What If Figma Isn’t the Future of Design?

Everyone is trying to replace Figma.

But very few are trying to rethink how we design.

That’s where Paper Design and Brilliant Design caught my attention.

I didn’t want to judge them by their landing pages.

So I spent time building with both.

I clicked every button.

Broke a few things.

Tested the AI.

And recorded the entire experience.

By the end, I wasn’t asking which one is better than Figma.

I was asking whether we’re entering a completely new way of designing.

Figma is still great.

Let’s get that out of the way.

It has the biggest community.

Thousands of plugins.

Millions of designers.

Most companies already rely on it.

But AI changed something.

Designers don’t just want AI to suggest ideas anymore.

They want AI to do the work.

Create layouts.

Fix spacing.

Generate screens.

Update components.

Today, Figma still feels like a design tool with AI added to it.

These new tools feel like AI tools built for design.

That difference is bigger than it sounds.

Paper Design feels like designing the frontend.

This was the first tool I tested.

And honestly…

It surprised me.

Everything on the canvas is real HTML and CSS.

Not something that gets translated into code later.

The design is the code.

For designers who work closely with developers, that removes one of the biggest frustrations in product design.

The handoff becomes much simpler.

What impressed me even more was its MCP support.

The AI doesn’t just inspect your design.

It can actually edit it.

Build layouts.

Make changes.

Work alongside you.

It feels less like asking for suggestions.

And more like working with another designer.

I recorded my entire experience while exploring Paper Design.

If you’re curious how it actually works, you can watch the full walkthrough below before moving on.

🎥 Paper Design

Brilliant Design feels familiar.

After Paper, I opened Brilliant.

Within a few minutes, it felt like home.

Auto Layout.

Components.

Vectors.

Design systems.

Almost everything felt familiar.

Then I started using the AI.

That’s where Brilliant becomes different.

Instead of suggesting improvements…

It starts designing.

Describe what you need.

It creates it.

Ask for changes.

It updates the design.

Everything stays editable.

Nothing feels flattened.

And the fact that the core product is free makes it even more interesting.

For freelancers.

Students.

Or anyone who wants to experiment without paying another monthly subscription.

I also recorded a complete walkthrough while testing Brilliant.

If you want to see how the AI behaves in real projects, here’s the full review.

🎥 Brilliant Design 

So which one is better?

That depends on how you work.

If you’re a designer who lives close to the codebase…

Paper makes a lot of sense.

It removes the gap between design and development.

If you want something that feels almost identical to Figma…

Brilliant is the easier switch.

The learning curve is almost invisible.

And having AI built into the workflow makes it surprisingly productive.

Neither tool feels like a finished replacement for Figma.

But neither feels like a side project either.

They’re solving real problems.

Just in different ways

Is Figma in trouble?

Not today.

Probably not tomorrow.

Figma still has years of momentum.

Companies won’t switch overnight.

But this is the first time I’ve felt the industry changing.

The conversation isn’t…

“Which design tool is the best?”

It’s becoming…

“Which design tool works best with AI?”

That’s a completely different question.

And I think it’s the one every designer should start paying attention to.

Because whether Paper wins…

Or Brilliant wins…

Or Figma catches up…

The workflow we’ve known for the last decade is already starting to change.

And this might only be the beginning.

What do you think?

Would you leave Figma today?

Or are you waiting for AI to become good enough before making the switch?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Drop me an email at uixsadiq@hotmail.com or connect on LinkedIn