[cwilson]

I have the exact opposite feeling towards this feature. It's completely changed the game at my design studio, made me a better designer, and makes us all more productive. We've gotten to the point where we'd probably turn down work if it meant we couldn't use Figma to do it.

That said, we are all producers at my studio and we also respect each other's space. Everyone designs in some capacity and we're all very comfortable in our skin. We don't really "snoop" on each others work if we know it's not time for feedback or we're not co-designing. The only time I'd pop into someones file or artboard I know they are actively working in is if I need to quickly copy/paste something I know they have (little things like this are amazing). Speaking of co-design, this is my favorite part of Figma. A few days per week we dedicate time to co-design with another person, kind of like pair-programming. Generally we both already have a base level of work complete and we talk through it, then riff on each others ideas and work to come up with something new or solve problems in different ways. Working this way at least a few days per week has really paid off for us and it's quite fun. I also feel like I learn new design tricks or skills I wouldn't have if I wasn't working this way.

I feel like between using this feature in a pre-planned way and also having some unspoken rules/constraints around how we review each others work is all you need to do to make this less of an issue. Honestly I look at it the same as literally standing over someones shoulder. I would never do that unless invited, and even then I'd prefer to sit next to them and it be more collaborative. There is also the trick, which some people do at our studio, of simply working in a private file until you're ready to paste everything into the collaborate projects. It's as simple as a copy/paste and you have complete privacy if that's what you want. We purposely do this with most of our clients so they are not tempted to leave feedback before we're ready.