Figma Corleone

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There’s this incredible scene from from 1972 movie, The Godfather, where Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) is at the baptism of his godchild. He is being asked by the priest if he rejects sin and promises to live a holy life. While Michael is repeating a string of “I do”s, the movie juxtaposes to scenes of men killing mob bosses — calculated murders planned by Michael himself.

From a filming perspective, it’s excellent. Here is this guy, seemingly good, executing a plan to gun down his rivals during an act of purity. Pacino’s expression is locked in — ice in his veins, as the kids these days would say. Every time I watch it, I can’t help but nod along and confirm what an excellent piece of art Francis Ford Coppola created.

Last week in San Francisco, I witnessed Figma perform a less violent, but somewhat similar act, as they revved up their plans to IPO by released four new products.

In addition to much-needed updates to layouts in a feature called grids, Figma came out swinging with four new products. Draw, Sites, Buzz, and Make — four ways to tackle rivals like Framer, Webflow, Canva and the oft-mentioned Adobe. This was Figma’s way of saying that they are not messing around. We’re coming after you.

It’s an incredible move. They’re getting involved in every area where the customer would leave Figma for another product. I have often designed in Figma, only to look to a tool like Framer for development. But here’s the thing. Is what Figma doing the best path forward, apart from the IPO talk?

What I always liked about Figma is that it did its couple things well. It wasn’t the Swiss army knife that Photoshop was, but rather, a streamlined way of quickly putting together journey maps, wireframes, and prototypes. Then came FigJam — an alternative to Miro. FigJam is good. But, if Miro works, why would a company ever switch (pricing, perhaps)?

I’m not saying this was a bad idea on Figma’s part. They know their business better than many. I just wonder if this expansion will end up producing the best products, or if they’re just trying to get their hands on every cannoli.

What do you think?

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Hi, I’m Jon, a UX and Product Designer from Brooklyn, New York. I write the Design Breadcrumbs newsletter to express my own thoughts on the design world, freelancing, and career advancement. Subscribe to get this news delivered to your inbox every week.