Hype check: Hype
Figma ships more AI features, adoption still uneven
Figma's product blog keeps adding AI-assisted tools, but plenty of teams — especially smaller or open-source-curious ones — aren't using them fully yet.
figma.com
Practice brief · Design tools
Penpot closes the gap on Figma in 2025
Published 19 August 2026 · Source dated 12 November 2025
Used for: Alpha assumption; Stakeholder brief; Portfolio proof; Tool experiment. Practice brief for the gate you are in — not an industry digest dump.
Hype check: Adoption. Teams are using this — still check the source date (12 November 2025).
Saves the claim and source date (12 November 2025) on this device. No account.
A late-2025 comparison found Penpot's collaboration and rendering performance catching up to Figma, though Figma still leads on plugins and prototyping depth.
A November 2025 review comparing Penpot and Figma found real progress: sync editing and large-file performance have improved significantly, closing a gap that used to be a dealbreaker for teams. Figma still wins on plugin ecosystem, FigJam-style whiteboarding, and advanced prototyping interactions — that maturity gap hasn't closed. Neither tool 'wins' outright anymore; it's a genuine choice, not just an ideological one. For juniors building a portfolio, this matters: recruiters increasingly see Penpot fluency as a plus rather than a red flag, especially at agencies or open-source-friendly teams. Label: adoption — the improvements are real and measurable, but Penpot hasn't displaced Figma as the industry default yet.
Coach
Rebuild one small Figma file in Penpot this week and note exactly where the workflow breaks down — it's a fast way to test your own tool flexibility ahead of interviews.
Source: designsystemscollective.com ·
Pair with UCD Coach
Coach is the forward habit — today's five, every morning. Surf is the rearward workbench on the same briefing corpus. Today's five is not restaged here.
Open today's five on UCD Coach
Daily email stays on Coach. Surf has no subscribe form.
Related in Design tools
More practice briefs on the same topic — not today's five from UCD Coach.
- Hype check: Adoption
Adobe keeps folding Firefly AI into Creative Cloud
Adobe continues rolling generative AI (Firefly) across its design apps rather than keeping it as a separate product. Worth knowing even if your day-to-day is Figma/Penpot.
blog.adobe.com
- Hype check: Adoption
Your AI tools still live inside Figma, not outside it
A junior designer's real-world AI workflow turned out to be Figma-first with AI bolted on, not an AI-native replacement for the canvas. Worth knowing before you chase every new 'AI design tool' launch.
medium.com