A brief history of the evolution of Product Design in India.
A memoir of a designer - not an authorised history.
Design jobs in the digital product realm in India have evolved dramatically over the years. This is a personal observation/opinion on how the Design function in India has evolved over the last two decades in the Digital Product Space.
In the early 2000s, developers often took the lead in design, as only a few trained designers from top institutes were interested in interface design in its infancy. Formal graduates in design were drawn to more traditional and mature roles in design, leaving interface design to others. This gap of opportunity was filled by frontend developers with an appreciation for design, supported by multimedia artists who came out of institutes that sprouted up during this time. they were mostly trained in visual design software training rather than holistic design education.
Fast forward to the early 2010s, and we saw a shift. Design graduates began moving into digital design, lured by attractive salaries, and the field was gaining better recognition. Concepts like ‘design thinking’ were getting the limelight as many tech folks from the West started adopting it, and companies like Flipkart were shining a spotlight on the value of good design in technology firms. This pretty much mirrors the state of AI in India today. Everyone knows it’s important, but everyone is still figuring out whom to give the job to. Nevertheless, it attracted formally educated designers with deep understanding.
By the late 2010s, design had become a highly attractive career choice for many. The demand for designers surged, outpacing the supply of formal design graduates. This, coupled with low entry barriers and the availability of online courses, drew many into the field. People embraced design as a career out of a love for creative expression, seeing it as a way to escape their previous job confines.
Then came COVID-19. Design emerged as a lifeline for many, offering attractive salaries and remote work opportunities. This flexibility opened doors for those on long career breaks and those who had left jobs to support their partners in different cities.
In the post-COVID era, the landscape changed again. Gen Z joined the workforce, many had their first jobs remotely during the lockdown time. But as remote work began to disappear, and many lost their jobs as companies started downsizing.
Now, more people are job hunting, and there are openings, yet companies struggle to find good designers. The bigger issue seems to be employability, than unemployment.
In the midst of all this, the design field also saw an influx of influencers and counter-influencers shaping diverse opinions on what design should be. This led to a myriad of perspectives and schools of thought, making it challenging to pin down a single definition of design.
What I left unsaid is how each of these phases has uniquely shaped today’s design landscape, both for better and for worse.
Cheers,
Dhaneesh Jameson.
