If you're a Designer, you can relate to the roller coaster we have been on regarding digital careers in the last four years! We had layoffs in 2020 as the Pandemic started, the hiring frenzy of 2021 and into 2022, and the shrinking markets in 2023 and 2024. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n
Combine this with the advent of Gen AI, and Designers are now trying to work out how to keep themselves employed and plan for their future careers.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n
There are two major tech trends to pay attention to in 2024:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Combine that with APIs, headless Content Management Systems (CMSs), Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, and there’s much to keep up with.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n As designers, we should be informed about the technology and how it can be used in Product development, and not be dependent on the Engineering teams to ensure an idea is viable.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n\n\n Choose a technology that interests you and go deep. Understand how it works and is applied within the real world. Look at the ways Design could create new interfaces for customers and admins, identify places where good content enhances the technology experience, and have an opinion on whether the tech is appropriate for the context of use.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n We want to be partners in product development—smart people who are not just given an interface design task to integrate a new feature.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n The dichotomy of 2024\/25, is that Gen AI will probably take over routine interface design and development AND the explicit need for designers<\/a> to be ‘doers’ providing specifications for delivery.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Does this mean if you are a design leader who has been newly laid off that you need to sharpen your Figma skills? Maybe… <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n More likely you need to look at your ‘doer’ skills<\/a> and work out if they can provide you with satisfying work.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n I’ve lived through the evolution of design tools. We started with Visio and Illustrator and moved to Omnigraffle. I used Axure for complex prototyping and Balsamiq for simple interfaces, then migrated to Sketch and now Figma.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n \n\n There is only one tool in UX Design at the moment—Figma. If you are a practising design, you need to know it at a minimum. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n But what happens when the next tool arrives, as it surely will? A tool only codifies our designs; it does not create, research or test our designs.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n We need to have methods at our fingertips to do that work. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Note, that I am talking about methods and not methodologies. I truly don’t care if you use Design Thinking, Human Centred Design, User Experience Design, the Double Diamonds or something else.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n These methodologies come and go in popularity—we can use them as a model to explain our process, but they can quickly become a cult. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n\n\n How often have you heard “We must design this way!”<\/em>?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Methods stay with us in designing solutions no matter what the ‘in’ methodology is. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Examples are stakeholder interviews, a content audit, a competitive analysis to understand the features on other sites, a brand audit for tone and styles on all digital platforms, or contextual enquiry at a Call Centre. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n Building up our method libraries with how and why we use each method, means we can design the process of UX within the timeframe, the existing knowledge and the practitioner’s skill. Then designing doesn’t rely on a tool or a particular methodology, but on the way we analyse and synthesise the context and problems to come up with the right solution.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n My superpower is organisation; a skill I have used in organising information as an information architect, project plans as a design leader and herding people as a product manager. I have also used it in managing fashion shows, creating the yearly plan for Joey Scouts and scheduling regular Zoom meetings with family and friends across the world.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n For example, a Visual Designer whose skill is bringing clarity via visuals could use it in facilitation providing a way to help visual thinkers in a leadership team to increase their understanding of the strategy.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n \n \u201cFinding our superpowers moves us from being a designer to a smart person who can adapt to many work situations. Some of our superpowers are design-specific, but many are \u2018soft skills' that are needed as we develop into mature professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n \n <\/cite>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
My recommendation: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2) Be prepared to get your hands dirty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With the tech downturn, three things are happening in the market:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3) Rely less on the tools and build your method library instead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4) Identify your superpower as a Designer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ask yourself: As a Designer what skills do you bring to the world?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5) Broaden your network and interests outside of design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n \n\n