Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Patrick Cox

My response to Daniel Burka, Jared M. Spool and all my other colleagues who believe “everyone is a designer” and I just need to get over it.

Last week I was fine. It had been weeks since I was angrily tweeting my whole weekend away. But yesterday I discovered that another one of my well respected design mentors is continuing to perpetrate an idea that I fundamentally believe is damaging our industry… Everyone is a designer. Get over it.

Before you continue to read the rest of this rant I highly suggest you pop over and read Coleen Baik’s article Everyone is a Dancer, I Mean a Designer. I could not agree with her sentiment more and I’ll probably just write the same thing, just worse.

Yummy, delicious poop emoji marshmallow cookies from the Food Network.

Design happens. So does shit.

May favorite argument for “everyone is a designer” is that design happens whether a designer is present or not, whether we like it or not, design happens so therefore that contributor must a designer. Seriously?! Shit happens too, but that doesn’t make me a gastroenterologist.

Many analogies have floated around from “cooks VS chefs” to “moving my couch VS interior design” to “fixing a car at home VS being a mechanic.” But, simply saying that something of quality occurs despite the presence of a trained professional is ridiculous.

When I worked at machine shop in high school I sliced my hand open with a razor blade. Out of sheer panic, I stitched my hand with a piece of string and duct taped my hand shut to stop the bleeding. I never did see a doctor and let it heal naturally. It hurt pretty bad for a few days. My hand eventually healed with very little scaring and no permanent damage — this outcome was just as good as seeing a doctor.

When my appendix erupts, I will simply cut open my side, safely scoop out the offending organ, staple the wound and make sure to apply ointment everyday until it heals up perfectly… right? Maybe one would be inclined to risk it, but I wouldn’t, I would hire a trained professional called a doctor to do this.

I believe in collaboration, I don’t care about titles and I’m not insecure

I haven’t met one great designer that believes collaboration with non-designers is bad or unnecessary. In fact, quite the opposite. This, I do believe this the ultimate point Daniel Burka and others are trying to make. In every article or tweet I’ve read however, if you do not agree with their statement “Everyone is a designer” you must somehow hate collaboration, or are an insecure designer or you only care about your title. Not only is this antagonistic and insulting to your colleagues, it’s wrong.

Believing others have good ideas about design and collaborating with them is very different than granting them “designer” status. It’s also wrong to tell someone who defends their profession that they are insecure. Oh, and it’s super-duper wrong to assume we only care about titles.

It’s beyond infuriating that smart designers who have been practicing and building great products and services for years can’t see the difference between a skilled designer and a person who contributes to the design process… as Burka states:

Whether you like it or not, whether you approve it or not, people outside of your design team are making significant design choices that affect your customers in important ways. They are designing your product. They are designers.

I have never once “not liked” that others outside my design team get to contribute to the design process. I have never once “not approved” of others outside my design team contributing to the design process. I have damn well never prevented others from making significant design choices that effect my customers in very important ways. They are valuable contributors to the design of the product. They are NOT designers. Whether YOU like it or not.

Design is more than ideas and choice

Another false argument in this “everyone is a designer” narrative, is the idea that design is simply ideas or making great decisions. That would be super cool though if that were actually the case. Then I wouldn’t have to stress over things like; visual hierarchy, Gestalt principles, user testing, building robust prototypes for validation, or interviewing users for hours trying to discover their real problems. My job as a designer would be so much simpler if it was just about coming up with great ideas and making logical choices.

It would also be nice to keep the same salary for only coming up with these great ideas and making logical decisions.

Maybe I’ve been looking at this all wrong, maybe all that other stuff doesn’t make the same impact as simply making a choice? Maybe it’s really just having a good idea that makes a designer? Maybe execution has nothing to do with being a designer?

Of course it’s not. Executing and validating a tangible solution based on a good idea or a confident choice is probably nine-tenths of the design process. It’s an insult to simply discount 90% of what every designer does on a daily basis. I have great entrepreneurial ideas all the time but I still haven’t been able to do anything about it and I’m perfectly fine not being called an entrepreneur.

Kanye West, False Idol by Plastic Jesus

False idols

Why do Jared and I press the point? I keep beating the drum because I want designers to change the way they think about their role and become better stewards of good design.

Once again, being stewards of good design is not the same thing as “Everyone is a designer.” These two ideas are not equivalent and people outside the design community or new designers will not take to the time to understand the distinction. Hell, it feels like most designers don’t understand this which is why I’m writing this rant!

It’s dangerous to say hyperbolic and quotable things like “Everyone is designer” when you really mean “We should collaborate better with everyone else on our cross functional teams, and advocate for better products by cultivating a culture of design thinking throughout the entire company, so that everyone in the company can make better decisions that will impact all of our customers.”

This soundbite is misinterpreted and taken literally. This demeans our trade and lowers the value and trust of the design role — I know, I know you all say it won’t, but telling everyone at the company that they can do our jobs just as good, does.

It’s also dangerous for a very well respected designer that has a large audience to perpetrate this soundbite to impressionable designers who may work at companies where design isn’t taken as seriously. These designers don’t have the experience, knowledge or clout that demands respect. It’s already hard for them to promote better design thinking already being behind the 8 ball. How do you expect a designer to be steward of great design when you just told the CEO and Product VP that they are just as skilled a designer as any design role in the company?

These designers will blindly follow an idol’s opinion without the same contextual understanding or critical analysis that a more seasoned designer will have.

Lastly, quit ripping on your colleagues

I’ve never worked in — or heard of — another profession where its practitioners will elevate non-practitioners and dump on their colleagues all in the same breath.

Everyone is a designer. Get over it.

Picture it.

Deep inside a United Airlines cockpit a pilot radios the control tower confirming coordinates during a foggy landing. She concludes then conversation with “You’re the best pilot ever, tower controller person, way better than my co-pilot sitting right next to me.” Co-pilot looks over questioningly. “Get over it co-pilot… everyone knows whoever helps us land this plane safely in this fog is just as much of a skilled master pilot as I am.”

I’m off to buy Fast and Furious 8 tickets.

“I’m Not Getting Over It” was originally published in Prototyping: From UX to Front End on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I’m Not Getting Over It”

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