Transcription
All right. So, a couple of days ago, I shared this post on my LinkedIn where I said that, um, if I were to become a UX designer, where I said that if I were to hire an experienced UX designer today at a startup, I'd ask for their GitHub contribution graph before asking for their portfolio. And I was getting on the train, so I literally just put my phone in my pocket and forgot the whole thing.
And I posted it on my LinkedIn and I posted it on my ex, and then I got out of the train and my phone was blowing up. I was getting so many comments on LinkedIn, and then I started to look at his comments and I was responding to a couple of them, and I realized something. Like, there were so many comments around designers just being agitated about the statements, you know, there was so much comments that I was responding to it at at some point. And I was like, you know what exactly is going on here? Like, it feels like I said something just because I was actually genuinely convinced about it because I felt like I was seeing a trajectory in which, like, the design workflows in organizations is going, and I'm seeing the way startups are starting to approach design differently, and also as somebody that is also trying to like build something new or build a startup by myself. I'm seeing the different kind of workflow that I'm using to approach it. And this basically just prompted me to post that LinkedIn post. But the reaction from it really helped me reflect, and I wanted to share some thoughts about, like, the reactions from that particular post and also some kind of takeaways. And I think some things that I feel like I could share with you all here, cuz I feel like YouTube is where I'm able to feel like I'm having conversations with other designers, people that are trying to get on their journey as a designer, or people that are even experienced designers or designers at different levels. I, I feel so much connection just speaking to a camera, but or I still feel like I'm speaking to somebody than maybe me going back and forth on LinkedIn, cuz I responded to a few of the comments. But I wanted to address that particular post and also share some more context around that post because I think it's a given, you know, if any kind of designer sees that kind of post anywhere, it brings back the old age conversation of should designers learn how to code or not. So I realized that I went in that direction with that post, and that sort of sparked the debate and sparked the comments, and designers were just agitated about it.
First off, let me just go back and explain what a GitHub contribution graph is for people that might not know what it is. A GitHub contribution graph is basically like a graph. I'm going to show it here. Like a graph that, um, shows how much, um, you contribute to the codebase. So how much you ship with your team, how much you ship products with your team into production. That is what a GitHub contribution graph is. So when you have a graph that is very green, it means that you are always working in the codebase and you're always shipping stuff. So engineers are the ones that actually use GitHub contribution graphs the most. Engineers are the ones that use GitHub the most. GitHub is like the, um, version manager of a product where you can, um, see different versions of the pro product and different things, different projects, different kind of like work streams that people have pushed to production. Um, but yeah, reflecting back on the post again and looking at why I posted this, things are like really, really changing. Things are shifting with the design workflow that is so different from like how I was familiar with it. Right? Before, the question was always, should designers learn how to code? We had some designers that are called unicorn designers. A unicorn designer is basically a designer that knows how to design really well. Um, and by design really well, they're great at understanding the problem, identifying the right problem to solve, solving the problem in a delightful manner with any tool, including Figma, pencils, paper, sketches, any medium. And alongside that, they can also code, which means that they can express their ideas in code and they can also show what that final form of the idea would look like. So a couple of years ago, these kind of designers were called unicorn designers because this kind of design skill is cast. Some other designers are also another kind of designers like these are also called design engineers or product engineers, which means that they can design really well, and then they can also code really well.
But when I posted these, what I realized was that from the startups that I've been observing and following closely, from the kind of things that I've been listening to, um, the kind of like, um, people I've been listening to, and also how the design workflow is even changing where I work, Monzo, I've realized that designers are contributing to the codebase more. Designers are now shipping products more. Like at Monzo, for example, designers are actually contributing to the codebase. And why is this possible? Simply because of AI. Because now you don't necessarily need to know how to code. As long as you can express your thoughts and what you want to achieve in simple English, you can actually convert that, um, and AI can write the code for you. You can test it to see if it works, and then you can ship it and then collaborate with an engineer to make sure that that gets live.
