Figma Won’t Save You: A short and hopefully incredibly convincing ramble on why you need to learn code… by Mena McGill
The perennial question of whether designers should learn to code resurfaced when Apsara Coeffic-Neou shared a Complementary podcast episode with me. Hosts Anthony Hobday and Katie Langerman explore what happens when designers can bring their ideas 90% of the way to reality, reshaping the traditional “hand-off.”
Apsara thought everyone should check it out, so I shared it with several other students—and it sparked a fiery response from Mena McGill, who turned her thoughts into a bold, unapologetic rant. She argues that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript aren’t just technical skills—they’re core tools of modern design literacy.
Here’s Mena’s take on why you should embrace code.
Stop designing like a blind bat
You aren’t in a vacuum; you work in a real, connected system, so don’t ignore how your work actually gets built. When you understand how code works, you expand your skillset, design smarter, and collaborate more effectively. Developers will thank you for it. You won’t have that language barrier anymore, and communication becomes way easier. You’ll be able to explain your ideas clearly, understand what devs are talking about, and give realistic feedback that actually helps the process instead of slowing it down.
(Plus, you’ll stop designing stuff that looks great in Figma but ends up being a total NIGHTMARE to build in real life.)
“I literally laughed out loud at this quote because this is literally me at work rn designing pages on Figma and then simplifying the hell out of them when I build them out with Webflow on the company site.”
Play around
When you start playing with CSS, HTML, maybe even a little JavaScript, you get a sense of what can actually be made. You start to understand what’s possible, what’s easy, what’s hard, and what ideas you can push further.
Design smarter, not harder
Coding teaches you to think in reusable components, variables, and logic, which is exactly how design systems work. You start to approach design more modularly and efficiently, and that mindset translates directly into better UI/UX work. You’ll naturally start thinking about responsiveness, constraints, and edge cases; things you might never notice if you’re working purely visually. In short, your designs get smarter, cleaner, more realistic, and FASTER.
Adapt beyond your Artboard
Putting in the effort to learn something that isn’t strictly “design” shows depth. It shows that you care enough to understand how your work lives and functions in the real world. Learning code says a lot about your curiosity and your drive to make better, more thoughtful designs. It’s also just really good for your brain to think critically in a different space.
Take absolute control
Friend, you can roll your eyes and say, “I’m never going to use this,” “It’s not my field,” “I don’t have time”, “That’s what developers are for,” or you can actually see how much value there is in it and step up your design game. Being able to build a portfolio website, experiment with interactive prototypes, or even just understand how the web works gives you a creative edge, as well as independence. Plus, building your own site gives you total creative freedom. You can design it however you want, it costs way less, and gives you supreme control of your own work and how it’s being experienced. Muahaha.
Student Reactions
Mena’s piece sparked a conversation among peers.
“I like this! It’s like a little pep talk from a fellow classmate.”
“I really agree with the sentiment that learning 1 skill helps to develop your other skills. Reminds me how in high school I was quite good at welding because years of painting helped build up my steady hand, and I had a good eye for predicting the rhythm/speed of the solder melting.”
Thanks to Apsara for sharing the spark and Mena for lighting the fire.
Go ahead: tinker with some HTML, play around with CSS, or peek under the hood. Your Figma file might look pretty—but knowing how it really works? That’s where the magic happens.
