Curiosity Tilled These Stats
Things you can learn after asking your Design Universe 8 questions and then summarizing and graphing the answers.
I’ve been a Designer since 2000, and over the decades, I have grown tons, explored paths I didn’t expect, been inspired by many, and continue to learn so much along the way. Whenever I’ve gained more knowledge on process or practice or purpose, especially when learned through a firehose — I will inevitably find myself reflecting on that knowledge. How does what I know now affect how I think and see the world? How do these discoveries affect how I feel about what I’m doing and what I want to do next?
That reflection yields insights topped with questions and a menagerie of outside opinions about Design, Design value, Design failings, and Design futures. I’m very self-aware of my own opinions, the main one being, “there are enough opinions out there.” When I do share, my goal is to pass on something I’ve learned or a process I put together or lists, and sometimes things I learned from asking people questions.
This May, I was talking with someone about meeting new people and how our feelings about work at that point in time affects and influences how we introduce ourselves. And thus how people frame us in their heads. After that conversation, my curiosity turned into a Google form I glued together so I could ask my network:
WHAT DESIGN ARE ALL THE DESIGNERS DOING?
- What has their career path looked like?
- Are they working in the same areas they started in?
- What worlds of Design have they explored?
- What kind of Design are they doing now?
Six months ago, I shared a survey of 8 questions with my LinkedIn Designer network, promising to share what I might find from the input. Life happened, and after many months of weighty challenges in both work and life realms, I found a window of calm where I could check the survey and actually do something with the results. I was excited to see more responses than expected. Twenty-five Designers answered, and the numbers in the answers are a nice representation of the Design spheres I’ve worked in.
This piece here is the summary report, which is plain and straightforward once you get past this intro. At some point in the future, I might follow up with more Qs or evolved reflections. But today, I just want to lay these summaries before you. You might see yourself reflected in the before, afters, and what-next of the responses, and some of the answers might validate your own evolving purpose and aspirations.
Or just some of the above. The answers might not reflect your whole wide world, but there are enough sparks of likeness that you begin to wonder the same about your network, where they started, where they’re going, and what they’re contemplating about their careers at this moment in time. And maybe you decide to send a survey to your network to satisfy your curiosity like I did.
I highly recommend the last bit.
Now, back to the survey and summary.
The eight original questions.
These are the original questions from the form. They’re revised slightly in the summaries and charts below.
- What kind(s) of Design are you awesome at?
- What kind(s) of Design do you want to be awesome at?
- What kind(s) of Design do you LOVE doing?
- How long have you been doing Design?
- What kind of Design did you do at the start of your career?
- What kind of Design are you doing now?
- What kind of Design do you want to do?
- What inspired you to become a Designer? Do you have a good Design origin story?
Note: if you want to see all of the original input, you can see all of the answers at the bottom of their respective question page on this site: bit.ly/whatdesigndoyoudo
Here are the summaries. I also made charts.
Q1. In what area of Design are you the most awesome?
The folks who answered the survey represent a diverse group of design leaders who are awesome in three key domains:
- Craft: Crafting delightful products and experiences
- Strategy: Untangling complex systems and shaping the future through thoughtful design
- Storytelling: Bringing brands to life and curating care for services, products, and experiences
Whether building interfaces, reimagining services, or crafting brands — the people who answered the survey are united by their drive to improve things through design.
From the responses, Visual and Brand Design represents the most significant portion of collective expertise contributed, followed by Design Strategy. Digital, Product, and UX show up as a smaller segment of expertise, which seems oddly low, until you consider the question was not “What is the specialization you’re currently practicing?”; the question was, “What area are you the most awesome?” This means someone may be a UX Designer who feels their most prominent skill is Visual and Brand — which is also where many of the Designers who answered the survey started.
Q2. In what area of Design would you like to be the most awesome?
The collective of creatives who answered the survey want to push boundaries and make a meaningful impact. The responses range from mastering tactical skills to leading transformative initiatives.
Our Designers aspire to excel in four key areas:
- Digital product craftsmanship and emerging tech
- Strategic leadership and complex problem-solving
- Visual storytelling across mediums
- Human-centered design with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.
These aspirations are a blend technical excellence robed with a genuine care for people, and whether creating seamless digital experiences, building design systems, championing vulnerable users, or expressing creativity through motion and visuals — there’s a shared desire to do meaningful work.
Some of the Designers who answered the survey want to shape how brands connect with people, paint stories across city walls, make government services more human, and create impactful products. Our Designers fuse pragmatic skills with bold vision. The responders want our work to matter — to champion equity, spark cultural shifts, and inspire people to care deeply. While some are living their Design dreams and others are plotting their next move, there’s an underlying drive to improve things, whether through screens, spaces, or society itself.
Q3. What Design do you LOVE doing?
The responses reveal the diverse ways these designers find their creative energy — whether it’s building robust design systems that empower teams, crafting compelling visual stories that captivate audiences, or solving complex human challenges that make a real difference in people’s lives.
