Designer Unicorn: Myth or Reality?

Alyona Collard
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min read

The first time I came across the term “Designer Unicorn” or “Front-End Unicorn” was a couple of years ago when I was researching my options for a creative career in tech industry. The name intrigued me. It sounds so unexpected and so cool, that I want to be one. Sign me up! How do I become a Unicorn? Who is that mystical creature in the tech world anyways?

In the most general terms, Unicorns of the tech industry are people who can design and code. Simple, right? Not really. After some research I found out that there has been a lot of discussion and opinions on the topic. Besides different opinions about legitimacy of unicorns and the need for such professionals, there is not even an agreement on the definition of the term. Turns out there are true Unicorns out there — people who are extremely talented and skilled, and are experts in many different things (UX, Design and Development to be specific), there are Generalists or Pseudo Unicorns — people who are really good at one thing and not so much at other things, but they do have a general knowledge and experience in all areas, so called jacks of all trades, there are Hybrids — who can design and code, but no UX, and so on. Like web design with its million words to describe one thing was not complicated enough already. The question remains, are Unicorns real? Is it possible to hire someone or be someone who can design company’s brand, their website and app with great UX, and code his or her own work in HTML/CSS and Java Script?

General opinion is yes, you can, but it is so rare and so hard to achieve, that your chances of meeting a flying horse with a horn on its head are much higher than meeting a person like that in a professional world of UX and web design. As David Cole says in his article The Myth of The Myth of The Unicorn Designer: “designers who excel at many skills are so rare that they might as well be mythical. The argument goes that designers must pick between being great at one thing or mediocre at many things.” As a future web designer/ UI/UX designer, Front End Developer — I still can’t figure out what to call myself, these two options make me sad. Is it really all I have to choose from and to aspire to?

This idea seems very limiting. It sounds to me that we started to compare people with the technology we use: we only have two options to choose from: Apple or Windows, Mac or PC, IOS or Android, a Unicorn or a mere web designer. I don’t think we can package human potential in a box, and then say that you either fit in it or you don’t and if you don’t that means you are not great. I think it is great when we find something we love to do, and we excel at it, and we can use these skills to help others and make a living for ourselves. With hard work and a little bit of faith everything is possible. Why do we always try to separate people into geniuses/ gifted/ talented and then “the rest of us”? Somehow it seems to me that by calling someone a Unicorn we are putting them on a pedestal, in a category of somehow special and rare, and we say this is not for everyone. Well, it is for everyone, or at least it can be, if that what you want to do. Am I saying that everyone should try to become a Design Unicorn? No. I am saying that everyone has a potential to be one. What’s more important is that we are all different with unique set of skills, talents and experiences and there is room for everyone. I think the whole idea of dividing people into categories comes out of fear. We fear that the best opportunities and the best work is only reserved for the best people — most talented and somehow special. We can all grow and learn new things, we can all evolve and develop and progress in our abilities and there is enough work for everyone.

Web design is a creative world, and I believe there is no limit to what can be created. So how about we stop stressing out about the Unicorns and start focusing on our own skills and things we want to learn and do and do something amazing with it. Leave unicorns for myths and fairy-tales. In the real world there are people who work hard and do a great job at whatever they put their minds to. Get to work, people.

Alyona Collard is a student in the Digital Media program at Utah Valley University, Orem Utah, studying Interaction & Design. The following article relates to the DGM2250 Course and representative of the skills learned.

Alyona Collard

UI/UX Design Portfolio

Alyona Collard

Alyona Collard

UI/UX Design Portfolio

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