The memo as a medium for tech's next chapter
Italo Calvino's Six Memos for the Next Millennium was meant to be a guide for literature's future, but its spirit applies equally well to the software industry. At Figma, the memo is a core internal genre—Slack threads, shared docs, and hot takes that double as strategy documents. The format has a storied history in tech: Bill Gates' 1983 missive declaring that "Microsoft believes in mouse and graphics as invaluable to the man-machine interface," Stewart Butterfield's "We don't sell saddles here" argument for Slack, or Brad Garlinghouse's leaked "Peanut Butter Manifesto" about Yahoo's resource allocation.
For 2025, Figma staff across design, development, and community roles have each written their own memo about the forces shaping digital creation. The six perspectives are intentionally provisional: ideas to debate, build on, or argue against.
Why developers should embrace creative coding again
Jake Albaugh, Developer Advocate, argues that modern browsers have outpaced what most design tools can accomplish. His memo is a call for developers to move past templates and rediscover the experimental potential of the web platform itself. The technology is already there; the appetite for exploration has to come back.
It's time we expand our definition of design
FigJam Advocate Kaitie Chambers writes from her own transition from marketer to maker. Her memo challenges traditional ideas about who deserves the designer title, arguing that tools and processes should welcome everyone who wants to create. The goal is creative environments where people feel empowered to contribute regardless of their role or background.
When to off-road the product roadmap
Avantika Gomes, Director of Product, questions the assumption that successful products come from unwavering vision. Looking at how Figma evolved from a design tool into a multi-product platform, she makes the case for flexibility and the messy realities of product development. The landscape has changed, and development processes need to keep up.
The new competitive moat is emotion
With more applications available than ever, Head of Insights Andrew Hogan suggests that features no longer separate the memorable from the forgettable. Shaped by both parenthood and data analysis, his argument centers on putting users' feelings at the core of product strategy. Emotional resonance, not capability lists, is what will drive lasting engagement.
Making space for a handmade web
Product Designer Chia Amisola takes aim at the internet's standardized present, drawing on their background in web art to envision more personal, poetic digital spaces. They point to a resurgence of small, handcrafted sites and suggest that participation is as accessible as building your own corner of the web.
The rise of the generalist
Story Studio Writer Carly Ayres examines a shift beyond the specialist-versus-generalist binary. As AI grows more adept at handling specialized tasks, the ability to connect ideas across fields becomes increasingly valuable. The future, she argues, belongs to those who cultivate deep understanding across complementary domains rather than a single narrow track.
These six memos don't claim to have the last word. They are starting points for a wider conversation about how digital tools, teams, and products will evolve. In that spirit, the format invites participation: read them, form an opinion, and write your own.
