What does the future of design and development hold? At Figma Config 2026, the company introduced five new tools that are poised to transform the way designers and developers work together. These innovative solutions enhance the design experience in Figma or compete directly with existing services in the field.
The Power of Figma's New Tools
One of the most exciting new features is Grid, which was long overdue in Figma's layout options. Now, designers can create predictable CSS Grid markup in dev mode, making it easier to execute layouts that resemble front-end development. Additionally, Draw upgrades Figma's vector editing tools, allowing designers to reduce their reliance on Illustrator and Figma by supporting more advanced illustration work natively.
Figma has also introduced Buzz, a lightweight marketing tool that enables designers to share polished, editable templates with marketers within the familiar Figma environment. Sites is another game-changer – a no-code solution for designing, building, and publishing web pages directly from Figma. And finally, Make empowers designers to use AI prompts to transform concepts into functional interactive prototypes.
The Rise of Generative AI & Vibe-Coding
The term vibe-coding was a recurring theme at Config 2026, highlighting the power of leveraging AI prompts to build and refine web applications. While current tools are most useful for prototyping and early-stage development, they have the potential to evolve and support design systems and live codebases.
Figma Sites is already offering this capability in Beta, and other services like Bolt.new, Locofy, Lovable, Copilot, or Claude are also making waves in this space. With these tools, designers can create a finished product, but they still require front-end engineering to integrate with CMS platforms, APIs, and other systems.
Design-to-Code: Bridging the Gap
Design-to-code and no-code solutions have traditionally targeted small-scale consumer sites. However, with the integration of AI and a deeper understanding of design systems and codebases, these tools are becoming more capable. We're curious to see how they can be scaled to support complex enterprise applications.
While these tools help create a finished product, integrating with CMS platforms, APIs, and other systems still requires front-end engineering. Nevertheless, the gap between design and development is shrinking, and we're excited to explore the possibilities.
AI in Practice
AI has become an integral part of our daily lives, from drafting messages to generating travel ideas. At Config 2026, one key takeaway was clear: these emerging tools and services already have a real-world impact on how designers and developers work.
As part of the Leadership Collective, I attended sessions like "The New Rituals & Skills Needed in the Age of AI" and "Building Products in the AI Era," which examined practical applications of AI in the creative process. It's not just about adopting new tools; it's about rethinking our approach to our craft.
Is AI Coming for Our Jobs?
Not exactly. However, it is changing the roles we will play. As basic tasks become increasingly automated, we need to operate more like creators and strategists, with AI as our execution partner. Rather than replacing us, these tools allow us to focus on our craft.
Instead of presenting flat concepts, we can deliver robust, workable prototypes that bring us closer to reaching a consensus on the final product. There will be more time for research, testing, and validation. With AI, we can explore multiple concepts simultaneously and select from those options, even when budget or time constraints were previously limiting.
Final Thoughts
This new wave of tools and workflows has energized our team. We're enthusiastically exploring new tools in Figma and beyond. I've personally built out some working prototypes from AI prompts in minutes. AI code editors are streamlining programming in surprising new ways.
The future feels closer than ever, and we're excited to keep adapting, learning, and building better experiences. With swift app development becoming more accessible, the possibilities are endless.