Acelr8’s Post

This resonates, having worked in organizations across the range of design maturity. The challenge I've experienced with companies stuck on the right side of the curve in "limited" and "emergent" states is convincing them that design has business value above and beyond just making products look and feel better. The reason why design layoffs happen disproportionately in these organizations (and I speak from experience here) is the belief that the only non-negotiable is that they can't deliver anything without product managers telling engineers what to build. It's better to deliver anything, even if it looks bad and works poorly. After all, now they have the design system we gave them, so what engineering delivers will at least look like the rest of the product, and we taught product managers the importance of end-user research to collect customer data from outside a sales motion, what else do they need from design after that? They don't entirely devalue design; they just don't hold it in the same mission-critical regard they do other functions. Finally, these attitudes are not universal within these types of organizations, no matter how limited. However, they manifest most strongly at the top of the org chart disproportionally.

Thank you for this Peter Merholz... it breaks through the surface what so many of us have been experiencing; especially if we've spent (significant) time "in service to product and engineering." When you drew the gap at the center of the bell, I instantly had an image of an iceburg splitting off. Giving nod to my "polar bear wrangler" moniker, I am one of the occupants of the ice-floe. I'm gathering my skills - including resilience and grit - and finding out how else I can combine, hone, and apply them. I do NOT know how my story will unfold, but I DO know I don't thrive "riding the drift" so I'm "paddling hard" and am having fun exploring and experimenting, while working at staying balanced and afloat. Others will be in a position to ride the bergy bits and growlers (thanks ChatGPT for the vocabulary,) and others are still safely on the other half of the split 'berg. As a community of people and practice, we've always been supportive of each other - we've had to be because support is sometimes scarce. I appreciate your practicality, analysis, and admission that you're still thinking on this. What are you seeing as the skills | practices that are keeping UXers bouyant? What are the hazards dragging some under?

I really like Peter’s analysis of the market regarding organisations embracing design. From the ones who appreciate it and see it’s value in creating great businesses to those losing faith in it for reasons he explains well. I would like to extrapolate this to the African market. (Yes, despite what Bob Geldof says, there is some cool stuff happening across Africa). For the last 4 years I have been working both in the UK and in Africa. Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, to be specific. What I have experienced is akin to what we went through over the last two decades, in the UK, getting design a “seat at the table”. Mainly in the experience space. I saw this with UX, then product and service design. I want to caveat this by appreciating all the organisations that are doing the right thing at the present moment and to say this is not a doom and gloom article but a call to arms for those who want to make the world a better place. I see too many ideas going from business analysis to development and only utilising design as a service to make things look good. Not really solving problems across the scope to make better customer experiences. The majority are in the “limited” or “emergent” phases and without good leadership or guidance few will survive disillusionment and become “structured” or “integrated”. Misunderstanding what design can do will dominate the workspaces and huge opportunities will be lost. Not to mention the customer experience debt which will accrue and the massive cost to re-engineer and recover that debt retrospectively. We need to be proactive about fixing this. We need more groups and think tanks to help those businesses who are about to embark on a journey which could be very costly in terms of brand and finances. I recently went to a big technology conference in Nigeria where the talks were mainly centred around physical infrastructure, financing and exiting projects. There was very little discussion about the development of human beings. Even less about design. This kind of discussion and guidance lead to a very homogenous environment of creation. There is a plethora of payment gateways being produced, in Africa, because this is a tested method of getting funding and exiting successfully, from a purely financial perspective. The discussions are about the beginning and the end of an idea come to fruition. The Middle, the part where something really valuable is created for the people using it, feels like an afterthought or worse distraction to the economic game of start-up creation and exiting. That middle is where design can really make a difference. I’d like to reach out to my network (inside and outside Afric) and find individuals and organisations who would like to collaborate on a manifesto and the work needed to evangelise a vision for design in the African digital ecosystem. Please feel free to get in touch and let’s see how we can move forward together. #africa #design #vision

Peter’s video is helpful in explaining why design/UX work seems more scarce than it has been in the past and has given me some ideas of how to better focus on specific companies as I search for my next opportunity. He expresses some interesting thoughts about what is going on in the market right now for anyone looking for work in the field of UX and design. I found

A very interesting look at what’s going on right now between investing in Design vs divesting in Design. We see and hear a lot when teams and people are cut, but we don’t hear as many stories about successes when Design is a win for a company. If we’re in an inflection point now, what we need is proof. Proof that customer insights lead to design and business innovations. And success. I’m writing a book on that now.

Very insightful... I love how Peter Merholz is categorizing companies based on the UX maturity model. He answered a lot of my unsolved questions like when is the time that a good Design Manager/Director/Lead is most needed in an Org to employ "politics" and prove design value (of course in favor of the company's success). I'd like to add that the work of design individuals is certainly needed and surely, effective, but this can't be done completely bottom-up in an organization where the executives' mindset and the company's stage are not really ready to accept design value.

Sinister UX traits 21-25: 21) Hiring expectations - Amount of experience expected for lead and senior roles - Misappropriation of skill levels - Sabotaging interviews to misrepresent seasoned practitioners 22) Attempting to ascend in UX while trashing fundamentals 23) Allowing juniors to participate as decisionmakers in the interview process. 24) Indirect sanctions on attacks of seniors 25) The exaltation of the UX boogeyman mindset. P.S. For now, the remainder of the list will be shared in a forthcoming blog post. #ux #realuxtalk

🕵️♂️ Finding UX talent can feel like Buzz’s view of the world—“Talent, talent everywhere!” But, the real skill lies in identifying the right talent for your team. The key? Prioritize candidates with a mix of creativity, problem-solving, and user-centered design approaches. 💡 Want more insights on attracting the best UX designers? Head to the blog in the comments! #UXTalent #DesignStrategy #CreativeRecruitment #UXLeadership #TalentAcquisition

I'm frustrated with the broader conversations about hiring/staffing/utilizing UX/Design folks, because it lacks nuance, and obscures what I think is actually going on. I've been noodling on what I'm seeing, and recorded this quick video to share with you how I see the market, drawing on models like the technology adoption curve and the NN/g UX Maturity model to scaffold my thinking. This is just one person's perspective, and I'd love to get your feedback!

Here are some interesting thoughts about the current state of the UX/Design market.