The “Make Design” AI component of Figma, which was allegedly copying the aesthetics of Apple’s own Weather app, will be temporarily disabled, according to CEO Dylan Field of the firm. The creator of NotBoring Software, Andy Allen, identified the issue initially. His company produces a suite of apps that includes a well-liked Weather app that can be customized in addition to other utilities. Through testing, he discovered that when Figma’s tool was utilized as a design help, it would consistently replicate Apple’s Weather app.
Andy Allen, the chief executive of Not Boring Software, claims that the software only really copies other apps. That was, at least, his experience when he requested that Make Design develop a brand-new “weather app.” According to 404 Media, he attempted to create a weather app multiple times, and each time, it produced an output that bore a striking resemblance to the stock Apple Weather app that is available on iPhones and iPads.
The Figma program has a tool called Make Design that takes text prompts and creates UI (user interface) layouts and components. The firm stated when the tool launched, “Just describe what you need, and the feature will provide you with a first draft.”
According to Figma, the purpose of the functionality was to enable developers to generate ideas rapidly, explore many design options, and find a solution more quickly.
Field writes in his answer on X that the capability was unveiled at Figma’s Config conference last week, during which the firm clarified that it was not trained on Figma content, community files, or app designs.
Stated differently, he stated that the claims made in this tweet regarding data training are untrue.
However, it appears that the quality assurance work that should go hand in hand with new additions has been neglected in the rush to provide new AI functions in order to stay competitive.
Like complaints in other industries, some designers immediately countered that Figma’s AI tools, like Make Design, would simply help to eliminate a lot of the repetitive work that went into design, allowing more interesting ideas to emerge. Others countered that Figma’s AI tools would wipe out jobs by bringing digital design to the mass market.
When Allen noticed that Figma appeared to be effectively replicating other applications, the design community became more concerned.
“To avoid unintentionally getting into legal trouble, I would advise designers using the new Make Designs feature to carefully review existing apps or make significant modifications to the results,” Allen cautioned other users on X.
In response, Field clarified that Make Design employs “systems we commissioned to be used by these models” in addition to huge language models that are readily available off the shelf. He claimed that this approach’s low variability is its main drawback.
Field wrote on X, “We found the issue, which was related to the underlying design systems that were created, within hours of seeing [Allen’s] tweet.” “In the end, I am to blame for not demanding a more effective quality assurance procedure for this task and hard-pressing our team to meet the Config deadline.”
Apple did not respond to requests for comment right away. Field’s tweets were cited by Figma as their official stance on the issue.
According to Field, Figma will turn off the Make Design feature for a while until the group is satisfied with its ability to “stand behind its output.” Starting on Tuesday, the function will not be activated again until Figma has finished a thorough quality assurance pass on the design system that underpins the feature.