Linear for Designers: Fast Project Management for Product Teams

Linear is a project management tool designed for speed. It replaces slow, bloated tools like Jira with a fast, keyboard-driven interface that feels more like an IDE than a project tracker. Designers use Linear to track design work, manage design system backlogs, and stay in sync with engineering. The appeal is the clean interface, thoughtful shortcuts, and integrations that connect design tools like Figma to the product roadmap.

Key Specs

How Designers Use Linear

Linear adapts to different design workflows. Here’s how designers apply it to common scenarios.

For Tracking Design Work

Create issues for design tasks (mockups, research, prototypes) and assign them to yourself or team members. Use labels to categorize by project, priority, or design phase. Set due dates and dependencies so the team knows what’s blocking what. Linear’s views (list, board, timeline) let you switch between task lists and Gantt-style roadmaps.

For Design-Development Collaboration

Linear keeps design and engineering on the same roadmap. When a design is ready for development, create an issue, attach the Figma file, and assign it to an engineer. Use sub-issues to break down implementation into front-end, back-end, and QA tasks. Engineers can see design specs and progress without switching tools.

For Design System Issues

Track component requests, bug fixes, and documentation as Linear issues. Use a dedicated design system project or team. Label issues by component type (button, input, modal) and priority. Sub-issues work well for breaking down complex components into design, code, and documentation tasks. Linear’s GitHub integration can automatically close issues when pull requests merge.

For Product Roadmaps

Use Linear’s roadmap view to visualize upcoming projects and milestones. Create projects for major features, then add issues under each project. Set target dates and see how projects overlap. This helps designers plan ahead and know what’s coming after the current sprint.

Linear vs. Alternatives

How does Linear compare to other project management tools?

Choose Linear if: You’re a product team that values speed, clean design, and want designers and engineers using the same tool.

Choose Jira if: You’re a large organization with complex workflows, compliance needs, or hundreds of team members.

Choose Asana if: You’re a cross-functional team (marketing, ops, design) and need a tool everyone can use without technical knowledge.

Choose Notion if: You want to combine project management with documentation and wikis in one flexible workspace.

Choose GitHub Issues if: Your team is small, technical, and already lives in GitHub for code.

Getting Started with Linear

A 15-minute quick start to tracking your first design tasks:

Step 1: Create your first issue

Press C anywhere in Linear to create an issue. Add a title (e.g., “Design mobile navigation”), set the project and assignee, then add a description. Use Markdown for formatting. Attach Figma links or images. Press Cmd/Ctrl + Enter to save.

Step 2: Organize with labels and projects

Labels categorize issues (design, research, prototype). Projects group related work (Q1 Redesign, Mobile App). Use both: labels for task type, projects for initiatives. Create custom labels in Settings. Add issues to projects from the issue detail view.

Step 3: Use keyboard shortcuts

Press Cmd/Ctrl + K to open the command palette. From here, you can create issues, search, change views, or run any action. Learn a few shortcuts: C for create, / for search, P for priority, L for label. Press ? to see all shortcuts. Linear is built for speed.

Linear in Your Design Workflow

Linear works best when it connects design tools to the development process.

• Before Linear: Research in Dovetail, brainstorming in FigJam, customer feedback in Intercom
• During design: Linear for task tracking, Figma for design work, Slack for quick questions
• After Linear: GitHub for code, Linear updates automatically when PRs merge

Common tool pairings:

• Linear + Figma to attach designs to issues and create issues from Figma comments
• Linear + GitHub to automatically close issues when code ships
• Linear + Slack to post updates to channels when issue status changes
• Linear + Notion for documentation that lives alongside roadmaps

Common Problems (and How to Fix Them)

These issues come up regularly in design teams using Linear.

“There are too many labels and projects”

Linear lets anyone create labels and projects, which leads to duplication and confusion. Standardize early: create a naming convention (e.g., area:design, component:button) and document it. Archive unused projects. Assign a project owner to manage labels and keep things organized.

“Designers and engineers use different workflows”

Designers often want Kanban boards; engineers prefer list views. Linear supports both. Use board view for visual task management and list view for detailed filtering. Create custom views for each team (Design Board, Engineering Sprint). Pin frequently used views for quick access.

“Issue descriptions are inconsistent”

Some people write detailed specs; others leave descriptions blank. Create issue templates for common task types (Design Task, Bug Report, Research Spike). Templates provide a structure that helps everyone write better descriptions. Find templates in Settings > Teams > Templates.

“Hard to see what’s blocking design work”

Use Linear’s timeline view to visualize dependencies and see what’s blocked. Create relationships between issues: “blocks”, “blocked by”, “related to”. This makes it clear when one task depends on another. Set due dates so the timeline shows realistic schedules.

“Linear feels too developer-focused”

Linear was built for engineering teams, so some concepts (sprints, story points) feel technical. You don’t need to use everything. Ignore features that don’t apply to design work. Focus on issues, projects, and labels. Use cycles only if your team works in sprints. Linear is flexible enough to adapt to design workflows.