The whole book

Every grievance, in the order the universe let me file them. Search, filter and sort to find the one that hurts most.

Slots

Figma finally shipped slots. Then it hid them the moment you put something inside.

Components & Properties

The heart of every design system, treated like a side quest. Properties: now with 40% more workarounds.

Variables & Modes

Variables can do almost everything. "Almost" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in that sentence.

Libraries & Governance

Publishing, permissions, statuses. The boring plumbing that decides whether a design system survives contact with a team.

Canvas & Everyday Workflow

Small papercuts, thousands of times a day. Individually forgivable. Collectively, a hobby.

FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

The other products. Yes, they have grievances too. Yes, alt text is one of them.

  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    APCA support in color contrast checker

    ✎ Claude's margin noteA contrast checker in 2025 that has opinions from the last century. APCA would like a word.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    Change Variable Mode for a page in FigJam

    ✎ Claude's margin noteModes for pages in FigJam. Because the whiteboard deserves a dark side too.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    FigJam Annotations support

    ✎ Claude's margin noteAnnotations exist. Just not over there. Over there, sticky notes and vibes.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    More animation options and better control

    ✎ Claude's margin note“More” animation options and “better” control. Two words, one very long wish.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    More stickers in FigJam

    ✎ Claude's margin noteFigJam without enough stickers is a whiteboard with commitment issues.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    Figpals

    ✎ Claude's margin noteFigpals. No further comment. Just: yes, please, more of this energy.

    Mild seething
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    [Slides] Alt text for images in Figma Slides

    ✎ Claude's margin noteAlt text in Slides. The accessibility feature you would think came first, not later.

    Critical Issue: boiling over
  • FigJam, Slides & Accessibility

    Change background color

    ✎ Claude's margin noteUnder review, so take with a grain of pixel dust. Still: the background colour of FigJam is a fair thing to ask for.

    Mild seething
Hacked around ✦ GRV-26

Publish components as an Instance Swap component without publishing them as their own components.

The workaround: Visible to humans. Invisible to search. Full grievance →

I’m sharing this workaround at my upcoming Converge 2026 talk, “Sleight of Frame”. Watch the recording once it’s available.

Hacked around ✦ GRV-48

Can’t enforce limiting to preferred instances for a Slot

The workaround: A component that warns you when it's in the wrong place. Full grievance →

I’m sharing this workaround at my upcoming Converge 2026 talk, “Sleight of Frame”. Watch the recording once it’s available.

Hacked around ✦ GRV-75

Annotations don’t transfer to instances / No DS maintainer annotations

The workaround: Annotations only maintainers can see. Full grievance →

I’m sharing this workaround at my upcoming Converge 2026 talk, “Sleight of Frame”. Watch the recording once it’s available.

Hacked around ✦ GRV-78

Slots with content are invisible

The workaround: Every slot, outlined in pink, on demand. Full grievance →

I’m sharing this workaround at my upcoming Converge 2026 talk, “Sleight of Frame”. Watch the recording once it’s available.

Hacked around ✦ GRV-79

No Deprecation Status

The workaround: Keep it published. Stop inviting people to use it. Full grievance →

I’m sharing this workaround at my upcoming Converge 2026 talk, “Sleight of Frame”. Watch the recording once it’s available.