Thank you for sharing, it’s interesting how hiring managers are evolving with the shifting technology landscape. I think the challenges and constraints become more complex as technology evolves thus needing more problems solvers and strategic thinkers.
I would argue that the shift started >20 years during dotcom when UI became more than "brochureware". I was hired to turn a tech agency into one of the first with UX capabilities, and my designer colleagues were already very aware of being responsible for understanding and aligning with clients' business objectives. Same when I led the UX team at the bank - UI was logic first, aesthetic second.
Having said that, it remains a point worth making!
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Evelyn! You make an excellent point about this shift starting much earlier, especially during the dotcom era when UX began to take on a more strategic role. It’s fascinating to hear about your experiences shaping UX capabilities and aligning design with business objectives back then—it sounds like you were at the forefront of this evolution.
Designers are increasingly required to demonstrate impact in measurable terms, and the industry as a whole seems to be emphasizing this more explicitly now.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this alignment has evolved over the years.
Do you think the expectations of designers today are fundamentally different from back then?
I think what's really evolved are titles and hiring practices. Comparing 2 designers from 2 different companies, you may see drastically different roles and skillsets due to different job requirements. That's presuming they even have the same title (I mean, how many times you have come across titles that make you scratch you heads....).
So my short answer to your great question is: expectations of designers are totally dependent on who, where, when, why, how they work.
I feel like we're simply moving back to what design was intended to do. The goal was never to make things pretty. It was to solve a problem. To make things work. Pleasing aesthetics are simply a by-product of something that is well-designed.
It's great to see that we're getting our priorities straight again.
Thank you for sharing, it’s interesting how hiring managers are evolving with the shifting technology landscape. I think the challenges and constraints become more complex as technology evolves thus needing more problems solvers and strategic thinkers.
I would argue that the shift started >20 years during dotcom when UI became more than "brochureware". I was hired to turn a tech agency into one of the first with UX capabilities, and my designer colleagues were already very aware of being responsible for understanding and aligning with clients' business objectives. Same when I led the UX team at the bank - UI was logic first, aesthetic second.
Having said that, it remains a point worth making!
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Evelyn! You make an excellent point about this shift starting much earlier, especially during the dotcom era when UX began to take on a more strategic role. It’s fascinating to hear about your experiences shaping UX capabilities and aligning design with business objectives back then—it sounds like you were at the forefront of this evolution.
Designers are increasingly required to demonstrate impact in measurable terms, and the industry as a whole seems to be emphasizing this more explicitly now.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this alignment has evolved over the years.
Do you think the expectations of designers today are fundamentally different from back then?
I think what's really evolved are titles and hiring practices. Comparing 2 designers from 2 different companies, you may see drastically different roles and skillsets due to different job requirements. That's presuming they even have the same title (I mean, how many times you have come across titles that make you scratch you heads....).
So my short answer to your great question is: expectations of designers are totally dependent on who, where, when, why, how they work.
I feel like we're simply moving back to what design was intended to do. The goal was never to make things pretty. It was to solve a problem. To make things work. Pleasing aesthetics are simply a by-product of something that is well-designed.
It's great to see that we're getting our priorities straight again.