{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"State of Play","title":"Lee Black: He Makes Figma Do Things It Wasn't Designed For.","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/4acfcf1a\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3250,"description":"Lee Black has been designing for 25 years. He made those Figma pills with goldfish swimming inside. He also ran an app company that nearly broke him.\nWe talked about chasing money that never made him happy, why his tool stack hasn't really changed in a decade, and what happens when you master your tools so deeply that the rules start to bend.\nGet the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)\nJoin 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.co\nCHAPTERS:\n00:00 - \"It's not about learning everything\"\n01:59 - Taking apart toys to understand how they work\n04:35 - Speed vs. quality\n07:19 - Music came first\n09:29 - His tool stack (it's simpler than you think)\n11:03 - \"It hasn't really changed that much\"\n12:44 - ChatGPT as an ideas buddy\n14:40 - How Midlife Engineering was born\n16:10 - What \"polish\" means to him\n18:17 - The Matrix scene that started the pills\n20:36 - \"I want to put a fucking goldfish in there\"\n21:09 - Designing with restraint\n23:27 - Dieter Rams as jazz, not gospel\n26:03 - Protecting taste when you scale\n31:05 - The app company that broke him\n48:16 - Advice for designers struggling right now\n51:57 - If nothing mattered, what would you work on?\nABOUT TOMMY GEOCO\nI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech.\nABOUT STATE OF PLAY\nHost Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders.\nLINKS:\nUX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.co\nFollow Lee Black: https://x.com/mrblackstudio\n1042 Studio: https://1042.studio\nMidlife Engineering: https://midlife.engineering\nFOLLOW ME:\nX / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom\nInstagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertom\nLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Q4goNjMCyLVJblsVd-hc65Y9xpTGIkbjq5L00Huluhg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZTM4/NTdjYjhlYmI5NzU0/YjRlNDNkMjFiNDgy/NTRhNi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}