My Year in Design - 2024
I’ve been writing these yearly retrospectives since 2016, and while what took place in 2015 feels like a long time ago, in reality it hasn’t been that long. Also, part of the challenge with these retrospective articles is creating something that feels relevant, topical, and actionable, and not simply a nostalgic overview of moments that may appear pertinent, but that are mostly punctual occurrences that are not that insightful. Hopefully this retrospective imparts some topics to keep in consideration for Design professionals.
Design Advocacy is never over, but also requires robust support. I’ve mentioned in many of my articles, that the road of Design evangelization across various organizations isn’t always an easy path. And it’s a journey that never truly ends. Even though we’re in 2025, while looking back on 2024, from what I experienced first hand and through conversations with colleagues in the industry, the evangelization of the merit of Design and its professionals as a necessary practice is an essential aspect of Design strategy. Being able to emphasize the importance of Design Thinking, of Problem Solving, and Effective Solutioning, is something that Design Professionals need to keep getting better at. Being a solid Product Designer or UX Designer, being able to prototype in Figma (or Framer) or being an accelerator of an incubation endeavor, is not enough (not that it ever was). Design professionals, now more than ever, if they want to move past the label of pixel pushers, or “pretty concept creation”, have to re-emphasize what they do as a strategic endeavor which returns value to the organization, imparting value to clients, and ultimately producing a demonstrable impact to the success of an organization. The concept of the Designer who is also a Business Minded professional is now something fundamental, because the level of scrutiny on cost is constant, and the expectation towards a measurable ROI is also that much more pressing. And while all these aspects are facets that Designers must be aware of, in order for the practice to evolve and go beyond a fledgling plant (if we consider a gardening metaphor), it must have support from leadership in a meaningful way. And this type of support goes beyond paying Designers a salary. Leadership support is synonymous with understanding what a Design practice does, but also what it requires to flourish, and constantly communicating how its success translates into a tremendous value for an organization and its clients. This type of reflection eventually harks to the comparison on how Engineering and Design are measured against each other and ultimately weighed in such different perspectives: everyone always likes to think that engineering is easy to advocate for, since these are professionals who “build things”, whereas designers “make things pretty”. However “things” are a composite of a variety of Experiences and Perspectives, which means, what makes something truly successful is not solely one that gets the job done, but one that does so fantastically well, a solution that you want to keep using, something you want to share with others, and you can’t wait for it to keep evolving. This sentiment of Delight and Excellence is something that is the crystallization of good engineering and good design, since it embodies a thorough process, one that isn’t myopically focused on one of the disciplines, but that realizes convergence trumps segmented points of view. Until leadership is mature enough to be a solid support system, most Design strategy will always be an arduous journey, since Designers will constantly have to re-clarify their purpose, goals, and added value for the organization. Look at it like Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day”, but each day Phil goes through, being one where Designers have to be in constant advocacy.
Toxicity is alive and well. In the 18 years I’ve been working in the Design field in the US, I’ve been able to witness how different teams work and operate across various organizations, and across the country itself. I have written about toxicity before (you can read it here and even my last article of 2024), but this was the first year where I witnessed professionals in the field going above and beyond demonstrating a persistent set of behaviors that left me puzzled and perplexed. It’s fairly easy for a reflection like this to become a “he said/she said”, but I’ll exemplify puzzling behaviors from two situations which demonstrate what I mean. On one hand, I witnessed team members sabotaging others for the sake of maintaining their status quo unperturbed, and on the other, I witnessed a complete lack of solidarity for those needing support. Being in the Design Field, and by extension networking with various professionals, you’re faced with different types of situations. There isn’t a single professional in the field who doesn’t have interesting episodes to share from their professional journey. My key takeaways from the situations I witnessed, both directly and indirectly, are hopefully consistent with what I’ve been writing and advocating all through the years: always act/behave professionally, with integrity, responsibility, humility, and to the best of your abilities. A slight variation of Postel’s Law, for those who have read about it. Toxicity and poisonous behavior may go unsanctioned and unseen, but it does leave a trace of its own, something that can never be truly shaken off, and something that becomes more and more palpable. When in doubt, always ask yourself if you’re leaving a situation better than how you found it. Oh and move away from toxic environments, much like contaminated water, as careful as you may be, you’ll eventually contaminate yourself, and that’s something not worth the risk or trouble.
The Design World has changed and yet it stays the same. This year, probably more so than any before, I had various colleagues and friends asking my opinion about the collapse of the Design world, or if there’s indeed a future for it (I suppose both topics feed off each other). Granted I have not been around and worked in the industry to witness as many ebbs and flows as some of my colleagues have, but for the past 18 years I’ve witnessed the staggering evolution of technology, of the role of Design and its practitioners, and ultimately of the job market as well. In a gist and for what it’s worth, I don’t believe the Design world is at crossroads of grasping if it has more fuel to keep going. I do believe AI is altering aspects of how Design professionals work, what can be accomplished by leveraging it, and how the practice and the tools that are part of it will continue to evolve. However, I also witnessed (as did so many of my colleagues and friends) a dramatic contraction of the job market for qualified professionals in the field, not because of an arresting omen from the economy, but instead from a speculative wave and trend which sadly resulted in many good professionals in the field being left in precarious situations. This latter aspect is also tied with the toxicity that I mentioned on point 2: the challenging job market for Design professionals has been an opportunity for people to be that much more supportive and kind towards others, direct friends, and simply colleagues in the field. We should help, not because it brings some value to us, but because in helping others in this field, we’re supporting those in need, and the Design profession as a whole, and isn’t that the true meaning of community?
Creating room for yourself. So many people have said so, but I’ll reiterate it as well. Creating time for oneself, to care for one’s well being and for those who matter to us is and should always be top priority. That statement should suffice, because while we do live every day, we only have indeed one existence to account for, and we may as well do it with good health, which in turn enables us to do everything else, including intellectual, emotional, and physical endeavors. Learning to create space to nurture ourselves is fundamental (and dare I say it, strategic).
Reality Check. At times people ask the inevitable question, “would you have done anything differently”. That question is both pointless and pointless (yikes, double pointless). How we react in a particular moment is the result of what we have gone through in the past, what is pressuring us at a particular period of time, and also what are we expecting to get out of the situation for the near future (strategizing survival, that’s what we all do). There are no redos in life, because nothing is ever the same. But there is a takeaway and a realization that whatever a particular situation was, it did teach us something, hopefully something that we can knowingly leverage for other situations that present themselves. These survival skills become part of how we navigate the world, and for Designers, these skills enable us to better listen, understand, and navigate the terrain that is constantly shifting.
I’m finishing this article with a quote from Dolly Parton.
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”