"I love talking to people, and over the last 2 months of unemployment (I am now employed), I called upon designer friends all in Asia and Europe to get their opinion on the current state of Design leadership and how it has impacted our careers. Spoiler alert: It ain't great. Hence the article. We seem to have found ourselves in an era where clout matters more than productivity, and when Design's productivity and impact is questioned,"
"we somehow re-direct that discomfort and blame our Engineering and Product counterparts (or other happenings in the industry) for not enabling us to be more productive. "We're not the ones touching the code or deciding the business, so it's not our fault." or "AI is replacing designers!" or [Insert office politics statement here]. If you have no idea what I'm on about, this article is either not for you, or you're part of the problem."
A designer experienced two months of unemployment before becoming employed and consulted designer peers across Asia and Europe about leadership and career effects. The collective view identifies an era where clout is valued above measurable productivity and impact. Designers increasingly deflect responsibility by attributing poor outcomes to Engineering, Product, AI, or office politics. Common reframes include claims of not touching code or not deciding business strategy and alarms about AI replacing designers. These dynamics contribute to frustration and career stagnation within the design community.
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