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December 12, 2025

Hard problems are still hard: A story about the tools that change and the work that doesn't

Nikolas KleinProduct Manager, Figma

Cover illustration of a comic showing a person walking a large fluffy dog through a colorful, surreal cityscape with the title “Hard Problems Are Still Hard.”

Cover illustration of a comic showing a person walking a large fluffy dog through a colorful, surreal cityscape with the title “Hard Problems Are Still Hard.”

Figma designer–turned–product manager Nikolas Klein worked on building prototyping tools for seven years. Then AI changed the game.

Share Hard problems are still hard: A story about the tools that change and the work that doesn't

Illustrations by Marco Quadri

A traveler walks past a colorful cluster of German-style buildings in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

A traveler walks past a colorful cluster of German-style buildings in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

A bright yellow San Francisco streetcar passes colorful buildings at sunset as the narrator reflects on moving to intern at Figma.

A bright yellow San Francisco streetcar passes colorful buildings at sunset as the narrator reflects on moving to intern at Figma.

A designer works, rests, and reflects at their desk with a loyal dog nearby while thinking about building interactive prototyping tools.

A designer works, rests, and reflects at their desk with a loyal dog nearby while thinking about building interactive prototyping tools.

A designer and their dog stare at an AI-filled computer screen as they reconsider the role of prototyping.

A designer and their dog stare at an AI-filled computer screen as they reconsider the role of prototyping.

The designer gazes ahead with swirling, overwhelmed eyes as ideas and questions swirl around them.

The designer gazes ahead with swirling, overwhelmed eyes as ideas and questions swirl around them.

A designer sits beside their dog as swirling green AI clouds raise anxious questions about the future of design.

A designer sits beside their dog as swirling green AI clouds raise anxious questions about the future of design.

The designer imagines a toolbox filled with traditional tools and AI alike, realizing it’s simply one more tool to use.

The designer imagines a toolbox filled with traditional tools and AI alike, realizing it’s simply one more tool to use.

Scenes of design work, animations, and iterative problem-solving show that even with AI, hard problems still require human judgment.

Scenes of design work, animations, and iterative problem-solving show that even with AI, hard problems still require human judgment.

Designers and engineers sit atop a whimsical castle-shaped structure, illustrating how collaboration between experts makes complex ideas possible.

Designers and engineers sit atop a whimsical castle-shaped structure, illustrating how collaboration between experts makes complex ideas possible.

The designer and an AI cloud work at side-by-side computers while their dog rests nearby, highlighting teamwork and human insight in the design process.

The designer and an AI cloud work at side-by-side computers while their dog rests nearby, highlighting teamwork and human insight in the design process.

A designer naps on a couch beside their dog and a friendly cloud-like AI, symbolizing the ongoing partnership between humans and their tools.

A designer naps on a couch beside their dog and a friendly cloud-like AI, symbolizing the ongoing partnership between humans and their tools.

Learn more about how we built:

Spring animations
How Figma put the bounce in spring animations
An inside look at how Figma engineers used the laws of physics to bring spring animations to life.
Multi-edit
Behind the feature: The multiple lives of multi-edit
Vice President of Product Sho Kuwamoto and Product Designer Nikolas Klein walk us through the journey of multi-edit, a new feature that simplifies editing across multiple designs in just a few clicks.
Code layers
Canvas, meet code: Building Figma’s code layers
What if you could design and build on the same canvas? Here's how we created code layers to bring design and code together.

Abstract pastel gradient background with bold white text reading ‘Software is culture.’

Abstract pastel gradient background with bold white text reading ‘Software is culture.’

Explore Software Is Culture, a collection of stories tracing the impact of design on how we think, feel, and connect.

Nikolas Klein is a product designer turned product manager. He’s been working at Figma since 2018, and has always been focused on getting more people to explore their interactive ideas together. He is now a PM on Figma Make.

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