When you think of the individuals who can really take things up a notch at a company, who comes to mind? Probably someone in a suit, from the C-suite or upper management, right? Well, you might be surprised. That broad enterprise thinking isn’t just for executives. Whether you’re a scrappy startup trying to build your vision, or a major player aiming to tighten up loose ends in processes and design outcomes, T-shaped designers are the corner pieces you didn’t realize you needed.

The shape of impact.

Now, design isn’t just about looking good. For us T-shaped designers, it’s about how everything comes together as part of a bigger picture. We dig deep into how design aligns with your company’s goals and narratives. We galvanize organizations, eliminate siloed thinking, and deliver cohesive results.

So, what are we really good at? Let’s break it down. We’ll start broad and then hone in on how our knack for design benefits companies, both in terms of visuals and their bottom line. You’ll also learn why we’re called T-shaped designers. Here’s a hint... it has everything to do with our skills and how we use them to make a big impact. And yes, we’ll discuss our weaknesses too, because self-awareness matters.

Versatility? That’s a T-shaped designer for you.

Call us what you want—full-stack designers, product design generalists, or perhaps a new term to you: T-shaped designers. No matter the title, our ability to empathize with the business side of things, and balance them with the design and executional aspects of a company is part of where our value lies. Whether helping startups go from zero to one, or aiding established companies in refining their strategies, we bring a lot to the table. Now, let’s lay out a variety of real-world scenarios to show just how impactful we can be.

Going it alone or together. We do both.

Our skill-set allows us to take on the gamut of challenges and implement creative solutions. We may help a bootstrapped tech startup realize a unique value proposition that may have been overlooked. Or, with a more established company, we might identify a need for in-store digital experiences, then document and prototype a potential solution.

In team settings, we bridge the gap between different departments by communicating with marketers, developers, etc. to make sure everyone’s aligned with design and other objectives. Picture this: we work with your product team to design a feature, then liaise with branding and legal to help name it. Or, we might develop the UX and UI for a reporting feature in a software application and then assist marketing in aligning their pitch deck with the software improvements.

We pinpoint the real problems.

We don’t just focus on solutions, we uncover and solve the right problems. Imagine a B2C learning platform struggling with low engagement. While an ordinary designer might optimize a call-to-action, a T-shaped designer might identify that the real issue isn’t engagement, but a lack of motivation. The T-shaped designer might propose gamifying the experience with badges, leaderboards, and rewards to boost user motivation.

Plus, T-shaped designers can manage projects from start to finish. We might begin working with an organization by conducting stakeholder interviews to gain a 360° understanding of problems to address. And on the flip side, provide quality assurance to ensure the project is accurately translated into the deliverable, whether online, in-store, or anywhere else there’s a screen. When we’re not busy helping our clients identify opportunities and solve problems, we’re often honing our craft.

What else? Oh! We have a tool for every job.

Many times we’re autodidacts, thriving on self-directed learning and growth. So, when it comes to understanding new industries, or adapting to new software and processes, we lean in. This knack for picking up additional skills translates into the ability to lead organizational training sessions and upskill team members on collaborative software. Figma, anyone?

But, sometimes this broad skill-set gives the initial impression that T-shaped designers aren’t particularly good at anything. Let me take a moment to break that down.

T-shaped designers can be perceived as “jacks of all trades, masters of none.” Actually, no.

Here’s where our secret weapon comes in, and where the name ‘T-shape’ comes from. Imagine the letter T: the top bar is our wide range of skills, covering everything from design to strategy, and the vertical stem is our deep expertise in one or two areas (actually, that might mean we’re shaped more like the mathematical symbol pi!) Regardless, this blend makes us creative problem solvers who can go wide or deep as needed.

And, there are a couple of ways we amass all of these skills. For starters, a T-shaped designer’s career may be punctuated with specializations. For example, a few years doing graphic design, a stint in art direction at a marketing agency, and several more years in user experience design. Add to that, many of us may have recently worked extensively in a particular area for a project, making us highly knowledgeable in a given area at a particular time. See where I’m going with this? Any of these facets of a full-stack designer’s career can form the vertical stem of a T-shaped designer’s abilities. Myth busted!

So, if you need specialist work in a particular discipline, find a T-shaped designer with those deeper skills (for the record, mine are all things visual design.) Plus, you can always hire additional specialists to round out other specific areas where you may need more nuanced work. Alright, let’s tap into our design-strategy synergy a bit more.

T-shaped designers blend design talk with business savvy for stakeholders.

