Design Leaders Meetup by Fail Fast & Figma Europe

Challenging design leaders to seek the balance between Creativity and Design Systems

On April 4th, an exclusive discussion organized by Fail Fast and Figma Europe took place at The Hoxton Barcelona. Moderated by Ian Gehlhaar, Founder and Director of Fail Fast, alongside Hugo Raymond, Designer Advocate at Figma, the roundtable discussion focused on the delicate balance between creative freedom and Design Systems in digital design. 

The evening began with a welcome address by Lucie Bordelais, Senior Director Southern Europe, and Hugo Raymond, who introduced the latest updates that will be showcased at the Config 2024 event in San Francisco. Guests had the opportunity to interact with the Figma team, posing questions and addressing any doubts about the platform.

Ian Gehlhaar started the debate with a stimulating reflection exercise inspired by Sagmeister's book "Beauty," exploring the perception of beauty and its relationship with patterns in digital design. The guests, including Elisabeth Martínez from Adevinta, Rosario Romano from Nestlé Nespresso, Patricia Gómez Jurado from King, and Nicolas Chometowski from TravelPerk, shared their perspectives on the practical application of creativity in digital product design.

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A creative roundtable discussion that encouraged participation

The conversation embraced a creative method, diverging from the traditional Q&A structure. In an initial dynamic, each speaker summarized their design approach with a single word, with Nespresso's Rosario Romano's choice standing out, describing their Design System as "adolescent", reflecting a mindset of constant learning.

Later, dilemmas were presented between key features and what a Design System should primarily foster, such as Creativity or Consistency, Standardization or Flexibility, Originality or Efficiency, Democratization or Mastery. This dynamic revealed the complexity of finding a balance between these aspects, leading to the conclusion that creativity is a fundamental value.

On a third dynamic, topics such as the scalability of creativity and technology's influence on design decision-making were addressed. Participants discussed how to foster innovation within teams, emphasizing the importance of leadership and appropriate dynamics to drive creativity in workflows. The need for close collaboration between technology and design for a more harmonious future in product creation was also underscored.

Tools for team collaboration

Through these dynamics, the influence of design tools like Figma was emphasized. The paradigm shift was highlighted upon introducing collaborative tools into our teams, along with an analysis of the transformative impact a tool like Figma can have on our daily practices, enabling greater efficiency, collaboration, and creativity at all stages and processes of design and development.

The evening concluded with a cocktail dinner with a live session by the DJ Original Soulboy, creating the perfect atmosphere for networking and carrying on discussions sparked during the debate.

Attendance of over 70 design leaders

The event was enhanced by the presence of over 70 distinguished guests from both national and international companies, such as Glovo, Bacardi, TypeForm, GitHub, HP, Grupo Planeta, Mango, Banc Sabadell, CaixaBank, CatSalut, Diari Ara, Housfy, Schneider Electric, and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, among others.

In the upcoming weeks, Figma will share the event via streaming, allowing both guests and over 1500 people from around the world to relive the experience and ask live questions to the panelists and Figma members.

We at Fail Fast are proud to have collaborated with Figma Europa in this unique event, reaffirming our commitment as one of Figma’s partners in Spain and our position as experts in topics related to creativity and design systems.