Jide Lambo

UseLay

UseLay conversational follow-up

Fast comments on live work, then at most one follow-up question.

UseLay follow-up question after a fast comment.

What UseLay is

UseLay brings Figma-style commenting to live prototypes. Press a key, click the spot, leave a note. I built it when more designers started prototyping in code but lost the pin-and-comment flow that makes critique sessions work. Without it, teams slipped back to static files just to collect feedback.

My role

I founded UseLay to fix that gap. This case is a later product decision: one optional follow-up after someone leaves a comment, without turning the tool into a support chat.

Why this problem now

Pin-and-comment on live work solved the first problem. The next tension was depth. Sometimes the team needs one more detail before they can act on a note. A long form or a chat thread brings back the friction we were trying to remove.

The bet

Commenting should stay as fast as pinning on Figma. When the team needs a bit more signal, ask one question. Not a form. Not a chat.

Three decisions

When to follow up

Context
Not every comment needs a follow-up. Ask on everything and the tool starts to feel like support chat.
Rejected
Always-on chat drawer. Multi-turn thread after submit.
Shipped
Ask only after someone submits. Only when the extra answer would change what the team does next.
Why
UseLay is for critique and capture, not a help desk.
UseLay comment compose modal with a short message.
  • Leave a comment in a few seconds.
  • Follow-up comes only after submit.

What to ask

Context
A big empty text box after submit breaks the pace people liked in the first place.
Rejected
"Tell us more" textarea. Long AI-generated ramble.
Shipped
One short question. Tap an answer or skip. Pre-written options where we can.
Why
A tight question beats a clever paragraph for bug reports.
UseLay follow-up question asking whether the link did nothing or opened the wrong page.
  • One question, not a thread.
  • Plain wording, not open-ended chat.

When to stop

Context
One good question can sharpen a report. Three questions turn the widget into Intercom.
Rejected
Thread that keeps going. "Anything else?" loops.
Shipped
Close after they answer or skip. No conversation history in the widget.
Why
People came to point, comment, and leave.
UseLay follow-up with Skip and Reply controls.
  • Skip always wins.
  • Answer or skip, then the widget closes.

Key flow

UseLay homepage with comment mode active.
Press C, then click what you want to talk about.
UseLay comment compose modal.
Leave a short comment and submit.
UseLay follow-up question after submit.
One clarifying question. Skip or reply, then done.

Before vs after

BeforeAfter
Open "tell us more" box after every commentAt most one follow-up question
Back-and-forth thread in the widgetDone after one answer or skip
Follow-up on every commentFollow-up only when the answer would change what the team does

Outcome

Shipped in the UseLay widget. Commenting stays quick. Teams get a clearer report when the follow-up runs.