We Don't Sell Static Mockups

Figma is design fiction. It is a world where data loads instantly, usernames are always short, and edge cases do not exist. It is a beautiful lie.

For years, the industry has accepted a workflow where we pay expensive designers to draw pictures of software, and then pay expensive developers to interpret those pictures. We call this "handoff."

We call it waste.

At Cedarna, we do not sell static mockups. We do not sell "redlines." We sell the software itself.

The Design Drift: Where Intent Dies

The moment a Figma file leaves the design team, it begins to rot.

We call this "Design Drift." It is the inevitable entropy that occurs when a developer tries to translate a pixel (which has no logic) into code (which is pure logic).

This drift isn't just annoying. It is expensive. The "Rule of 100" states that fixing a UI logic error after release costs 100 times more than fixing it during the design phase.

When you approve a static mockup, you are approving a hypothesis. When you approve a PR, you are approving a product.

The Translation Tax: The $500 Million Lesson

The cost of the "Fidelity Gap" is not theoretical.

In 2020, Citibank accidentally transferred $900 million to creditors due to a UI failure in their Flexcube software. The interface required a "six-eye" review process, yet the design was so ambiguous that three separate reviewers failed to notice the error.

A static mockup of that screen likely looked clean. It looked "approved." But it lacked the validation logic to warn the user of the catastrophic consequence.

This is the Translation Tax. It is the endless game of "QA Tennis" where designers file tickets for pixel misalignments and developers argue about feasibility. It is a bureaucracy that exists solely to manage the friction of handoff.

We don't pay that tax. We eliminated the department that collects it.

The Uncanny Valley of "Happy Paths"

You cannot user-test a drawing.

When you put a Figma prototype in front of a user, you are testing their ability to follow a script. You are leading them down a "Happy Path" where errors never happen and the internet never lags.

This creates an "Uncanny Prototype Valley." The interface looks real, but it lacks consequence. A user clicking "Pay Now" on a mockup feels no anxiety because they know it isn't real. You aren't gathering data; you are gathering false confidence.

Real software has loading states. It has 404s. It has inputs that fail validation. Figma shows none of this. It encourages stakeholders to bikeshed over colors while ignoring the breaking logic underneath.

The Solution: Native Prototyping

We don't "hand off." We build through.

Our designers are Design Engineers. They don't live in Figma; they live in VS Code.

We utilize a "Direct-to-Code" workflow powered by Cursor and Warp.

This workflow allows us to practice "Vibe Coding"—iterating on the live product in the browser. If an animation feels janky on mobile, we fix the CSS. We don't write a ticket about it. We commit the code.

Stop Buying Drawings

The era of the "Pixel Pusher" is over.

If your design team hands you a static image and calls it a deliverable, they are handing you a liability. They are handing you a document that is obsolete the moment it is saved.

You are building a technology company. Your asset is code.

Stop paying for the facade. Start paying for the reality.

References