Figma
Where every Innoveev product starts — multiplayer design, living prototypes, and tokens that flow straight into code.
What it is, and why we use it.
Figma is the collaborative interface-design tool that moved design from files on someone's laptop to a shared canvas in the browser. Designers, engineers, and clients look at the same screens at the same time; prototypes are clickable without exporting anything; and Dev Mode exposes spacing, tokens and component props directly to the engineer implementing them.
Every product we build — mobile and web — is designed in Figma first: flows in FigJam, hi-fi screens with real content in both LTR and RTL, design tokens named to match the codebase, and component libraries that mirror our Storybook one-to-one. Clients get a live file link from week one, not a PDF at the end.
Figma vs Sketch vs Penpot.
Figma against the classic Mac-native tool it displaced and the open-source challenger — why the industry consolidated, and where the others still make sense.
| Dimension | Figma | Sketch | Penpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Browser + desktop, any OS | macOS only | Browser, self-hostable |
| Real-time collaboration | Native — multiplayer is the core model | Via separate workspace tooling | Native multiplayer |
| Prototyping | Built-in, with variables and conditional logic | Basic; relies on companion apps | Basic interactions |
| Developer handoff | Dev Mode — inspect, tokens, code snippets | Third-party tools | Inspect built in; tokens are open-format |
| Design systems at scale | Component libraries, variables, team-wide publishing | Strong symbols, weaker multi-team story | Improving fast, smaller ecosystem |
| Cost & openness | Commercial SaaS; your files live on its cloud | One-time-ish licence, local files | Open source — free, your servers, your data |
Figma wins when
- Designers, engineers and stakeholders need one live source of truth
- Design systems must map one-to-one to coded component libraries
- Prototypes have to be tested with users before code exists
Sketch wins when
- A Mac-native, offline-first workflow matters more than collaboration
- You prefer local files and one-time licensing
- Long-established Sketch libraries aren't worth migrating
Penpot wins when
- Data sovereignty requires self-hosting your design files
- Budget rules out SaaS seats for a large team
- You want open standards (SVG-native) under your design work
Figma is where our design practice lives — not out of fashion, but because multiplayer files and Dev Mode demonstrably kill the handoff gap that used to eat 20% of every project. We keep an eye on Penpot for sovereignty-sensitive clients.
Thinking about Figma?
Tell us what you're building — we'll tell you honestly whether Figma is the right tool for it.