Figma Prototype Is Dead
Oct 14, 2025
It’s been almost a year since I last used Figma’s native prototyping features.
Not because I don’t believe in prototyping—far from it. But because, frankly…
Prototyping in Figma Design has been broken for too long.
I’m talking about:
✖️ Static, lifeless screens
✖️ Tedious artboard duplication
✖️ Half-baked animations that barely mimic real interactions
✖️ Prototypes that take hours to build and never quite feel like the product
If you’ve ever tried to replicate a real product experience in Figma using its default prototyping tools, you know exactly what I mean. It’s fine for basic flows. But once you try to prototype actual product behavior—conditionals, inputs, dynamic layouts—you hit a wall.
So, I looked for alternatives. And I found some good ones.
My Detour: v0, Cursor, and ChatGPT
For most of the past year, I shifted my workflow toward tools like:
v0.dev by Vercel – for visually generating UI with React-level fidelity.
Cursor – an AI-native IDE that helped me turn sketches or prompts into working code.
ChatGPT – for rapidly iterating on UI logic, generating components, or improving code snippets.
These tools were powerful. And they helped me bridge the gap between idea and interface with less friction than Figma’s default setup.
But… they weren’t perfect either.
The Problem: Code ≠ Design
Despite the promise of AI tooling, I kept running into one persistent issue:
The prototype didn’t fully match the design.
I’d design in Figma.
Then I’d jump into v0 or Cursor to build behavior.
But moving between tools meant:
Rebuilding layouts from scratch
Losing visual consistency
Making manual adjustments after each design change
It became a back-and-forth nightmare.
Design in one tool. Build in another. Fix spacing. Update colors. Copy assets again.
Repeat.
I found myself stuck in a loop where the fidelity of behavior came at the cost of design integrity—or vice versa.
And then, everything changed.
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Enter: Figma Make — A Game Changer for Designers Who Build
A few days ago, I finally tried Figma Make.
I’d been hearing about it on X and in private design groups. It promised to bridge the gap between design and interactive front-end. So I gave it a shot.
And within minutes, I was blown away.
Let me break it down:
Here’s What I Built:
A front-end prototype for an AI-native SaaS app I’ve been designing for a client.
With real transitions. Functional animations. Responsive layout. Real UX behavior.
No browser hacks. No plugins. No clunky exports.
Here’s What the workflow looked like:
✔️ Designed the interface in standard Figma
✔️ Copied it into Figma Make
✔️ Used a mix of natural language prompts + low-code animation settings to bring it to life
✔️ Had a fully interactive, demo-ready product UI in minutes—not days
I even connected a simple database and was able to simulate a realistic workflow.
Let that sink in.
This isn’t just a hotspot-filled slide deck. This is a product prototype that behaves like a product.
What Makes Figma Make Different?
Unlike traditional prototyping inside Figma Design, Figma Make acts more like a real front-end engine with animation logic, database connectivity, and partial code-level control.
Key Features:
🎨 Full fidelity from your Figma designs (no redraws)
⚙️ Prompt-based interactions (e.g., “Add slide-in from right when button is clicked”)
🧠 Built-in logic handling (modals, toggles, transitions)
📂 Component-level state management
🛢️ Connect to a real database
🌐 One-click hosting + publishing
It’s prototyping for builders—not just presenters.
And for the first time in a long time, it felt like designers could own the prototype without handing it off or compromising on behavior.
Is It Development-Ready?
Let’s be honest here.
This is not yet a full dev handoff tool.
❗ You still can’t push to Git.
❗ You still need devs to wire up APIs and back-end logic.
❗ You still can’t run full stack builds or manage advanced state.
But that’s okay.
This isn’t trying to replace engineers.
It’s solving a different problem:
How can we make MVPs, pitches, user testing, and internal demos feel real—without waiting 2–3 weeks for dev cycles?
And for that, Figma Make is already miles ahead.
I believe very soon it’ll catch up to tools like Cursor or even Lovable, offering push-to-Git and real deployment integration.
But even in its current form—it’s a game-changer.
Why This Matters for Product Designers
If you’re still prototyping inside Figma Design’s default tools—using duplicated frames, basic transitions, and zero logic—you’re:
Slowing down your iteration speed
Creating unrealistic experiences
Making it harder for stakeholders to “get” the product
Missing an opportunity to own the product conversation
Because here’s the truth:
The more real your prototype feels, the more trust you build across your team.
Realistic prototypes = faster feedback, better alignment, more buy-in.
And now, with tools like Figma Make, there’s no excuse for “low fidelity” anymore.
Why This Will Change How MVPs Are Built
Let’s take a step back.
In early-stage SaaS, your MVP is everything.
It’s the thing you test.
It’s what investors see.
It’s what early adopters use.
And yet, most MVPs are either:
Coded from scratch (time-intensive, dev-dependent)
Built on no-code platforms with UI compromises
Or mocked in Figma, then rebuilt manually
What if instead, you could:
Design it once
Bring it to life in minutes
Test with users
Ship internally
Iterate—all before your first line of backend code?
That’s what Figma Make unlocks.
A new middle ground between design, dev, and user testing—where designers lead.
My Workflow Moving Forward
Here’s how I’ll prototype new products from now on:
Design layout + UI system in Figma
Import to Figma Make for interaction logic + animation
Connect simple data (dummy or real)
Test with users
Iterate, revise, then pass to dev with live prototype as the reference
Once Git + API support arrives, extend into dev workflow
No more duplicated artboards.
No more disconnected prototypes.
No more “just imagine this working” hand-waving.
Final Thoughts: Designers, This Is Your Moment
We’ve spent years talking about “no-code” and “design to code,” but it always felt fragmented.
Figma Make feels different.
It feels like the missing link—the bridge between design fidelity and functional behavior—without leaving the Figma ecosystem.
If you’re still prototyping in Figma Design the old way, you’re behind.
Because this isn’t just a better tool—it’s a mindset shift.
It’s about designers becoming builders, not just stylists.
It’s about designing functional prototypes, not just pretty decks.
It’s about owning the MVP process from sketch to demo.
