Thanks for your thoughts!

The permissions controls in Figma are antique.

When I first started messing around with version control for design files at SoundHound in 2012 I tried Tortise SVN ( a centralized version control system managed by IT - not recommended ) Just like in Figma files could be 'locked'. The two problems that crop up with this are: A. The designer has to manually lock-unlock hundreds of files - which inevitably leads to an important file left unlocked ( and destroyed ) or locked ( and unusable by the team ). B. Designers cant work on files across the org. because there is not a robust enough system of trust to support doing so. This also means that non-designers such as PMs and developers can also never be trusted to contribute to design files.

I don't have that many issues with shared libraries in Figma. The bigger problem is they aren't built for documentation files. So if you have a blueprint of the UIX which is actually implemented on production - accepting a library change can screw up 100s of artboards and they can be screwed up by anyone with access to that files edit permissions.

For keeping updated production documentation:

I have found it invaluable as even I forget what I designed and the delta between what was designed-shipped due to the volume and complexity of work. By putting together a process where documentation happens predominantly as a passive byproduct of new work i've been able to save myself time researching my own work. If work is documented accurately and has a built in dynamic system of trust you can also accelerate the team by enabling them to make design-related decisions without involving the designer as much. This then saves design time to be more efficiently focused on moving forward.