figma learning curve looks  really long (for the design file/wireframing part)... just diving in and messing around doesn't seem to work very well

Is there a good cheat?

lately I've been finding that the newest generation of apps have a very "quiet UX" style where it's not obvious how to do basic things

Blogger at ribbonfarm.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

hmm... was in a meeting where someone used it once, but haven't used it myself

more intuitive/gentle? I'm not a read-the-manual type

Okay this was a good suggestion... 0 to nice wireframe in 20 minutes, basically no learning curve at all