Design is not simply a skill or discipline—it’s a way of working. In this article, we delve into how design has evolved over the years, how it has become a distinguishing factor in product development, and why individuals outside the design field deserve a place at the decision-making table.
For me, design isn’t just something I do—it’s who I am. It’s how I perceive the world, the language through which I communicate ideas, and the method I use to address challenges. I know many of my colleagues, as well as designers across the industry, feel the same way. But despite how deeply we may identify with being designers, design itself is not something that belongs to us alone. In fact, design is not owned by anyone. It’s a powerful tool, a mindset, and a way of working that should be accessible to all.
Over the years, as I’ve worked as a Designer Advocate, I’ve witnessed firsthand how hundreds of teams and thousands of individuals approach the task of designing and building products. What I’ve learned is that no matter how skilled we become as designers, we will always hit a point where we’re limited in what we can accomplish alone. When teams embrace design knowledge collectively, they not only create exceptional user experiences but also improve their processes and systems.
Looking ahead, the future of design lies beyond individual designers or isolated departments. When design becomes a shared practice that spans an entire organization, remarkable work can be achieved on a much larger scale. But to understand what this future looks like, we need to take a step back and consider how design has evolved over time.
Design Through the Decades
At its essence, design is about solving problems. As technology advances, design adapts, offering new ways to tackle the challenges each new development brings. Design is what enables us to shape technology into user-friendly formats and experiences, turning prototypes into market-ready products.
Take, for example, Sony’s development of the Walkman in 1979. The company had the technology to create a portable stereo that could deliver high-quality audio through cassette tapes. Using components from their Pressman tape recorder, Sony’s engineers managed to create a lightweight, portable device by reducing its size, eliminating the recording feature, and enhancing the sound. This marked the birth of what would become the iconic Walkman, a product that helped define the gadget culture of the ’90s.
But the Walkman wasn’t merely a triumph of engineering—it was the design that helped it become a cultural icon. Its compact and lightweight form was a result of great engineering, but its intuitive interface, developed through extensive user testing, was what made it accessible to a wide audience. This ease of use was key to its broad adoption.
Kozo Ohsone, the then-general manager of Sony’s tape recorder division, was instrumental in guiding the design of the Walkman. He field-tested early prototypes during business trips and gathered user-centric insights that influenced improvements in portability and usability. The research also led to innovative features like dual headphone jacks for sharing music and a “hotline” button that allowed users to converse while listening.
When the original Walkman was released, one of its standout features was its distinctive blue and silver color scheme, accented with the orange hotline button. In a market where most electronics were monochrome shades of black, silver, or white, the Walkman’s bold color choices helped set it apart and made it instantly recognizable. The principles of modern design—interface design, accessibility, and user-centered research—were all at play here, contributing to its success.
The Rise of Interface Design
By the mid-2000s, the focus of design had shifted from hardware to software. While Apple’s hardware—such as the MacBook, iPod, and iPhone—demonstrated groundbreaking engineering, the software powering these devices, with its user-friendly interfaces, haptic feedback, and touch-screen innovations, was equally crucial in making these devices must-haves. The introduction of the App Store catalyzed the growth of a new economy based on mobile software, sparking a race to create innovative, well-designed user experiences.
As Web 2.0 emerged and mobile apps grew in prominence, a shift occurred across the industry. Software became the main focus, and the design of digital interfaces advanced significantly, enabling users to navigate increasingly complex digital environments. No longer were technology and user interaction confined to physical constraints; instead, a new, more dynamic paradigm for interface design took shape.
Digital-Native Interface Design
Initially, design was influenced by physical interfaces through skeuomorphism, where digital elements mimicked physical counterparts—buttons, sliders, and scroll wheels were designed to replicate the gadgets people were already familiar with. This made it easier for users to interact with digital interfaces, reducing the learning curve.
As time progressed, these principles evolved into systems like Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design. This transition further solidified the relationship between design and technology, allowing interface design to thrive in the software space.
In tandem with this shift, the concept of design thinking gained traction. Though it had been around for decades, its application grew significantly in the mid-to-late 2010s as software companies looked to leverage this approach to better meet user needs. Startups across a wide range of industries—food delivery, document storage, and beyond—began to see design as a company-wide priority.
Design as a Differentiator
As design thinking became more widely adopted, it reflected a broader shift in the industry: technology alone is no longer what sets products apart. Today, design has become the key differentiator.
Cloud infrastructure, offered by companies like Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, enabled these companies to scale rapidly, becoming global tech giants. However, these companies soon realized that productizing their infrastructure—turning their core services into products like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure—was more profitable. The commodification of these technologies allowed other companies to scale with ease.
This pattern of creating proprietary technology only to later commoditize it has spurred significant productivity growth, but it no longer guarantees a sustainable competitive edge. As technology becomes more widely accessible, companies must look to new methods of differentiation, and design is at the forefront of this new frontier.
Today, design extends far beyond user interfaces. User experience, design systems, and design thinking are all complemented by computational design—the use of data, algorithms, and AI to design products at a massive scale. These methods are transforming technology into products that are not just functional but also user-centric. However, many organizations have yet to fully realize the scope of design’s potential across all business areas.
Meeting Evolving User Expectations
The digital landscape today is vastly more complex than ever before. Super apps like LINE, Grab, and WeChat offer everything from ride-hailing to e-commerce within a single platform. Users expect seamless, high-quality experiences across multiple devices and platforms, with accessible design and extensive customization options. These rising expectations, coupled with increasingly complex digital environments, make designing competitive products more challenging than it has ever been.
As a result, design must be applied in a more systematic way than in the past. Design systems have become the default approach, and design is now subjected to rigorous validation processes similar to those used by engineering teams. Scalability, consistency, and accessibility are all verified through extensive checks, while functionality is tested using real-world data across different languages and scenarios.
Additionally, the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney has prompted teams to rethink their workflows and product designs. Designers now have to adapt to new technologies, expanding their skills to meet the evolving demands of the digital landscape.
Design Literacy for All
“Tech literacy”—the ability to understand and use technology—is already an essential skill for top talent. To foster real innovation, organizations must go further and combine tech literacy with design literacy—the understanding and application of design principles. Just as coding skills are no longer confined to engineers, the next generation of design practitioners will come from all corners of an organization.
When companies invest in promoting design literacy beyond the traditional design team—through transparent processes, inclusive feedback mechanisms, and shared design values—they don’t just create better products. They build competitive advantages that are difficult to replicate.
Through my experiences as a Designer Advocate, I’ve observed that organizations which embrace design as a fundamental part of their culture, rather than as a trend or a box to check, are the ones that thrive. It’s the difference between an organization that simply adopts design and one that integrates design into its very DNA. When design is embraced in more areas of an organization, the result is better products and, ultimately, better outcomes.
Design Is for Everyone
While design has come a long way in recent decades, becoming integral to business and bringing terms like user experience (UX) and design thinking into everyday conversation, it remains largely confined to those who identify as professional designers. However, those who truly understand the value of design know that its widespread adoption leads to greater innovation and progress. As more people apply design principles in their work, they push the boundaries of what’s possible in new and exciting ways.
To prepare for the next phase of design, we need to empower a new generation of non-designers to see design as a tool, not just a title. Design is much more than a role—it’s a culture, a process, and a medium. To fully leverage design within any organization, it must become something that everyone owns and understands.