AI makes output faster, but software feels less human — a Figma designer's restrained critique
Don't forget the feeling: a critique of software in 2026 ft. Luis Ouriach (Figma) | Config 2026 · Luis Ouriach
27 min total·Actually worth watching closely: ~10 min·3 must-watch clips
- 0:11 – 3:55Listen
Why software doesn't make you feel anything anymore
He opens with the question that drives the whole talk: output can be accelerated exponentially, yet less and less software actually moves anyone. A short film from a decade ago serves as the contrast — two colors, one typeface and a little simple animation were enough to stir something.
Emotion never came from complexity; it came from someone making a clear choice.
This stretch is basically him arguing out loud, with nothing but large type on the slides — you can look away from the screen without missing anything.▶ Jump to 0:11Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 3:55 – 8:33Watch
Where the well-loved products let detail slip
Starts from we can't just stuff things into our software because we think it's the right thing to do (an image-generation sidebar appearing inside a spreadsheet), then dissects the rough edges of real interfaces one by one, including a Figma incident caught in staging by human review before it ever shipped. The section closes on a hand-made logo that is objectively ugly and unmistakably human.
The more rough edges users run into, the less they come back; a human quality process is still the last line of defense.
Everything persuasive here rests on the blown-up screenshots — a few pixels of difference between icon sizes, one menu bar too many. It only holds up if you're looking.▶ Jump to 3:55Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 8:37 – 11:40Skim
Good is a function of its time
He argues that the standard for good design keeps drifting, and pulls up classic marks — PlayStation, MTV, Nickelodeon — full of flaws no review would pass today: a line that doesn't connect, an element crowding the edge.
Refining something until nothing can be faulted usually sands off what made it expressive.
The screen is just a few familiar logos; one glance to catch the imperfection he's pointing at is enough, no need to dwell frame by frame.▶ Jump to 8:37Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 11:40 – 15:40Skim
The internet is growing into one shape
The industry has made consistency the benchmark for quality, and the result is site after site dropping in the same component framework and the same hero section with no customization at all — recognizable on sight. Every chatbot shares the same input box too.
When everyone builds the same thing with the same patterns, what a creator is for has to be answered again.
The screen shows a run of sites side by side and the shared pattern is obvious; a quick scan carries the argument without reading each one.▶ Jump to 11:40Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 15:41 – 19:57Watch
Demote AI to a tool, give the time back to expression
He argues for dropping AI as a topic and just using it as a tool to get the job done, then shows brands that still make you want to jump in: ads with real texture, a completely unnecessary little animation on pull-to-refresh, water that actually flows on a website. And he argues against going back and forth with a box that only tells you what you want to hear.
The time AI saves should go into the expressive details that don't need to exist — the only differentiator in a sea of sameness.
The examples here only work in motion: a refresh animation, a flow effect. A still frame conveys none of the texture he's describing.▶ Jump to 15:41Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 20:01 – 24:27Listen
From designer to maker who ships
He admits he can't write React, yet with the official API documentation and AI-generated code he shipped around ten plugins in eighteen months. But the fundamentals can't be skipped: you have to know what you're building, what good markup looks like, how to set up a repo.
AI only amplifies the judgment you already have; it can't produce it for you.
This is him telling his own story and method — it rides on what he says, and there's nothing new to look at on screen.▶ Jump to 20:01Speaker · Luis Ouriach - 24:30 – 26:44Skim
Make something unique, place the biggest bet
The closing pairs two sets of images: the long line of incredibly-difficult-but-fun devices the iPhone stood on, and four slabs of glass today you can't tell apart — you have to look at the software inside to know which OS it is. He calls for resisting the urge to treat the first version as the final one, and for letting yourself go a little left field.
The final test is plain: the more it feels like you, the more willing you are to put your name on it.
The two image sets are the argument — a row of old devices, four identical black rectangles. See them clearly and leave the rest to what he says.▶ Jump to 24:30Speaker · Luis Ouriach