I have a confession to make: I've probably changed my LinkedIn bio over 100 times in the last few months. Why? Well, like many others in the design industry, I'm struggling with how to label my career experiences and package them neatly into a "design title."
Judging from what I see on social media, this seems to be a common challenge in our field. The ongoing debates about Product vs. UX vs. UI design appear to still be commonplace, and in my opinion, this is a clear indication that design is still navigating its way within the broader business and social landscapes.
With this context in mind, I want to use this article as an opportunity to confront my own "design title demons" and write about the challenges and solutions I'm exploring as I aim to construct the bridge that will guide me to the next stages of my career journey.
To kick things off, let's state the obvious: I absolutely love design! In many ways, I'm first and foremost a design enthusiast. I admire what it can achieve for people, organizations, and society as a whole. I find inspiration and even get a bit emotional when I come across a case study showcasing a brilliant design solution to a complex problem. On the flip side, it infuriates me when I see examples of design being used as a tool to harm others and our planet.
Naturally, this passion has guided my journey through the paths I've explored in my previous writings. I pursued an education in graphic design, and through a combination of luck and goodwill, I landed a web design job that evolved into a UX role, which in turn led me into the realms of strategy and research. My passion for design has allowed me to explore various facets of the field while wearing multiple hats. When introducing myself to clients for the first time, I often say, "If there's a role in UX design to be had, I've probably filled it."
So, my career has been shaped by a blend of my enthusiasm for design and my experience in a wide range of roles. In many ways, I consider myself a "generalist." My diverse experiences have given me the confidence to excel in various aspects of the experience design industry. However, in line with the fan-favorite T-Scale, it's crucial to have specific areas of expertise or passionate interests when defining one's career. While my specialties have been detailed in previous articles, I take comfort in knowing that I can define the skills and activities I love and those I believe I excel at, such as workshopping, mapping, blueprinting, interviewing, and prototyping, to provide value to my colleagues and clients.
My struggle lies in translating the skills I believe I excel in into a clear role or title. What type of design do I practice? Is it UX, CX, Product, Service, Business, or Strategic design? In a sense, I feel it encompasses all of these, and it ultimately depends on the level of focus or zoom.
However, I do know that I thrive and find joy in the higher zoom levels, so I tend to gravitate towards the strategic, service, and business elements of a project. In fact, upon reflection on my past projects, I realized that I was essentially approaching my work with a service design lens, even without consciously recognizing it. While many designers get excited about opening up Figma to design interfaces, my excitement lies in using Figma to create journey maps, user flows, and service blueprints.
So, what does all of this mean thus far? I'm not entirely sure. To make more sense of this design identity crisis, let's use music and musical instruments as a metaphor to guide me towards a place where I won't (or at least rarely) feel the need to tweak my LinkedIn bio again.
Being a designer is akin to being a musician. I consider myself a designer, and just as musicians might be labeled as specific types within different bands or orchestras, I'll always see myself as a designer. The only aspects that may change are what I design and how I approach it. Some musicians specialize in being exceptional guitarists or violinists, but in some of my favorite bands, there's that one person who switches instruments from song to song—playing the trumpet in one, the guitar in another, and even some random percussion instrument in the next. I am that person; I am a multi-instrumentalist. I relish how multi-instrumentalists contribute diverse and wonderful sounds that enhance a song and the overall band performance. Similarly, I enjoy providing that additional layer of design support for the designers, researchers, developers, marketers, and stakeholders, acting as the versatile collaborator in the ensemble.
So, which instruments do I play? Similar to the multi-instrumentalist, it depends on the "song" – or in my case, the project or its specific phase. I conduct user and stakeholder interviews, sketch and design prototypes, create journey maps, facilitate design workshops, and even develop business models. Essentially, I do whatever the project demands, much like how a multi-instrumentalist selects the instrument that complements the song's requirements.
This brings us to the genre of music I perform, which translates to the areas of design I concentrate on. For better or worse, it's not going to be just one area, and this brings us back to those zoom levels I mentioned earlier. I have extensive experience in UX Design, and my desire is to delve into the realm of Service Design. In other words, while I've been playing rock 'n' roll for a while, I now aspire to explore the world of jazz.
Now how does a multi-instrumental rock musician with jazz aspirations define himself in the design world? Well here’s my latest LinkedIn bio iteration:
Design Strategist & Researcher | Passionate about Service & UX Design | Workshopping, Researching, and Prototyping my way through the world.
Design Strategist & Researcher = Multi-Instrumentalist, someone that creates the additional sounds that support the music
Passionate about Service & UX Design = I love playing jazz and rock music
Workshopping, Researching, and Prototyping my way through the world = my favorite instruments.
I felt like I needed to write and share this post with you. It was necessary because I've rewritten my bio dozens of times. It was necessary because I've been going through a classic mid-life crisis, desperately attempting to clarify what my current career is so that I can then define what it will become. I needed to establish my North Star so that I can confidently navigate through the storms to come. I hope you can utilize this musical analogy to chart your own career journey or, at the very least, to prevent you from endlessly editing your LinkedIn bio.
My Favorite Things of the Week
Since we’re talking about design titles and activities this week I felt it was relevant to share an article by Artiom Dashinsky that highlights the rising problem of Figmaism. Design tools are awesome and learning how to use them well important, but the design community is having too many conversations on how to use design tools to create design artifacts and not having enough conversations on the meaning and impact behind the design artifacts that are being created.
Here’s another Liz and Mollie classic to ponder when you are diving into you social media feeds.
The majority of my working screen time is in white boarding tools like Figjam and Miro so it was nice to come across this article by Leo Barnes on why he uses whiteboards to take his notes.
This article by Cameron Tonkenwise speaks to how design can influence how a person approaches their way of being in a society.
Finally I leave you with this fun little way to look at the differences between marketing, branding, and customer experience.