Key trends from John Maeda’s annual report

“Design isn’t just about beauty; it’s about market relevance and meaningful results.” — Design in Tech 2017

You’ve learned about how critical design is to business success (in any industry). You’ve overheard your colleagues talk about the rise of cross-functional “design thinking.” And you have experienced the ways in which good design touches your daily life—such as seamless user experiences on your mobile devices.

But you still feel overwhelmed by how quickly the landscape is shifting.

A peek over the horizon might settle your nerves a bit. This year’s Design in Tech report, from Kleiner Perkins suggests several trends which should inform senior designers, marketers, and content creators through 2017 and beyond. Be sure to check out the full report (it isn’t that long!), but three trends in particular resonate to me:

• The end of single-subject experts
• Diverging definitions of digital “openness”
• The need for inclusive design

It’s not enough to be a single-subject expert anymore.

The report cites two key stats: 40% of designers are involved in code development and 33% of designers surveyed had formal engineering/science training. This is one segment of a global phenomenon: Fewer people than ever can succeed as single-subject experts.

It’s not enough to just be dialed into SEO anymore—not when search and social trends are increasingly intertwined. It’s not enough just to be a gifted writer anymore—not when data literacy and CMS know-how are increasingly core foundations of digital publishing.

Renaissance man. Polymath. Jack-of-all-trades.

Terms like these have been thoroughly driven into the clichéd graveyard, but the core idea—that you need to be an expert in several, cross-functional fields to succeed—has resurfaced with a vengeance in today’s workforce.

It’s not a coincidence that the report also points out the rise of self-guided learning—highlighting the 86 percent of surveyed students who reported learning their digital skills outside of the classroom. I’m working on this myself through LinkedIn Learning, and you should expect to see many of your peers to do the same in the coming years. Don’t just be a single-subject expert. Become a renaissance designer.

The principle of “openness” on digital platforms is diverging—for better and for worse.

The report rightfully notes how audiences have more power to speak for themselves than ever before. The idea that everyone is their own publisher is not new, but it is interesting to consider that trend in context with the relatively closed, yet fractured, environment on platforms for developing new things.

If 8 out of 10 smartphone apps are owned by Google or Facebook, how likely is it that third-party developers will gain a meaningful share of the world’s home screen? And when there are thousands, of potential device, browser, and platform configurations, it seems that creators have less power than ever.

So play the algorithm game, but find ways to connect directly too.

Yes, we need to design pathways for discovery that coexists within these walled gardens. That means playing the algorithm game with Facebook, and tailoring your content to fit with their goal du jour—whether it’s video, personal posts, or the “next big thing.”

But this alone isn’t a sustainable strategy—no one in such a comparable state of existential vulnerability would say so. Instead, fostering memorable moments of loyalty must remain the goal—particularly outside of the platforms’ playing field. Thus you might understand the recent drive of media companies back into the realm of subscriptions and high-touch outreach (e.g. events). The homepage might be dead (or at least on life-support), but that doesn’t mean you should quit your search for loyalists and ambassadors.

Inclusive design is more important now than ever.

Content and products of all stripes have the potential to reach a global audience, unlike many key technologies of the past. The report cites the critical shift toward inclusivity, that is to say, the extent to which designers and creators must resemble in thought and being the audience for whom they are working.

Silicon Valley, whose obsessive culture has led teams to marginalize women and minorities, is a clear violator of this principle, but organizations across all industries also ignore low-income populations, and bypass core standards for accessibility.

Humans are biased — period.

A company comprised of American upper-class white men is more likely to design a product or service from an American upper-class white male’s perspective. The best, and easiest, way to solve for this is to invite a diverse set of opinions into the decision room. Even if you are a small startup, make sure that you have a diverse set of advisors to refine ideas and guide your solution.

Mary Meeker’s quote from the report says it best:

“One of the things I have learned about effective decision making is that the best decisions are often made by diverse groups of people. Saying or hearing these words is magic: That’s really interesting, I had never thought of it that way before. Thank you.”