What unites us is our drive to create with purpose, our love for both the strategic and creative aspects of design, and our desire to keep pushing boundaries while staying grounded in human needs. Some of us geek out on systems and operations, others live for those magical moments of visual storytelling, and many find joy in the perfect intersection of both.
Q4. How long have you been a practicing Designer?
The respondents represent three decades of design experience, from seasoned veterans with 20–30 years of expertise to mid-career innovators and fresh perspectives.
This range represents the continuous flow of design knowledge — from those who helped shape how Design is today to those who are reimagining its future. Each year of experience adds depth to our collective understanding of how design can solve problems and touch lives.
Whether just starting out or in the field for decades, every designer who answered the survey contributes to a rich tapestry of creative problem-solving and human-centered thinking.
Q5. What kind of Design did you do at the start of your career?
The survey responses reveal how Design careers typically begin with mastering individual craft before naturally progressing into leadership. Most respondents started with fundamental visual skills — creating brand identities and publications — before evolving into roles where they shape both design work and design teams.
When considering the answers to other questions, we can see the various paths Design took people. Some stayed specialists, mastering their craft in art direction or UX. Others became versatile generalists, embracing the fluid nature of design.
That fluidity and flexibility no doubt contributed to the success some of our respondents have seen, due to the advantages of being willing to grow beyond initial labels and explore the full spectrum of Design possibilities.
Q6. What kind of Design are you doing now?
From strategic leaders guiding organizational vision to hands-on creators crafting meaningful experiences, the responses show how design continues to evolve beyond traditional boundaries.
From leading teams as a CDO to solving complex problems as a product designer to building museum design departments from scratch — each role offers a unique way to make an impact. The beauty of these responses lies in their authenticity: while some embrace specific titles, others simply call themselves “designers,” showing that impact matters more than labels. This diversity illustrates how design has become fundamental to business, technology, culture, and social change.
Q7. What kind of Design do you want to do?
Design is a powerful force for positive change, from crafting delightful experiences and leading strategic initiatives to driving social impact and cultural shifts.
The practitioners who responded to the survey share a common desire to move beyond pixels and screens — solving complex problems and aligning teams to create meaningful impact. Through service design, creative direction, and hands-on creation, they strive to improve how people interact with the world.
Their responses span from practical expertise in digital products and brand architecture to ambitious visions of global murals and equitable solutions. Whether finding fulfillment in their current path or seeking new directions, each contributor shapes design’s evolution as a discipline that transforms experiences and outcomes.
What unites these designers is their desire for impact: humanizing government services, connecting brands with people, or sharing stories that bring people together. At their core, they share a drive to improve life through screens, spaces, and society itself — championing equity, sparking cultural shifts, and inspiring people to care deeply about the world around them.
Q8. Where did you find the inspiration to become a designer?
This is my favorite question. Here’s what the long-form answers revealed:
- Every designer’s journey is unique yet interconnected. Many of us started with different paths — some in pre-med fascinated by anatomical illustrations, others pursuing architecture, social work, or information systems. Our backgrounds are diverse: from Catholic school calligraphy lessons to skateboarding culture, from punk rock scenes to high school newspapers.
- Art often served as our first love. Through doodling, painting, or digital exploration with early versions of Photoshop, some of us became the designated artists in our families, rebelling against expectations to pursue engineering, sales, or accounting careers. Others discovered design through serendipitous encounters: an art teacher’s after-school mentoring, a poster in a rural classroom, or a youth pastor’s guidance.
- The transition to design wasn’t always straightforward. Some of us started as “starving artists” seeking financial stability, while others found design after major life events like 9/11 affected their original career paths. We were drawn to design’s versatility — from publication and book design to user experience and mobile interfaces. The field promised a perfect blend of creativity, problem-solving, and technical skills.
- Mentors played crucial roles. From sixth-grade teachers to design professors, we were shown we didn’t need traditional drawing skills to succeed. We discovered design as more than just aesthetics; it’s creating safe spaces, combining technology with humanity, and making good things for people and nature.
- Our paths evolved through various specialties. Our flexibility helped us weather industry changes, survive layoffs, and continually adapt to new technologies. Some of us still dream of returning to our original paths, while others have found their true calling.
- Our desire to combine storytelling, creativity, and the ability to help others unites us. The survey responders learned design through formal education or self-taught exploration, coming from both developing nations learning resourcefulness as well as technology-rich urban environments. Despite the varied backgrounds, we all share a common goal: using design to make a positive impact in the world.
That’s not all, folks.
If you want to see all of the input and answers, the questions have been broken out, and the affinities of answers are provided at the end of each question page on this baby site here: https://bit.ly/whatdesigndoyoudo.
A final note (for now).
If you’re one of the people who answered the survey, thank you. It’s fascinating to see how the respondents’ makeup reflects the years I spent in each of these design worlds. In the answers, I recognized shared paths and mirrored aspirations. It’s deeply reassuring to know I’ve surrounded myself with purposeful people who are not only passionate about their work and its impact on the world but also kind and curious enough to share such thoughtful responses.
