When someone asks me, “so, what do you do for work?” it has always been hard to know what to say. As a designer at thoughtbot, we do a lot of different things. Yes, we design products but we also write code. Yes, we make “pretty” interfaces, but we focus much more on the user experience. Yes, we think about business and product goals, but we also uphold accessibility and craft.
In short, thoughtbot designers are full-stack product partners from ideation to implementation.
Product partners
thoughtbot designers have broad, high-level skills that cover business strategy, user understanding, technical feasibility, and visual design. Each of us also has deep skill sets in self-elected and often different areas.
Often referred to as a “T” shaped designer, this approach allows us to have broad context while we design specific solutions. We know enough about a broad number of topics to ensure we design solutions that elegantly address business, user, and technical needs. For example, when approaching a new problem, we consider what UI patterns would be best for this experience. But also…
- Are we solving the right problem, and if so, how do we know?
- What are the business goals?
- How will this UX pattern fit into the rest of the experience?
- What solution will be easiest to implement?
- Will the solution be accessible for all users?
- And so on…
We work hand in hand with our talented product teammates to ensure the experiences we design provide business value, are a joy to use, and can be built on time and on budget.
Front-end developers
We can navigate a Figma file with expertise, but we also love to jump right into code. We can iterate on and solve problems in code, the final medium, instead of spending time pushing pixels in Figma that may or may not be implemented exactly as described and would require many rounds of feedback between a developer and designer.
When we are in Figma, we use our knowledge of code to consider how the experience will be built. The code structure, accessibility needs, and what experiences are easier or harder to implement.
This knowledge of front-end code is particularly handy when “vibe coding” or using prompt based builders to prototype experiences. Whether used to quickly prototype an experience or build a new feature, a little bit of domain knowledge goes a long way towards generating effective output from an LLM.
Adaptable thinkers
One week we could be running a design sprint for a startup and the next we could be writing code for a new feature in an enterprise codebase. Our flexibility means we know how to quickly onboard to a new problem and find solutions that will set up our clients for short and long term success.
Building software is never a linear process. Our broad skill sets help us quickly move between discovery and delivery as project needs come up.
What this means for our clients
We’re not here to only make pretty interfaces. We’re experts at onboarding to a new problem space. We speak the same language as product managers and developers to help the team discover what to build, chart a path to get there, and build the front-end of that experience. This saves time and reduces feedback cycles as we advocate for better, accessible user experiences from kickoff to delivery and beyond. If you have a product idea that you need help shaping and building, let us know—we’d love to work with you.