I’m sure that there are many interesting careers that visual and graphic designer can lead. They solve problems too. But fundamentally visual problems are different from or are simply subsets of product ones. The problem in the product design industry is that there are still a considerable number of designers who confuse the GUI and the visuals with the product itself. The designer title doesn’t mean “visual artist”. Just look around, more and more products integral to people’s lives don’t have much visual UI.

My point is that in the context of product design (in hindsight I should’ve made that context clearer), learning a bit of code is the right thing to do. Again the ask here is not that we all become engineers.

I agree that studying the scientific method and evidenced-based research will teach one how to problem solve. However, in the context of building technology products to solve real world problems, the effect of studying chemistry / math / physics is simply incomparable to studying the actual technologies powering these products. Only after mastering both the problem space and the technology horizon, can a product team truly uncover innovative solutions. As product designers, we should actively lead that process, rather than being laggards.

At the very least, doing so creates empathy for your engineering team, because you’ll know the kind of challenges they face when executing your design. As you have the freedom to ask to me stop telling people to learn to code, I also have the freedom to continue. :)