[IxDA Discuss] Career paths & organizational structures for IxDs

[David (Heller) Malouf]

Similar to Josh I think there are at least two paths for designers and only
1 is towards management.
The other is what I have called the "principal designer".
The role is one that I pursued at my current organization for quite some
time, until it became clear that they needed a real manager, and so I have
stepped up into that role.
The role I was hoping for was one where I could be the design thought leader
of the organization (which I still am in my current managerial position).

I think though this is something for small organizations to consider. It is
hard for small organizations to have the luxury of this dual track system. I
think it is fine for a team under 10 to expect the leads to manage, and
managing while not everyone's forte is definitely learnable. I know for my
part I have looked for internal mentors in management and have succeed well
there, while I look for external mentors in design. I have also not been shy
of taking a few management courses since it was clear that this is the
direction I'm heading and they have been really fruitful. There is very
little out there in the design community that teaches you how to manage a
team and work as a corporate leader of design in your organization. There is
lots in adjacent fields or just in management training itself.

I think that a principal path is noble, but I think it is fair that many at
a senior level figure out how to lead people, and not just do design well.

-- dave