"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 to get their opinion on the current state of Design leadership and how it has impacted our careers."
"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." or "AI is replacing designers!" or [Insert office politics statement here]. If you have no idea what I'm on about, this article is either not for you, or you're part of the problem."
The narrator begins from a low point in their career and experienced two months of unemployment before finding work. They reached out to designer peers across Asia and Europe to gather perspectives on Design leadership and career effects. The collective observation is that clout often outweighs measurable productivity within leadership. When Design impact is questioned, designers tend to shift blame to Engineering, Product, or broader industry forces, citing lack of control over code or business decisions. Frequent rationalizations include claims that AI will replace designers or invoking office politics. Lack of awareness signals complicity in the problem.
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