"This article won't start out well, because I'm sort of at rock bottom in my career and it seems that I'm projecting my frustrations of the industry out in the open. But I promise you, my rants are merely neutral observations and opinions. I love talking to people, and over the last 2 months of unemployment (I am now employed), I called upon designer friends all in Asia and Europe"
"Spoiler alert: It ain't great. Hence the article. We seem to have found ourselves in an era where clout matters more than productivity, and when Design's productivity and impact is questioned, we somehow re-direct that discomfort and blame our Engineering and Product counterparts (or other happenings in the industry) for not enabling us to be more productive. "We're not the ones touching the code or deciding the business, so it's not our fault.""
A designer experienced a period of unemployment and sought perspectives from designers across Asia and Europe about design leadership and career impact. The consensus found that clout and visibility often outrank measurable productivity. Design teams face scrutiny over their impact, and many redirect responsibility toward engineering, product, or external factors such as AI and office politics. Common reframes include claims that designers do not touch code or make business decisions, or that AI will replace designers. The resulting culture undermines design productivity, harms careers, and fosters defensive narratives instead of accountability and measurable contribution.
Read at Medium
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]