Common Misconceptions and How to Advocate for Meaningful Impact
What struck me most during my conversations, particularly with three well-experienced design leaders (each with 10 to 15 years in the industry), was their perspective that we’ve been overlooking an important aspect of AI’s evolution. They indicated that while AI may change how designers work, the immediate concern for design leaders is that AI could eventually eliminate the design function from many organizations.
This is not happening literally just yet, but there is a significant risk. Most AI tools have low barriers to entry, which makes it easy for even newcomers to produce results quickly. Imagine a startup founder or a CEO of a mid-sized company planning to hire their first designer. If they discover an AI tool that allows them to generate results in seconds, they might reconsider the need to hire a designer altogether.
I was astonished, as I had not considered this potential impact of AI on designers. A CEO or leader who lacks design experience may not be able to distinguish between mediocre and effective design. They might end up creating something only they appreciate. This phenomenon is known as the Ikea effect: when users invest their efforts into creating something, they form an emotional connection to it.
In this way, CEOs might mistakenly believe that hiring designers or design teams is unnecessary because they can use AI to generate designs that only meet their personal preferences. Eventually, AI could take over the role of designers or design teams. While there may come a time when leaders recognize the value of designers again, those designers may find themselves primarily cleaning up the mess left by poorly thought-out AI-generated work rather than focusing on creating functional designs.
This realization led me to write about what CEOs misunderstand about design. Here are a few misconceptions that act as barriers between design and corporate leadership.
Misconception #1: Design = UI
Many leaders and CEOs equate design solely with user interface (UI). They often overlook the importance of strategic research, architecture, decision-making, and critical thinking, all of which should take precedence over just a visually appealing UI. These leaders tend to prioritize hiring designers from big tech companies, often failing to recognize that such designers might not have significant hands-on experience or impactful case studies to showcase.
The designers from these established companies may not be able to produce work at the desired speed when transitioning to a startup environment. They have typically been part of larger teams where defined processes dictate their workflow, while you expect them to operate as a one-person design team in a small startup where requests come through Slack messages and last-minute emails. They are accustomed to environments where one feature may take a quarter to develop, and then you expect them to create an entire project in a month? They might be used to dedicating a month solely to research while you expect them to skip that phase entirely and jump straight into Figma based on your beliefs. This mismatch is unlikely to result in a successful collaboration.
Misconception #2: Design Slows Us Down
Contrary to popular belief, the right design does not slow you down; instead, it can accelerate your launch and help secure the funding you’ve been dreaming of. When you demonstrate to investors that you’re investing in the right talent, you increase the likelihood of building a product capable of generating significant revenue. Hiring designers at the right moment can save you considerable headaches in the future.
While it may seem costly to hire designers, consider the financial implications of bad design. For instance, CitiBank lost over $500 million due to a design error. They intended to wire interest payments to their customer, Revlon, but a confusing user interface led to a full loan payment being processed instead. This mistake, made by one person but approved by three others—including a senior CitiBank official—demonstrates the costly repercussions of inadequate design. Proper design could have prevented this situation and would likely have been more affordable than the expenses incurred.
Misconception #3: Users Don’t Care About Experience
Evidence shows otherwise, yet some CEOs and leaders still believe that solving a user’s problem is more important than providing a positive experience with a digital product. The reality is, if you don’t differentiate yourself in the market, competitors will capture your remaining customers, even if they aren’t solving the problem more effectively. Users may gravitate toward competitors simply because those companies value their time and experience. Many founders realize the importance of an in-house design team only after several years in business when they see their competitors outperforming them.
Misconception #4: Design Is a Soft Skill
Some leaders mistakenly think that the impact of design cannot be measured and that aesthetics are subjective. However, every design decision can be quantified through metrics that are crucial for your users and customers. Without effective design, achieving these metrics becomes challenging. Here are a few measurable performance indicators associated with design:
- Time on Task: This measures how long users spend completing a specific task within the app. Reducing this time can lead to higher user engagement. For example, the simplicity of messaging—being just a click away—contributes to its popularity.
- User Retention Rate: This indicates how many users continuously use your product over time, measured through daily active users (DAU) and monthly active users (MAU). Effective design plays a crucial role in maintaining these metrics.
- User Dropoff Rate: This measures the points at which users leave the app or close the browser. Identifying these drop-off points is essential, and designers can help analyze and address them effectively.
These three metrics represent only a fraction of the data that can be measured through design, and in 2025, it’s naive to consider design merely a soft skill. Design has become as essential as engineering in tech companies today.
What CEOs Should Understand About Design
Design should be seen as a multiplier rather than a cost center. Here are key points about design’s value:
- Design drives clarity in complex systems.
- Design reduces risk, boosts user adoption, and shapes market perception.
- Design fosters alignment among cross-functional teams.
How Designers Can Shift the Narrative
- Speak in business terms; focus on impact, metrics, and numbers, rather than just aesthetics.
- Emphasize outcomes over deliverables.
- Bring users into discussions with leadership through their feedback, quotes, and data. Many CEOs may not use the products they are building and often lack insight into real user experiences. As a designer, this presents a unique opportunity to advocate for design’s importance.
- Build alliances with product, engineering, sales, and customer support teams. When these teams recognize design’s value, it enhances its overall importance within the organization.
- Create clear presentations and artifacts that facilitate better decision-making among leadership.
Design Deserves a Seat at the Table
In 2025, effectively securing a seat at the table for yourself and your team will be essential. Failing to do so may confine you to working in isolation, only to find one day that your access has been revoked.