Now, what is happening in startups now, that companies that are starting today is that they are no longer looking for designers that come with, like, the old skill set of being a designer. I'm calling it old skill set now because the whole process of, you know, going from following the design process, you know, the design thinking process of going from empathize to ideate to prototyping to testing, and then, you know, all of that is changing right now. Startups are moving really, really fast, right? And everybody in a startup is literally contributing to the codebase in some manner. Like, right, an example that I can give is Granola. Granola is a note-taking app that helps you take meeting notes with AI. At Granola, when customers report a bug or a support issue, once it's reported, the person that is responsible for customer support can actually fix that bug right there. If it's not something that is like huge, right? They don't have any kind of coding experience. They're not even designers. They're not engineers. They're a customer support operative, right? But they can see what the customer is complaining about, see that it is a bug, and then use AI to ship that bug into production. This is what is happening at startups, right? A lot of startups are now having the process of building the product democratized such that they can move really, really, really, really crazy fast. But then again, this could be chaotic because, you know, you don't want a case where everybody is empowered to contribute to the codebase, right? But when you are a startup, the most important thing to you is speed of execution. That's the most important thing. You just want to move really, really fast. I know that we speak about it a lot and says, oh, designers, you know, you have to do research, you have to do all of this. Everything is important. Like, it's really important to do research, understand the problem you are trying to solve. But the best way to really understand if you're solving the right problem is if you are able to get the product in the hands of customers and you get feedback from them. And the way to get your product in the hands of customers is if you have a working product, something that actually works. So the startup's bias for speed is execution, which makes them want people that have high agency and then can do more than their actual role.
And again, like, if you've been watching this channel from time to time, you see how much I've spoken about the importance of being a generalist. That is a designer that really enjoys doing one thing that can do it really well. So they go deep in that area, but then they can spread themselves across other areas as well. So it's not just them saying that, oh, I'm a designer, therefore I can't do this, therefore I won't do this, therefore I won't do this, right? A generalist is a designer that has multiple skills, and then they can bring them together or call on any skills when is when it is required.
Now, let me go back to this post. When I made that post, the comment I got, like, it was a lot of comments, about 95 comments. I, I haven't gotten those kind of comments on LinkedIn before, honestly. Um, but the comments I got were centered around a couple of things, a couple of points that designers were making. One of the points is that I remember really well is that somebody told me that, and the reason why designers are overworked and depressed. Um, uh, another person was like, "Oh, but but but the role of a designer is that they should actually solve problems and, um, identify problems and solve them. Like, designers don't need to code." And again, addressing those questions, it brings us back to the scenario of the startup. When we speak about, like, designers as problem solvers, I think sometimes we overestimate the role of designers in a company, honestly. Let's be honest here. As a designer, one of the most important things that you should do is to be able to identify the problem, help the team understand the problem, and identify the best and most delightful solution to that problem. But you're not the only person that is responsible for understanding the problem. In fact, in a startup, the founder or the people that initially conceptualize the idea of that startup are most responsible for understanding the problem. As a designer, you get into the startup, and then you start understanding the users, and then you start getting familiar with the kind of problems that the users face. But the founders are still the ones that are most responsible for understanding the problem. And in a company that is a really, really good company, a company that is aspiring to do great things and build great products, everybody's equally responsible for making sure that they are solving the right problem every time. It is not just a designer because a lot of times designers say, is, oh, I'm responsible for, you know, I should be able to understand the problem and solve it. Fine, and giving you should be able to do that, but you're not the only person in the organization that is, um, that has that responsibility. Every other person has that responsibility. The product manager that you're working with has that responsibility. The engineers that you're working with have that responsibility as well. The only difference between you as a designer and other people that are that should be as obsessed about the problem as you are is that you need to identify ways to solve that problem delightfully, right? You need to identify ways to solve the problem in a way that the user remembers the process of getting that problem solved whenever they use your product. Of course, there are like other things as well, like first of all, even uncovering it and say, okay, this is the right problem to solve. You need to be able to bring your team on the journey of identifying the problem as well. But when solving the problem, you need to be able to solve it delightfully. But if you are bias, if you are biasing for speed and you want to move really, really fast, one of the best things that you can do for your team is to be able to get them something that actually works, a working prototype that people can test, something that people can feel. And the way you can achieve that is with code. And now AI makes that so, so easy because AI can help you write code and help you bring your ideas to life.
A lot of people are going to say, "Oh, but AI is is is going to make mistakes. AI is not really that great yet." I think people are sleeping on on what's happening. I think, yeah, I think people are actually sleeping on the kind of change that's been happening in technology. And it's crazy. And the only reason why people don't understand how much change is happening and how much technological leap we are making is because you're not using it every day. That's the only reason. If you're using these things every day, you're going to understand that the problem that you had that you couldn't solve three months ago, you can solve them today. And the problem that you're having right now will probably be solved in three months. So what happens when AI is able to do 90% of what you claim that you you should be doing as a designer? What happens? Have you thought about that? Which is what brings me back to that question. So when a startup is hiring, they want to understand that this designer can raise the floor of what is possible. That's what that's what's more most important to them. They want to make sure that the person that they are bringing in isn't just going to come in and be like the traditional designer and we spend months, you know, designing in Figma and then at the end of the day end up, um, showing static screens when there's another designer out there that is already using AI to supercharge their workflow, that's already using AI to bring their ideas to life, that can quickly show the founders, oh, this is the idea that thinking about, this is how it works. Can we test it with customers really quickly? Right? So, when a startup is hiring, they are going to bias for somebody that can get them that speed. And that was exactly what I meant in that post.