Fuchsia… chartreuse… cerulean? Chances are, you’re not too familiar with these terms. These aren’t words from a foreign language though; they’re names of colors most designers know and use. Product design generalists, like me, however, take these insider aspects of design and deconstruct them for the business-minded folks. At the same time, we take those and balance them with best practices, data, and user research. Let me give you an example.

Say, for instance, when choosing a color palette for a new app, I might consider the emotional impact of colors, the prevalence of color blindness, and the latest accessibility standards to help make sure the design is appealing and usable for everybody. Later, when picking images for the app, I might refer to eye-tracking studies or photography trend literature to understand which media will resonate with the target audience while reinforcing your company’s message. So, all that’s left are well-informed, straightforward design decisions and speech you’ll understand—pink, yellow-green, and blue—the more common names for those colors I mentioned a minute ago. That’s just a tiny example of me bridging the design-business gap.

Design expertise that scales.

Our appreciation for business goes even further. We realize that not all companies are in the same spot financially. In some contexts, particularly for fledgling companies on makeshift budgets, it can be impractical to perform various user testing that larger, more established companies can afford. Not a problem. A T-shaped designer can leverage their extensive past experience to deliver solutions that are likely to perform well. After all, best practices are a valuable form of data, and T-shaped designers know how and when to use them.

That said, we can help create adaptable design solutions that scale with a company’s needs. For example, a solo entrepreneur may hire a T-shaped designer to help them design a minimum viable product. We might start by helping them understand, think through, and come up with a product roadmap that meets the project’s current needs while taking into account future product features that will need to slot in. It’s broad thinking like this that full-stack designers can bring to the table. Oh, and while we’re at that table, we’re usually in sync with executives to guarantee that design efforts translate into real results—more sales, better customer satisfaction, and a stronger brand.

What you won’t find in a T-shaped designer… well, usually.

Let me level with you: we have our strengths and our not-so-strengths. I’m no charlatan, and neither are most full-stack designers. To make an informed hiring decision, you need all the facts. Transparency is key, so here’s an honest picture.

We can’t code for our lives, but we look great doing it!

T-shaped designers aren’t typically good at complex software development because our expertise lies in a broad range of design and strategy skills. We focus on user experience, visual design, and business alignment. While advanced development could be the vertical stem of another designer’s T-shape, generally speaking, designers don’t make great developers. What we can offer are complex proofs-of-concept and bespoke prototypes that guide projects to successful completion.

Excessive context switching throws us off our game.

‘Excessive’ being the operative word. Hopping from one task to the next is part and parcel when it comes to the daily activities of a T-shaped designer. However, too much of a good thing can hinder performance. Left-brained tasks (logical, analytical, and detail-oriented) and right-brained tasks (creative, holistic, and intuitive) require different cognitive processes. Switching between these types of tasks can be particularly detrimental because it demands a mental shift from one mode of thinking to the next. Personally, I like my focus like I like my Red Bull—strong and steady!

We can’t make a rainbow come out of our... uhm, you get it.

These types of designers are a breed of their own, if they even exist. Some people call them unicorns, claiming to have deep expertise in every area—from research to design to development and more. While this isn’t totally impossible, it’s exceedingly rare. Tech evolves fast, making the deep expertise of specialists difficult to match. Us regular T-shaped folks may not have a horn, but we still work our magic.

Let’s talk ROI (because a strong return is what we’re after.)

Envision a T-shaped designer meticulously placing each building block to create a cohesive structure. Are you picturing it? Excellent! Now, the question becomes: how do you measure the return on your investment? And make no mistake, hiring a T-shaped designer is an investment that absolutely beats the market. Measuring our impact isn’t just about cold, hard numbers. You need to look at the individual pieces, using a blend of quantitative data and qualitative feedback, to track the impact. Now, strategist cap on.

• Track the overall metrics of our contributions. Measure changes in analytics, sales, or conversion rates before and after a project. Use surveys, interviews, and more to see how the designer’s work impacted these, along with other intangibles like brand awareness and factors important to your organization.

• Recognize the data-driven design cycle. Effective design is an iterative cycle. We start by leveraging best practices, existing data, and your business goals. Then, we measure the impact of our solutions and refine them based on the results. Skipping this measurement and iteration phase hinders our ability to deliver maximum value. Sharing these results empowers us to continuously improve your product or service.

• For teams, did design go bullish? If your T-shaped designer worked with a team, see if they brought any new tools or processes to the table. Did their problem-solving skills help the team cut down on revisions or development time? Talk to their colleagues and collaborators to get a well-rounded picture.

• See if they left a design blueprint. Proper documentation is not just good business sense, it’s good design acumen too. As your company scales thanks to our magic touch, new team members will need a guide to understand past design decisions. Well documented projects ensure a smooth handover and efficient workflows.