The Brief: Afraid of losing your job? Become irreplaceable
Design Better20 Mar 2025

The Brief: Afraid of losing your job? Become irreplaceable

Becoming an irreplaceable designer By Aarron Walter The software industry is in a tough contraction phase. Teams are downsizing, and companies are prioritizing efficiency. It’s a stressful time for many. But it’s also an opportunity—to reflect on your work, your skills, and the unique value you bring as a designer. What could you do to make yourself indispensable to your team? In my career, I’ve worked with a number of truly irreplaceable designers, and they all share a common trait: they became more than just a designer. They bring additional skills in coding, research, or business that expand their value, make them better cross-team collaborators, and help them solve problems more effectively. Irreplaceable designers thrive in the blurry space between disciplines. They adapt their language and perspective as they work across teams, earning respect from their peers. These designers are rare—but they shouldn’t be. AI is making it easier for all of us to bridge the gap between disciplines. While there’s a lot of excitement about how AI can help designers improve their craft, the real opportunity lies in designers learning to build as well. Continue reading this issue of The Brief on Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Episoder(261)

Mack Paul: Co-author of Miracle Road on designing places where innovation happens

Mack Paul: Co-author of Miracle Road on designing places where innovation happens

In the mid-1950s, North Carolina was one of the poorest states in the country. Its economy ran on tobacco, furniture, and textiles — all three in decline — and its universities were turning out talent...

17 Sep 44min

Federico Casalegno: Samsung EVP and MIT Design Lab founder on what 20,000 years of human creativity means for design today

Federico Casalegno: Samsung EVP and MIT Design Lab founder on what 20,000 years of human creativity means for design today

When Samsung’s CEO asked Federico Casalegno to redesign the cameras on the company’s phones, Federico told him he was the wrong person for the job. He wasn’t an optical engineer. He didn’t understand ...

10 Sep 24min

Jonathan Adler returns: The minimalist inside the maximalist

Jonathan Adler returns: The minimalist inside the maximalist

Jonathan Adler was one of our favorite guests, so we’ve been angling to get him back ever since. He started as a potter and now designs furnishings and interiors that are decadent, but layered with me...

2 Sep 44min

Clay Parker Jones: author of "Hidden Patterns" on why your team isn't really a team

Clay Parker Jones: author of "Hidden Patterns" on why your team isn't really a team

We all know that there is something fractured about the workplace, that makes it inefficient, and at times inhumane. If only someone was thinking deeply about those problems, and how to address them… ...

28 Aug 23min

Angel Steger: Wealthfront's VP of Design on what architecture teaches you about software

Angel Steger: Wealthfront's VP of Design on what architecture teaches you about software

A few years ago, Dropbox redesigned its website and revenue dropped by thirty percent. It was an all-hands-on-deck moment: people working weekends, everyone hunting for a systemic failure. Visit our ...

21 Aug 52min

Ben Drury: Yoto co-founder on audio, imagination, and screen-free design

Ben Drury: Yoto co-founder on audio, imagination, and screen-free design

Like a lot of parents, Eli struggled over the years to get his kids more into reading and away from screens. He wasn’t necessarily on the search for a technological solution, but then an interesting d...

13 Aug 50min

Jeff Hammoud: Chief Design Officer of Rivian on constraints, color, and what separates designers from stylists

Jeff Hammoud: Chief Design Officer of Rivian on constraints, color, and what separates designers from stylists

This is a special bonus episode, an interview with Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, Jeff Hammoud. We’ve got all the audio here, but it’s worth heading over to our Youtube channel at dbtr.co/youtube to w...

5 Aug 46min

Eric Ries: Lean Startup author on why good companies go bad, and why good design is critical to success

Eric Ries: Lean Startup author on why good companies go bad, and why good design is critical to success

Fifteen years ago, Eric Ries handed a generation of founders a playbook. When Eli was in a Palo Alto-based startup accelerator in 2011, The Lean Startup felt like the only book anyone in that ecosyste...

22 Jul 34min

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