00:00:00 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:00:00] S0: Dylan Field, cofounder and CEO. [00:00:02] S1: Figment. Figment. Figment. Figment. Figment. [00:00:07] S0: Heard this was the Coachella for design, but I'm literally seeing that. So there's 10,000 people that are expected to come. What kind of companies are representing the crowd? [00:00:16] S1: Pretty much all of them. It's international. People come from all over the world. It's not just tech or software. It's everything you can imagine. Any role you can imagine in terms of software and media, advertising, and content, I mean, you know this better than anyone. Retention economy is real. Staying out is hard. I think that it takes not only human steering and human intent, but also it takes a point of view. It is not enough to wear [00:00:40] S0: a thinking cap. You have to actually think. Elon Musk once said, if a product is special enough, it needs no logo. What do you think about that? Dylan Field. [00:00:58] S1: Thank you for having me. [00:01:00] S0: Thanks for having me. Where are [00:01:01] S1: we? Welcome to config. [00:01:03] S0: I mean, I've heard this was the Coachella for design, but I'm literally seeing that. It hasn't started yet, and it's already packed full. [00:01:09] S1: Yeah. This is day zero. [00:01:10] S0: So what goes on today? [00:01:11] S1: Well, today we got config commons, most importantly, and it's a good time for you to get your badge so that we don't have a long line tomorrow. One time we had like an hour keynote delay. It was very embarrassing. [00:01:22] S0: Really?
00:01:22 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:01:22] S0: Really? [00:01:22] S1: Yeah, so we have a pre reg thing now, but also try to give people food, hangout spaces, get them to mingle. I think it's really cool because people are always reconnecting with old friends here, but also they have a chance to just meet so many people in the design community. And it's a really special community. And that's not just for Figma. It's just for design more broadly. [00:01:44] S0: So there's 10,000 people that are expected to come. [00:01:48] S1: Yep. [00:01:49] S0: What kind of companies are representing this crowd? [00:01:52] S1: Pretty much all of them. But no, really, I mean, it's international. People come from all over the world and not just tech or software. It's everything you can imagine. And, you know, any role you can imagine, IC to leadership. We have everybody from, like, the chief design officer to the students that are part of our our affinity programs here. So, yeah, it's all over the place. [00:02:17] S0: It's pretty exciting. Yeah. Okay. We're gonna attempt to walk through the crowd. Okay. [00:02:21] S1: Let's And go for [00:02:22] S0: you already had some paparazzi on you, so we'll see how this goes. [00:02:27] S1: I think they're coming for you, you know? [00:02:28] S0: No, they're not, Dylan. This is literally the config, like Figma conference. Okay. So how many years have you been doing this and why start it in general?
00:02:28 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:02:28] S0: No, they're not, Dylan. This is literally the config, like Figma conference. Okay. So how many years have you been doing this and why start it in general? [00:02:40] S1: Yeah. So we started in 2020 right before the pandemic. This is actually our tenth config because we've done international configs that are fast follows to the config in SF. But the reason it started, we had basically user groups starting to pop up all around the world. And then from there, as the user groups started to really gain momentum, we wanted some way to bring everyone together. And at first, we're like kicking around ideas like, oh yeah, maybe like a few 100 people. We decided, let's go big, like 800 people. And that sold out instantly. So then from there, we were planning to, right afterwards, like, okay, next time it's gonna be really big. Well, it actually ended up being even bigger because of the pandemic. And so it was like, this is gonna be a remote conference now. Oh my gosh. We got so lucky the first time because we were able to three weeks, I think, before the pandemic started in full in The US, the world shut down, had the chance to bring everyone together. And I can't imagine what it would be if it was three weeks earlier. [00:03:44] S0: Yeah. That's insane. Yeah. So the big hot headline right now, which I think you have pretty much disproven, is that design is dead. [00:03:57] S1: Yeah. I don't [00:03:57] S0: I Why is design not dead?
00:03:57 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:03:57] S0: I Why is design not dead? [00:04:00] S1: Look around you. No. I mean, I I think that the weird thing right now is everyone is kind of putting down all the other roles. So like, you know, I'm seeing way too much of engineers saying, I don't know, either PM or designer, and the PM's like, I don't need the engineer or designer. And the designer's going, maybe I don't need the PM or the engineer. And so like, why is that happening? And I think that we're in a temporary phase of people really, you know, getting excited about what they can do with AI. Yeah. But not yet realizing all the limitations that they have. And hey. And yeah, so I think that there's like, it's truly exciting what you can do, but also the value of a team is really important. And I think we're we're hitting the line here. [00:04:56] S0: We're we're in a line. What is is this for is this for food? Yeah. Okay. Heard that you guys not to deviate too much, but I heard you guys are gonna sell out of merch in, five seconds.
00:04:56 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:04:56] S0: We're we're in a line. What is is this for is this for food? Yeah. Okay. Heard that you guys not to deviate too much, but I heard you guys are gonna sell out of merch in, five seconds. [00:05:07] S1: I I hope not. Hopefully, it lasts a little longer. But the but yeah. So I I think it's, like, very lonely, the idea that you're just gonna work alone on everything forever. And I think that, you know, if you wanna build scalable real systems, explore broadly, build the right thing, not just like something fast, then I think it's really important to lean into design, not just from a visual and aesthetic standpoint, but also from user experience standpoint, from like understanding the user, understanding the culture around you. Like design is so much more than visuals and aesthetic. Yeah. That's just the tip of the iceberg. But what I think is really promising is how I'm seeing so many engineers now that are I I hope our cameraman did not trip. We're seeing so many engineers now just get interested in Figma. And as that happens, they're starting to really pick it up because you go build something really fast. That's awesome. But then you're like, okay. Can I, like, actually now make it great? [00:06:11] S0: Right. I mean, what I thought was interesting is, like, Figma not only unlocked design for just normal people who, like, just didn't really know how to design anything, but your software is, like, really easy to use. It's very intuitive. But now you're involving code into it, and so now engineers are literally coding design.
00:06:11 · Molly O'Shea, Dylan Field
[00:06:11] S0: Right. I mean, what I thought was interesting is, like, Figma not only unlocked design for just normal people who, like, just didn't really know how to design anything, but your software is, like, really easy to use. It's very intuitive. But now you're involving code into it, and so now engineers are literally coding design. [00:06:30] S1: Yep. And I think that the aspects of, like, what we're launching tomorrow will be even more in that direction. Really? I'm really excited about that. Go for it. Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Yeah. So now we're inside. So it'll be a [00:06:48] S0: little inside. Let's do a little three sixty here. Yeah. Come come around. [00:06:52] S1: This is the emptiest it'll be. [00:06:54] S0: So how is it all set up? Where do people really mingle and all that kind of stuff? [00:06:59] S1: The mingling will occur everywhere, but downstairs is going to be more like main stage keynote. And that's like where there's a lot of activations and area to explore. [00:07:09] S0: Is that your favorite part? [00:07:10] S1: The main stage keynote? [00:07:11] S0: Yeah. [00:07:12] S1: It I don't usually remember it. So once I get past it, then I'm like [00:07:17] S0: Did it blackout? Yeah. It's a [00:07:18] S1: little bit of a blackout experience. Yeah. Get that. Yeah. But you can watch it later online and then you're like, oh, said what? [00:07:23] S0: Yeah. I was talking to Michael about this before, but I was, like, watching all of the previous config videos, and I like, shit. This is really cool. [00:07:31] S1: The content that we're doing is