We’ve moved: Carousell’s Product Design team from Sketch to Figma
This is not an advice piece or a ‘how-to’ guide. This is simply a personal recount of how my entire design team shifted its system and workflow from Sketch to Figma.
The thought of shifting was conceived a year ago, but the actual shift took 2 months. We started with 2 active Figma users but eventually got all 10 designers (along with stakeholders) on board.
Background
At Carousell, the Product Design team’s workflow was the usual Sketch-Abstract-Zeplin. Being new to the team, I went along.
But picking up Sketch-Abstract-Zeplin only highlighted the superiority of Figma in terms of efficiency and performance.
As a newer product in the market, it tackled several existing ‘pain-points’ of a Sketch workflow. Figma was basically an evolution of Sketch (in most ways). After a month, I went back to Figma.
However, I did not wish to disturb the peace with another design tool and denounce the triune of Sketch-Abstract-Zeplin.
Don’t rock the boat. At least not yet.
Humble Beginnings
My story begins with a Slack channel. With just 3 Figma users, a channel to share tips, resources and articles was born.
Here’s a gist of our productive discussions:
At this point, it still felt like a mammoth task to convert the entire team to a new tool. I wouldn’t dare…
Regardless, I continued to work, present and share using Figma.
Persistence is key
Talking Sketch users into using Figma was pointless (Trust me, I’ve tried). I could go on about the benefits, show them a list and present comparison tables — It will still be futile.
But knowing that my target users were the designers, I persisted.
Because designers, by nature, are problem-solvers. The glaring ‘pain-points’ of our existing Sketch-Abstract-Zeplin workflow will eventually, naturally emerge. And when the day comes… (try not to cringe)
I will be the still, small voice that says — Have you tried Figma?
One day a fellow designer asked “Mag, how do you share your entire flow with the engineers? I’m using Zeplin and it’s so frustrating to view screen by screen and continuously import for every update” (Relatable?)
I launched my Figma files and gleefully showed him.
Another designer, a self-proclaimed “Sketch-only” dude, was looking for a faster alternative to prototyping. Having seen that capability from my sharing on Figma, he gave it a go and never looked back since.
These encounters woke a dormant idea — could a full team conversion actually be possible?
As one who’s slightly obsessed with efficiency, I’m surprised that I’ve taken the back seat for so long.
A domino effect
Fresh off a Q4 product design retrospective, I created a document to kickstart a plan — playfully titled: Figma Takeover 2020.
I mimicked a user research plan with goals, hypotheses and assumptions.
I remembered being intentionally playful — almost to lower expectations of this project.
Even with my conviction, I still lacked confidence in the actual execution. Our entire design system was on Sketch! Imagine the operational efforts required.
But with 2 new allies (shoutout Darren & Trong), the initial draft took off into something else.
They beefed up the content, reframed it into a business case with proper evidence — and even went on to initiate an internal buy-in presentation.
From ex-Sketch to Figma-evangelist, the Figma Takeover project was taking shape.
The deal breaker
There was just one big fat problem— Figma had no auto layout.
This proved to be a big hurdle and rightfully so. Managing components without auto layout was a deal breaker.
To top it off, Sketch launched smart layout. And it surely felt like the Figma campaign was hitting another dead end.
Until it was not.
The game-changer, the buzzer-beater
Lo and behold, the launch of Figma’s Auto Layout.
Never ever, have I been so excited over a product’s feature release (shucks, and I’m from a product company 😅)
With this launch, we knew the ball was in our court.
The wave of change
Riding on the momentum, we invited the CEO of Figma, Dylan Field to Carousell’s office. He shared his vision and it resonated.
Our Figma camp expanded. With half the team on board, we started the plan to rebuild the design system from Sketch to Figma.
Note: When shifting a design system to Figma, rebuild from scratch.
My forte isn’t in planning and coordination. Luckily, Darren was Mr. Spreadsheet. I wasn’t lightning-fast at rebuilding components — thankfully, Rita completed a huge chunk of it.
(Am I ousting myself as a designer right now?)
What a master display of Teamwork!
Almost there
Our design system was almost 100% replicated.
Note: For teams with bigger design systems, prioritise the most basic and commonly used components first (colours, fonts, navigation, buttons, etc). Revisit the others once the full team is onboard.
To stress-test our newly built system, we set a 2-week trial period for all designers (and their stakeholders) to validate it.
No humble endings
After 2 weeks of trial (and 2 months of rebuilding efforts), the decision was made. We’re now officially on Figma!
My story begins and ends with the same Slack channel.
Oh yes, what a ‘revolution’.
What’s next?
To ease everyone into this new tool, ex-Sketch and now Figma-evangelist, Trong initiated a thread for tips and tricks (I heard he’s building a website for this!)
Many have asked, what’s next after this successful campaign of shifting a team from Sketch to Figma?
I don’t know, maybe I’ll attempt a Figma to AdobeXD campaign next.
Just kidding, nobody asked!
For now, let me just bask in glory while looking at all other teams’ cursors, hovering around
The final epiphany
My design boss, Keith, casually summarised this process very astutely — the entire journey was akin to a design process.
- 👩🏻💻Target users — Product designers
- 🔍Identify Pain points — Inefficiency of current workflow
- 💡Ideate — How might we convert and convince Sketch users
- 🛠Execution — Create a basic, reliable design system
- 💭Validation — 2 week trial test
- 🌟Launch!
Wow, how did I not see this from the start? I have an insightful boss.
Rolling credits
It has been a personally fun journey to look back on and I might as well claim the success.
Honourable shoutouts:
- OGs (Original Gangsters) of #figs-of-figma
- My engineers: While every other engineer was on Zeplin, they almost unquestionably stuck through with me on Figma, lol.
- Darren and Trong: ex-Sketch to Figma-evangelists
- Felipe and Ha: Scale-tippers
- Design boss, Keith: Imagine where we’d be if he told me what I told myself… “Don’t rock the boat”
- Myself: For rocking the darn boat!
Epilogue
“It’s not about the tool” — I’ve heard this too often. There’s a shared sentiment going around that designers shouldn’t talk about tools.
Heck! I was even slightly embarrassed as I started this article… about tools!
But why shouldn’t we talk about it?
Tools are naturally part of the design process, as it is your design thinking, although not equivalent. Your pen and paper are tools. Google slides is a tool.
Tools help to communicate your ideas, make the intangible, tangible and bridges the gap between your stakeholders.
A healthy level of discussion around tools is warranted. It shouldn’t distract us but it shouldn’t be so easily dismissed.
At the end of the day, it’s not about another tool ‘winning’ the takeover. Rather, the improved efficiency helps my designers save time, reduce frustrations and focus on what matters most—our users.
