Hi, designer (and their manager),
In a previous newsletter, I started discussing the dangers of jumping straight into Figma without understanding the problem. But even when designers ask the right questions, there's another challenge: many workplaces still expect them to make designs.
I've been there. Earlier in my career, I thought doing great design work meant creating beautiful, polished experiences. When clients or teams gave feedback, I executed. If they asked for a button change, I changed the button. If they wanted another round of tweaks, I did the tweaks. It was efficient. It was transactional. And honestly? It was exhausting.
I didn't realize it then, but I worked for my clients, not with them. I put them on a pedestal and fell into the trap of serving the customer, putting myself below them. That happened naturally out of the business relationship when they hired me as a freelancer. I felt like I had to prove my worth constantly. There's a big difference between collaborating and fulfilling orders.
The Problem With Only Delivering
When designers stay in execution mode, three things happen:
- We get stuck in an endless loop of revisions over things that might not matter.
- We lose the opportunity to shape what gets built.
- We do not develop our skills and knowledge over time, which is a long-term danger to our careers.
I've seen it in startups, agencies, and big companies: Designers present their work only to get vague feedback that sends them back into Figma. When designs lack context, feedback is often just opinion. When feedback is just opinion, design critiques turn into subjective debates instead of meaningful conversations.
The problem isn't that designers aren't great at their craft. Too often, we're not set up to contribute beyond UI execution.
And we're not alone in feeling this way. Over 26% of designers cite the lack of a strategic design approach as a top frustration. One in five designers feel their role is reduced to "making things pretty," and nearly the same number feel they could contribute more if given the chance. When you're stuck in execution-only mode, it's easy to think that your potential is being wasted. (Honestly, I expected those numbers to be even higher.)
But it's not just about feeling unfulfilled. Designers who stay in execution roles too long risk hitting a growth ceiling. Surveys show that many designers leave jobs because they feel stuck. 13.8% quit due to lack of growth, and another 10.3% because they saw no career progression. Designers can struggle to prove their value to new employers without developing problem-solving and strategic skills. Hiring managers seek more than technical execution; they want designers who can think critically and contribute to business goals.
If you're not evolving beyond execution, you may find it harder to land new roles.
Making as a Way of Thinking
Don't get me wrong, I love making, playing, and building. There's a lot to be said for developing instinct through doing. The philosopher Heinrich von Kleist wrote "Über die allmähliche Verfertigung der Gedanken beim Reden", the gradual formation of thoughts through speaking.
The same applies to design: often, we only truly understand a problem by working through it. Sketching, prototyping, and iterating can reveal insights that strategy alone cannot. Good execution is what makes great ideas real.
For me, gathering information, like motivations, goals, risks, learning who the target audience is, and understanding how they tick, is all a means to an end: creating a space that allows for making as many ideas as possible. And doing this not just for the designer, but for the team. You want to encourage as many team members as possible to contribute to the project, the combination of that information and their individual backgrounds is magic to me.
Designers don't just make to explore ideas for themselves. They also create artifacts that help teams and stakeholders see possibilities more clearly. A quick sketch, a prototype, or even a simple diagram can shift a discussion from vague ideas to concrete decisions.
That said, execution without preparation and deeper thinking can lead to waste. I am striving to develop my skills through hands-on work, but I know that growth doesn't stop at execution. I make to explore, refine, and uncover better concepts.
Design is Collaboration
The most significant shift in my career was this: I stopped delivering and started facilitating.
Facilitation doesn't have to mean running workshops. It can be as simple as asking better questions in a kickoff call, reframing feedback sessions, or helping teammates connect the dots between business goals and user needs.
Instead of asking, What changes do you want? I started asking:
- What's the real problem here?
- What are we trying to learn?
- Who else needs to be in the room?
- How will we measure if this is working?
- What does this mean for the business?
Business impact matters. When I started connecting design decisions to business goals (customer retention, revenue, efficiency), it changed how my work was perceived. Instead of being a design executor, I became a partner in shaping outcomes.
When leadership isn't sure how to measure design, it often defaults to execution because that's the most visible output. The challenge is to reframe design's value in ways that connect to business goals. Whether that's reducing friction in a workflow, improving retention, or increasing efficiency.
I also realized that alignment happens before a single frame is designed. If you don't set the right context, you'll be stuck iterating on superficial details instead of solving the core problem.
Here's what changed when I stopped treating design as a service and started treating it as a collaboration:
- Fewer pointless revisions: The team understood why decisions were made.
- Less frame-drawing: Feedback was focused on solving the problem, not personal taste.
- More influence over product decisions: I wasn't just reacting to requests but shaping them.
Realize that you will rarely find colleagues or managers who challenge you to do these things. You are the design expert in the room, and it's up to you to drive this. As designers we have the opportunity and responsibility to challenge the status quo.
Questions to Challenge Yourself
- Are you just responding to feedback, or are you shaping the conversation?
- How do you solve the right problem before jumping into execution?
- What's stopping you from facilitating better collaboration?
- How do you handle situations where research and product discovery isn't prioritized?
- What's one thing you can change in your process this week to move beyond UI design work?
Think about your next design discussion. Instead of asking, "What do you want changed?" try asking, "What problem are we solving?" Shifting one conversation can change how your role is perceived.
Thanks to Abby and Jonathan for reading an early draft of this newsletter.
Until next time, Jens