Forgetting how the other half designs

Working within a small product design team in a growth-stage startup, it’s easy to forget how other designers are designing.

Some designers don’t get to choose their tools

A designer at an event tonight told me that Adobe’s XD (née Comet) is going to change the industry.

My team is about to cancel our Typekit account and in doing so sever our final tie to Adobe. Not long ago I used Photoshop and Illustrator every day, but to me right now Adobe XD seems like the final breath of a slain goliath.

But designers everywhere still depend on Adobe. Their companies haven’t transitioned to Sketch. They haven’t even heard of Figma. They haven’t been able to try every new prototyping tool the moment it was posted to Product Hunt.

Until recently I didn’t have a choice but to use a PC at work. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve forgotten what that’s like.

Some designers are stuck with shitty workflows

One panellist at this event, Clementine Brown, said she wants to see more agile and less waterfall.

I’d forgotten what it’s like to work at an agency; to finally get client sign-off on my flat design mockups and bundling up my PSDs to pass off to the development team.

Some designers aren’t allowed to talk to customers. Some designers don’t sit side-by-side with engineers and product managers.

Some designers wait months to see their work live. Some designers spend most of their time working on spec and concepts that will never see the light of day.

Designers with shitty tools and shitty workflows still do good design

I take it for granted that I get to use whatever tools work best for me, and that my team is agile, collaborative, flexible and cross-discipline. And online, I feel a part of a community of designers who are more-or-less in the same position as I am.

Tonight I was reminded that there are designers who are producing amazing work, no matter what tools or support they have. And even the best tools can’t make a shit designer good.