Hi Friends! I’m excited to share this week’s “Designing Near Future” edition with you. Welcome to the 14 new members that joined last week.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s in store today

⭐ 1 Shift: The UX Designer of Today and Tomorrow

⚡ 1 Tip: Getting Promoted As A Designer At Work

💊 3 Resources: Secret Creative Resources That Pros Use

Reading time: 4 minutes

⭐ Shift

The UX Designer of Today and Tomorrow

As we dive into 2024, the UX job market presents a fascinating paradox. Bear with me here. On one hand, the rise of AI and market saturation prompts concerns about the future of UX roles. Massive amount of tech layoff news helps make this much louder than it actually is. On the other hand, specialized sectors and industries unveil burgeoning opportunities for UX professionals. If you are a UXer you would enjoy today’s newsletter. Here's an overview of the market based on the latest stats and trends that I am seeing:

1. AI and UX: What is the designer of the future?

Despite fears that AI might displace (if not replace) UX roles, the current situation suggests a complementary relationship (a situationship?). The World Economic Forum forecasts that AI will create 92 million new digital jobs by 2030, including design and UX. AI tools like Miro and Dovetail are are already enhancing UX processes, from user research to content design, yet the inherently human-centric nature of UX design—rooted in emotional intelligence and empathy—means that even in the age of AI we would still need skilled user experience designers​​​​.

But by 2030, the picture might look completely different. Sequoia predicts the outputs from AI will surpass the work of human designers. (Side note: Their take does not have much research, it’s more of a perspective and if I be honest, it is already looking a bit dated.) To conclude how designers will live in a world with AI, I want to refer to this State of UX report 2024 where one of the headlines says.

2. Are UX designers still in demand?

32,000+ tech employees have been laid off in 2024 so far and a lot of them are product people. It’s hard to track how many UXers were impacted. That being said, the layoffs themselves are on a downtrend (meaning they are slowing down, very likely because they have ran out of people to let go.)

The role of a UXer is changing though. The standardization of UI (aka design systems) and the commoditization of design tasks pose real challenges, yet open avenues for UX professionals to tackle more complex, nuanced, and context-specific problems​​. Isn’t this what we all wanted? As design practices automate, the focus shifts towards addressing the intricacies of systems, brand expressiveness, and user journeys prioritizing accessibility and inclusion. Add a layer of spatial computing, human-machine interfaces, etc. more doors open up for the UXers of today. This evolution, in my opinion, reflects a deeper engagement with the craft, moving beyond componentry to impact the full digital ecosystem​​. Sorry button designers.. 🙂 

Today, While the overall growth of UX jobs in the tech sector has decelerated, emerging opportunities in finance, medical tech, government, and beyond are noteworthy​​. The finance industry's digital transformation, the booming digital healthcare market, and government digitalization initiatives are driving the demand for skilled UX designers. In fact, 24% of the companies surveyed for the future of jobs 2023 report consider it a core skill for their workers.

3. Are Freelancers winning?

In a recent study by Upwork, it was found that Freelancers contributed $1.27 trillion to the U.S. economy in annual earnings in 2023. This was a 78% increase from the estimated $715 billion to the economy in 2014. In the same research when asked about the future, 85% of freelancers say the best days for freelancing are ahead in 2024. I am also seeing a lot of my designer friends who have left big tech are now getting into solopreneur ship. These designers are finding immense success as they are now offering services to well funded startups and sometimes to the same companies that they left - Some making multiple six figures a year.
More have turned to freelance post layoffs and ironically prefer that as a more secure future.

Where are we headed?

The UX job market in 2024 is not contracting; rather, it's diversifying. I'm intrigued by how these changes will shape the UX profession, especially the integration of AI and the expansion into non-traditional sectors. However, most of my friends want to work in big tech. I suspect, it’s the sleeping pods and free laundry. 😂

For those wanting to work in tech I have a tip - Look for signals like the rehiring of recruiters as a heads up. When people in charge of hiring are being hired back, you can tell that these companies are preparing for growth and it’ll very likely start with product.

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⚡ Tip

Getting promoted as a designer at work

Today’s design tip comes from Lily Konings, who is a Senior Design Manager at DoorDash with previous roles at Meta, AngelList, and IBM Watson. In this video podcast, she shares her strategy for standing out and getting oneself noticed at work. Here are 5 actionable ideas that stood out from the conversation.

1. Build a Strong Personal Brand: Establish a recognizable personal brand within your company. Make sure people know who you are, what you work on, and what you excel at. Lily emphasizes, "When your name comes up, people should know who you are, what you work on, and what you're really good at."

2. Network and Build Relationships: Focus on building relationships rather than traditional networking. Whether you're introverted or extroverted, make connections through one-on-ones and understand the importance of networking within your company.

3. Seek Mentorship and Offer Mentorship: Engage in mentorship both as a mentee and a mentor. This helps in building your brand and understanding different perspectives within the industry. Lily shares, "Continue to build relationships and even collect points of view that differ from yours to kind of make yourself just a better leader."

4. Communicate Your Aspirations: Don't wait for leadership to notice you. Be proactive in communicating aspirations for promotion. Lily suggests, "Be very proactive and tell them what your goals are."

5. Demonstrate Your Value: Beyond just doing your job well, show how you add value to the team and the company. Lily highlights, "Be someone that people look up to and you want to be pretty obvious about what you're good at."

Happy Designing!

💊 Resources

3 links to boost your creativity.

• 101 design rules by Brian Collins, Founder of Collins

• Hairkei is fun little tool to generate patterns, gradients, assets, etc. for branding

• I Asked Solopreneurs For Business Advice! is a solid video I found on youtube that is a collection of mini interviews of solo founders doing a variety of businesses