My favorite thing to do at Querio is to design a new feature - everything from the initial concept to adding the final shadows. In the end, after a long session of tweaks, I’m happy with my designs and move them to “Done.”

But not so fast. This is when the worst part begins: a developer steps in and actually has to code it. More often than not, i’m faced with the reality that my designs don’t look the same in production as they do in Figma. Frustrating? Oh, absolutely. But what can you do when the developer doesn’t have enough time to change the five shadows on a button? And, let’s be honest, probably doesn’t want to. It’s tough to convince a young startup that a slightly different button color is critical to the user experience - because, well, it’s not.

So the process usually looks like this:

1. I design stuff

2. Developer codes it

3. Me hearing “well i cut some corners…”

4. Me trying to defend my “corners” because nobody likes ugly apps.

5. Decent, compromised version is released

Not bad, but still very... almost.

It’s not bad. It’s just not right.

The border radius is wrong. The hover doesn’t animate like you imagined. The font is “close enough.” The icon is obviously different.

Close enough to pass. But not close enough to feel proud.

Sometimes I scroll through the app, switching between Figma and the live version, like a crime scene investigator spotting all the tiny visual discrepancies.

Am I dramatic? Maybe.

But here’s the thing - design is not decoration. It’s not just “nice-to-have.” Good design brings clarity, confidence, and trust. That “tiny” padding issue? It feels off. Even if users can’t say why.

Yet, in a fast-moving startup, perfection is a luxury. You can’t argue for hours about border-radius when the dev team is rushing to push features. You learn to pick your battles. You learn to let go. And weirdly, that’s also part of growing as a designer.

So how do you survive it?

• Instead of giving away a design and just wait for it to be coded, you regularly communicate with developers so even if they need to cut some corners, you choose how those corners would be cut.

• You compromise on the pixels, but never on the principles.

The bigger picture

Over time, you realize that great product design isn’t about getting every pixel perfect - it’s about creating something that works beautifully in the real world.

You still notice the 2px misalignments. But you also learn to focus your energy where it counts most - the parts of the design that truly shape how users feel and interact.

So no, design isn’t in Figma. It’s in conversations. In decisions. In compromises.

It’s in the shipped product, imperfect and alive.