Why I don't use static design workflows anymore

In my vibe coding workshops there’s always at least one person asking about design. Usually it’s something like: “How do I move my Figma design into Cursor?”

I get why people ask. That’s how we were all taught to build: design first, code later. But honestly, I can’t find a reason anymore to include static design workflows in how I build. It just slows everything down.

Static design ≠ product

The idea of spending weeks making pixel-perfect mockups in Figma before you even touch code doesn’t make sense in 2025. A static file isn’t your product. Your product is the live site or app that people actually click on.

Translating static designs into code is double work. First you “design” something, then you rebuild it from scratch in code. For what? To have it look exactly the same? That’s not value creation. That’s just process for the sake of process.

Good enough > perfect pixels

I haven’t designed a single one of my websites. I just put together UI components, tweak where needed, and ship. The results? They look good enough and they convert. And conversion is the metric that matters, not whether a corner radius matches some Figma file.

When you let go of static design, you cut cycle times down to hours instead of weeks. You go from idea → live test without an entire handoff step in the middle.

Where design still matters

I’m not saying design is useless. At some point, some companies do need a lightweight design system or a visual identity to keep things consistent across teams. But that’s an exception, not the default.

And if you bring in designers, they need to be AI-native. Meaning: they’re building directly into code, into components, into production workflows. Adding someone to make static screens for handoff? I can’t justify that anymore.

The bottom line

Static design workflows are a relic. They slow down shipping. They add layers of unnecessary work. For me, coding with components is faster, cleaner, and closer to reality.

If you’re still forcing static design into your product workflow, ask yourself: are you building for speed and outcomes, or are you holding onto a process that doesn’t create value?