Hi there, This is the twenty sizth edition of D&T Special, a more in-depth view of topics that interest the Canvs team. Today's topic - The overinflation and consequent correction of design team sizes - and how we need a new age of generalists.
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✍️ From the Canvs Research & Editorial Desk
Design teams have increasingly become more specialized, bloated, and fragmented. This trend has led to inefficiencies and a lack of cohesive vision within projects. It's time for more generalist experts to step in, especially in this field, to address these issues. Generalists bring a holistic perspective, integrating various aspects of design and ensuring that all parts of the process align towards a common goal. Their broad skillsets and interdisciplinary knowledge can help streamline workflows, foster better collaboration, and ultimately improve the overall quality and effectiveness of design teams.
This week the Canvs R&E team has spent some time pondering this concept, let’s dive into some details.
Its a new design generalist era
In the 1990s, UX design was in a nascent space, and many companies were just starting to understand its importance. Because it was such a new and unknown field, companies didn’t have specialised UX design roles like they do now. Instead, they relied on design generalists. These were the people who could do it all — they handled everything from user research to visual design and prototyping.
Back then, the concept of UX design was still evolving, and companies were figuring things out as they went along. UX design generalists played a crucial role in this process, using their broad skill set to tackle the various challenges that came their way. Today, this isn’t the case anymore, the field of UX design has become more specialised, and so have the roles.
### Key takeaways for why we may need better, newer generalists:
#### 1. They keep an eye on the things the design eventually helps with - the business
Good generalists are always concerened about the lateral consequence they have on the team, besides simply the pixels they pushed.
#### 2. They help fill in the gaps wherever needed
If there is one thing that the current divestment in design globally has taught us is not thatb design is pointless, it's that overly fatty teams with hyper specific roles and large numbers can have more gaps than smaller teams that own larger portions of the process.
#### 3. They keep the market sane
Design generalists, who possess a few highly developed core competencies alongside a variety of other skillsets, play a crucial role in elevating standards within the larger community of designers. These versatile professionals serve as a bridge across various aspects of the product process, bringing in-depth expertise and broad understanding. Their presence helps ensure that the overall quality of work in the design domain meets high professional standards. By providing a "sanity check," they contribute to maintaining and raising the bar for what constitutes acceptable and exceptional design, benefiting the industry as a whole.
📚 What we were reading this week
Designing for the public sector
Canvs Editorial writes about the key principles and best practices to remember while designing for the public sector.
Visual design rules you can safely follow every time
You do not have to follow these rules every time. If you have a good reason to break any of them, do. But they are safe to follow every time.
A Visit to the Eames Institute
A rare glimpse into the creative legacy of legendary designers Ray and Charles Eames at Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity.
Intel details new Lunar Lake CPUs that will go up against AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple
Lunar Lake returns to a more conventional-looking design for Intel.
What the AI boom is getting wrong (and right)
Irene Solaiman on tackling racial bias, language equity, consent, and why there are so many AI girlfriends.
The Opaque Investment Empire Making OpenAI’s Sam Altman Rich
Many companies backed by CEO do business with the ChatGPT maker and benefit from the AI boom.
The Linear method: Opinionated software
The Linear team runs on strong opinions that might seem counterintuitive to outsiders. Here’s how those principles show up in both the product and their processes.
Some highlights from the past month of D&T
How framing affects your decisions
And that's the lot! Thanks for checking out what we had to share with you this week, we shall catch up with you next Wednesday. Incase you aren't subscribed to the newsletter, you could subscribe here.
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