Jamie Ryan
I am getting pretty annoyed with tools like Miro and Figma whose strategy is to wheel out and heavily incentiivise the use of a new feature or toolkit, then hold it to ransom behind a subscription increase or addon.
It's one thing letting users try out a tool but another to encourage them to bake it into work files then lock and restrict access to it, potentially putting unsuspecting designers under great pressure as their client or team needs access to files that used the now-locked tool.
Figma's newer Free plan with the 'read-only' and locked files mode is another prime example of moving the goalposts and putting solo designers in turmoil, forcing them into an expensive one-month subscription just to be able to access their own content.
I don't know how Miro is going to address users who already have prototypes in their production-ready and client files. If I were them, I'd let users continue to use the feature in files that already contain it, although I am sadly expecting that they will hold these files at ransom and prevent any further editing or use. Even worse, decoupling prototype functionality that might have taken hours to complete.
Stop with this, seriously. The aggressive pace of IPO-angled, fast-product coupled with more and more sneaky subscription hikes and product tiers is already way out of hand.