shape and the experience comes alive.
Design finalizes high-fidelity details in Figma: Typography, spacing, and color refinement come once the UX is validated.
Engineering applies the final polish: The cycle closes with a UI that feels both functional and beautiful.

It is not a linear process. It is a conversation. Each step builds on the last, and every role contributes earlier and more meaningfully.

What This Has Unlocked

The impact has been profound. “Figma Last” has not only changed how we work but has redefined what is possible for a team our size.

Since adopting this process:

We have cut our time to ship features in half.
We can now support twice as many customers in the same amount of time.
The output of design has increased threefold, while maintaining the same attention to quality and detail.
During proof-of-value engagements, we have reduced turnaround time from days to hours when responding to customer requests.

These results are not just improvements in speed or output. They represent a new way of operating where the boundaries between design, product, and engineering begin to fade. Work flows more freely. Decision-making accelerates. Every function moves together with the same rhythm of creation.

This is more than a process improvement. It marks a shift in how modern teams can operate when AI becomes a natural extension of creative collaboration. The dividends are already visible in how we deliver value, but the greater return will come as this way of working scales.

It is clear that this is the future mode of operation. “Figma Last” is not just our process today. It is a glimpse of how software teams everywhere will create tomorrow.

Why We Work This Way

The Quality of LLMs Has Crossed a Threshold

We would not have tried this even one year ago. But today’s AI design tools can produce UX flows that are genuinely usable. They are not perfect. The spacing might be off or the typography might need refinement. But they are workable foundations.

That is the key: foundations. It is my job as a designer to bridge the gap between functional and beautiful, not to redraw every line from scratch.

Design for Everyone

By using AI-generated prototypes, we have opened the design process to the whole company. Product managers, engineers, and even sales can now express ideas visually. This shift has been a game changer.

Instead of design being a gated practice, it has become a shared language. I still refine and approve the final product, but I am no longer the bottleneck to creative progress.

Scaling Without Breaking

As Cogent’s sole designer, my biggest constraint is not creativity. It is time. Traditional design processes often require development to pause until final mockups are approved. “Figma Last” removes that dependency.

Engineering can start early. We validate quickly. I can review and redirect without slowing the team down.

Less Thrash, More Focus

In fast-moving startups, scope changes constantly. Priorities shift. Features get dropped.

When high-fidelity design happens first, every change means rework and wasted effort.
By deferring polish until after the core UX is proven, we design once, not twice. We only refine what is real.

The Tradeoffs We Accept

“Figma Last” is not perfect. Like any new system, it introduces new risks and requires new habits.

Maintaining the Bar

When non-designers start prototyping, quality can drift. My role has evolved from creator to curator. I now spend more time mentoring, reviewing, and ensuring that every shipped experience still carries Cogent’s design DNA.

It is not about losing control. It is about extending trust.

Building Twice, but Smarter

Sometimes engineers will build the same component twice: first in functional form, then again with design polish. That is a tradeoff we accept because it eliminates wasted cycles on features that never make it past validation.

The key is communication. Finalizing UX before visual refinement begins keeps rework minimal and purpose-driven.

Even though engineers may build twice, the overall development cycle is noticeably shorter. By the time we reach the polish phase, the foundation has already been tested and proven. There are fewer surprises, fewer rewrites, and far less back-and-forth between design and engineering. The work becomes more predictable, and the handoff feels more like a continuation than a reset.

Redefining the Role of the Designer

For me, “Figma Last” has been about letting go again.
Not of pixels this time, but of authorship. Of the idea that design happens in isolation.

My job now is to guide, review, and elevate, not to own every frame. It is both humbling and liberating. The designer’s role is evolving from maker of artifacts to architect of processes, from guardian of visuals to guardian of experience.

At Cogent, design is no longer a stage in the SDLC.
It is a mindset that moves through every part of it.

Closing Reflection

“Figma Last” is not about doing less design. It is about doing the right design at the right time.

When AI handles the scaffolding and your teammates help shape the experience, you realize that design’s true power is not in the pixel. It is in the perspective.

The future of creative work will not be about who holds the pen.
It will be about who knows when to lift it.