Designers and thoughts on 2025

It’s 2025, and the landscape for product designers has shifted.

About a decade ago, when I moved into this field from web design and graphic design, things were still growing and taking shape. It was the first role—outside of my attempts at engineering—where I saw a true chance to define and build great software and bring data and strategic thinking to my work. Prior to that I’d dabbled in product design, but mostly working around my other roles.

All I wanted was to build awesome software and learn to tinker around and figure out the intricacies of how it all connects together—and actually helps people. Moving into product design was the ultimate dream job.

The years since have been a fantastic whirlwind of learning. And there is so much to learn.

It’s felt wonderful and overwhelming at the same time, and most of the journey has involved having a growing sense of inadequacy and intimidation mixeds with amazement and joy.

Much of the first few years (and if we’re being honest every year since) has required a ton of Googling of terms. You don’t want to know how many times I looked up the definition of what it means to be a product designer, how that’s different than being a UI/UX designer, and where UX research fits in, along with all the rest.

Gradually, slowly, painfully, I started to learn the ropes. Many kind people lent a helping hand and gave me a chance, showed me the way, helped me understand and learn the tools. At one point a fellow designer tactfully but strongly encouarged that I pick up Figma. I finally caved and gave up using Illustrator for product design. That’s slightly embarassing looking back.

And, to prove that there’s always more to learn, another fellow designer recently challenged me to learn auto layout—I know—and the result has been a marked improvement in my design process.

So learn the tools I did. Of course, my biggest pet peeve is that Figma isn’t product design, but that’s a post for another day.

Halfway into my product design journey I met a founder who rocked my world. He shared about the things a company truly cares about. A startup—at least in this case—wants to get more people into the door (acquistion), wants to convert them to paying users (activation), and then wants to keep them around as long as possible (retention).

Companies grow through acquistion, conversion, and retention. Those are the foundational pillars that keep startups afloat. Designers have be able to think through all those steps and figure out how the features they’re creating move the right metrics.

It’s not that I didn’t know that at a basic level. I knew that money and metrics and design all had to tie together. But I felt that I didn’t need to absorb that deeply, didn’t need to embed it into my dna. Design was my field, and business was for someone else. I almost held it like a badge of honor. But then I realized I was wrong.

And so I shifted my thinking. Instead of purely focusing on the craft, the pixels, the user flows, I started to connect how that fits in with what the company leadership needs. And that opened the doors to greater opportunities. Suddenly I had the chance to speak the language of founders, work alongside them, and move designs forward towars the goals that mattered to the company.

Does that mean I’m a designer who can rest on my laurels and just say I’ve figured it out? On the contrary. It feels like there’s more to learn than what I have learned already. And that’s exciting, enticing, pushes me forward.

There’s still so much to figure, but through the last decade I gained a starting point and have pursued it since. Connecting the thing that must be designed to the point of why it’s being desinged is a critical step in the journey.

But let’s get real for a moment. AI has lumbered in like a massive gorilla, tossing everything aside and shaking up all preconceived notions about what it meant to do anything in tech.

I’ve been privileged enough to follow along with it, so I’m caught up on the capabilities with AI and how they relate to my job, and I’m finding ways to incorporate it. But this massive change has everyone—myself included—wondering what’s next.

So I’m taking things proactively into my own hands. I’m figuring it out. I don’t want to be replaced by an LLM, but rather to use the new tools to do great work.

If you’re involved in design, following along this shift, I’d love to hear from you. I’d love to hear how others are diving into this journey and staying afloat.