Just a couple of days ago, I saw a post from the CEO of Figma. He said that design is the new code. And that post could mean different things, right? It could either mean that code is solved by AI because, you know, code is just, um, mathematics basically, and code is is a lot of pattern, you know, you could generate code the same way you generate text, basically. So code is solved by AI. But the next hardest thing to solve by AI is design. And I agree with that. Design is so hard because design is it intuition. Design is a feeling. Design, design is how it looks and how it works. Design is subjective. You know, it is how it makes people feel. And sometimes AI doesn't get that just yet. Right? So when he said design is the new code, people struggled to learn how to code. Now code is so easy that people are churning out code so easily, but the design looks. So designers have a lot more power now. But to what, what value is that power if you just box yourself by calling yourself a designer that can actually leverage that code that is now really fast and easy to generate with AI to supercharge your workflow? The fact that it is so easy for designers to really bring their ideas to life is something that I never thought could happen in in my lifetime, and it's happening right now. And the emotional reaction to it that I'm getting from designers is that designers are actually scared. I think designers are actually scared of what is coming. Um, a lot of things that I hear is like, you know, I'm scared of this thing taking my job. I don't hear it, but from the comments and the things that I see, I think there's that concern around, oh, this thing, I'm scared of it taking my job. But instead of admitting that and trying to understand how to make sure that you are the person that has that power in their hands by using AI to supercharge your workflow, you, I'm trying to frame this properly. I'm trying to frame this properly. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have this tool. AI is a tool. You need to make sure that you are using it to supercharge your workflow. You need to make sure that you're using it to become a 10x better designer. That is the only way that somebody else won't replace you. This, the saying is cheesy, and I've been hearing it all the time that, you know, AI is not going to replace you, but somebody that uses AI is going to be the one to replace you. I've had it so many times, but it is so true as well because AI is not going to just keep working on by itself. It still needs somebody that is going to handle it and use it. Right? So, what, what is happening now, and what I'm seeing from, like, all of the designers that I'm interacting with is that the designers that have been really, really good before are now adding AI to what they already do, and they are creating amazing things because we already have a eye for design. We already have an eye for design. We already know what good looks like. So when we prompt AI to generate code and create something, when we see it, we know that it can be better, and we know that this is what we can tell it to this, and we know that this is what we can change to make it better. That is the strength that we have as designers. That is the reason why somebody that isn't a designer, somebody that is is a founder or a CEO or a product manager can write all the prompts in the world, but they still won't create a product that looks good because they don't have that eye. But you as a designer that you have that eye, you don't want to step into that new power of being able to build your ideas.
I guess, you know, I've been talking for a while now, and the reason why I'm just making this video is that designers do not need to be so emotional. We do not need to be so scared about what is coming. We need to embrace it. We need to make sure that every day you're using these tools. Every day you're thinking about new ways that you can incorporate these tools into your workflow. The simple thing I did the very, very first time I sat down to explore coding with AI. I think that was January last year, 2005. I just had like four Saturdays, three hours blocked on my calendar for one month to make sure I build like two or three tools with AI. One of the tools that I build, I still use it every day today on my computer. It helps me block my tabs because I normally have a lot of tabs open and I don't remember to close them. So when the tabs gets a lot, I get confused and I don't know what to do next. But this tool just helps me manage my tabs. So I built a Chrome extension. I do not know how to code. I've learned how to code four times and I've failed on all four occasions. But now I can have ideas and I can build those ideas, and those ideas can come to life. And that is what I'm imploring as well. You shouldn't be scared about, you know, the future. You don't be scared about the inevitable. Instead, find ways to take advantage of it. Find ways to be on the forefront. If there's any social media platform that you should be using, it should be X. And make sure that you create your algorithm to show you what is happening in AI and what people are doing, what people are building, so that you can see where the opportunities are and you can see where things are happening, where things are going. I think that'll be all for this video.