Transitioning as a principal designer

Principal designers navigate unconventional career paths as they grow. What can we learn from these messy paths to navigate transitions?

Sometimes career transitions are more about knowing where to wander, what to become, and how to live — Photo by Joel Vodell on Unsplash

This is my contribution to the Designed Transitions publication, featuring perspectives on transitions, design, leadership, careers, and coaching. Big thanks to my friend, Jason Mesut, for starting this initiative and letting me share.

My 20 year career has taken me from software development to UX, and now into areas like strategic / service / systemic design though they’re still a bit fuzzy to me. I’ve line-managed others but felt it wasn’t my calling, so I chose to be an individual contributor (IC), spending more time tackling messy problems. Some organisations support IC role tracks, and I’m currently a senior principal designer on my organisation’s IC track.

What is a principal designer?

The principal designer role means different things depending on who you ask. Often, it’s a role for a higher-level of seniority, experience, expertise, and responsibility where most of the work is non-managerial. It can be applied to specialists as well as generalists. I’ve also seen founders of small design companies call themselves principals.

Some principals take on line-management responsibilities, though it’s uncommon to have…