design-agency-model-dead¶
Insight: AI is breaking the traditional design agency constraint triangle of "cheap, fast, quality — pick two." With tools like Figma Make generating polished UI in seconds, the agency model that depends on labor arbitrage for design production is dying. The prediction is 90% of traditional design agencies will not survive this shift.
Detail: This is a provocative take rather than grounded research, but it captures a real market sentiment. The counterpoint (not in this article) is that agencies providing strategic design thinking, user research, and complex systems work are likely to survive — it's commodity UI production that's threatened.
Sources
- Felix Lee — "RIP design agency" (2025-09-18)