Glenn Stovall's Public Notebook

Figma as a strategic thinking tool

Inspired by some writing by Tom Critchlow, (The visual revolution in knowledge work) using Figma as a strategic thinking and designing tool.

It's the closest technological tool to writing on paper or a whiteboard. You can draw anything, while also being able to import various templates and stickers. It adds an element of fun and chaos, which can be useful when trying to break out of rote patterns. By having few constraints.

I was able to pick up Figma rather quickly. I would advocate for any developer or knowledge worker to take an hour, watch the Figma for beginners series on YouTube, and try it out. Next time you are brainstorming or working through a product exercise, try opening a FigJam and doodling your way through it.

The infinite canvas also allows you to switch between a "10,000 ft view" and a more granular one. You can finally fit multiple entire web pages into a single document, instead of having to crop screenshots to fit on 2/3s of a slide.

Examples of visual strategic thinking:

Visa's Memex

From Stone Librande's talk on one page design documents

My initial attempt to use FigJam to think through some investment opportunities