A firsthand look at Config 2024 — Figma's annual design conference — and what it means for design teams navigating AI.
What Is Config?
Config is Figma's annual design conference, held each year in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. It's part product keynote, part design community gathering — drawing designers, product managers, engineers, and design leaders from around the world for two days of sessions, workshops, and conversations about the state of design.
This year, SeaLab's own Mary Pawlowski attended in person. Here's her firsthand take on what stood out.
The AI Moment
If there was a single theme at Config 2024, it was AI — specifically, Figma's approach to integrating AI into the design tool and the broader conversation about what that means for the design profession.
Figma announced several AI-powered features across their product suite. What was notable about their approach was the emphasis on transparency and opt-out capability. Figma was clear about how they intended to use AI, what it would touch, and how designers could opt out of AI features if they chose to. In a space where many AI product announcements are long on capability and short on guardrails, that transparency was refreshing and worth acknowledging.
The Community Conversation
In overheard conversations throughout the conference, there was a real mix of perspectives on AI. Some attendees were concerned about job displacement. Others were energized, seeing AI as a tool that frees designers from repetitive work to focus on higher-level thinking.
Mary's take aligns with how SeaLab thinks about this more broadly: use AI carefully, in moderation, and with context — alongside the many other tools designers have developed over the years to stay sharp and relevant.
What Stood Out From the Sessions
"The Design Renaissance" with Reginé Gilbert. A James Weldon Johnson professor at NYU and UX design expert, Reginé Gilbert's talk focused on what humans can do that AI cannot. Her framework: emotions and humor, ethical judgment, and balancing technology with creativity. Context matters. Research matters. Thinking differently matters. These are the things AI tools still can't replicate.
Karla Cole on storytelling. During the closing keynote on day two, Karla Cole, a Product Designer at The Browser Company, spoke about the importance of telling stories in design — specifically about leaving fingerprints on the work: letting your thinking, your decisions, and your perspective show through.
The Flash parallel. One of the more interesting recurring themes was a comparison between AI today and the Flash era of web design — a moment when new technology changed what was possible and forced the design community to adapt. The takeaway: communities of users take new technology further than anyone anticipated. We were in the right place at the right time then, and we are again now. The question is how we show up.
The Takeaway for Design Teams
Config 2024 reinforced something SeaLab has been saying for a while: AI is a tool, and it's going to be a significant one. But design is still fundamentally about people, context, and judgment — things that require humans in the loop.
Figma's AI integration is coming. For design teams, the move is to understand what it does well, be intentional about where you lean on it, and stay grounded in the craft and thinking that makes design valuable in the first place.
Curious how AI is shaping our client work? Explore our case studies.