Let‘s Stop Trivializing Design Work

Another day, another Twitter snark-fest about a major company‘s logo redesign. It‘s a familiar cycle by now: a beloved brand unveils a new look, and the Internet masses promptly skewer it. "Lol, I could have made that in 5 minutes in MS Paint!" "You paid how much for that?!" "My kid‘s fingerpainting is better than this!"

We saw it with Slack‘s recent redesign. With Dropbox a few years ago. With countless others over the decades. The latest victim of this public design shaming is Instagram. When the popular photo sharing app introduced a radically simplified icon last week, the armchair critics pounced.

Look, I get it. Some of these jokes are genuinely funny. It‘s entertaining to dunk on a big faceless corporation and their pretentious, overpriced logo. But there‘s an insidious undertone to this kind of casual dismissal of design work. Intentionally or not, it perpetuates the toxic notion that design is easy, frivolous, and unimportant.

Speaking as a professional developer and designer, I‘ve seen this attitude from both sides. And frankly, it‘s a slap in the face to the talented folks who pour their heart and soul into this challenging work. It‘s time we as a tech community start treating design with the respect it deserves.

Design Is Harder Than It Looks

First, let‘s dispel the myth that designing something like a logo or icon is a quick and breezy process. I mean, how hard can it really be? Just throw together some shapes and colors and call it a day, right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.

In reality, distilling a brand‘s identity down to a single iconic symbol is a monumental task. Far from just "making things look pretty," it requires a deep understanding of the company‘s values, personality, and aspirations. You have to capture the essence of the brand in a way that is instantly recognizable, memorable, and emotionally resonant.

Moreover, you‘re designing not just for the present, but for the future. Most companies want a logo that will stand the test of time, which means it needs to be simple yet distinct. Bold yet flexible. Eye-catching yet not overly trendy. Crafting something that balances all those attributes is, to put it mildly, non-trivial.

Now let‘s talk about the technical side of executing a logo or icon. It‘s not just a matter of slapping together some clipart in Photoshop. For an app icon alone, you‘re creating dozens of meticulously crafted assets optimized for different devices and display sizes.

Just look at the full iOS icon specification:

Size	Use Case
20pt @1x	Notification icon
20pt @2x	Notification icon on Retina
20pt @3x	Notification icon on Retina HD
29pt @1x	Settings icon
29pt @2x	Settings icon on Retina
29pt @3x	Settings icon on Retina HD
40pt @1x	Spotlight icon
40pt @2x	Spotlight icon on Retina
40pt @3x	Spotlight icon on Retina HD
60pt @2x	Home screen on Retina
60pt @3x	Home screen on Retina HD
76pt @1x	iPad home screen
76pt @2x	iPad home screen on Retina
83.5pt @2x	iPad Pro home screen
1024pt @1x	App Store

That‘s 15 separate assets, each with unique sizing and visual requirements, for just one platform. You better believe that takes more than 5 minutes to get right. Oh, and you‘ll also need alternate versions for Android, the web, favicons, social media avatars, and print. All in, you‘re easily looking at 30+ meticulously crafted variations of a single "simple" design.

And we haven‘t even touched on the non-visual elements of product design. User experience, interaction design, accessibility, information architecture, usability testing, prototyping—all of these factor heavily into a quality digital product. Make no mistake: an app‘s design goes far beyond its icon.

The Business Value of Quality Design

Now, you may be thinking: "Okay, design is harder than I realized. But is it really that important? Does it actually impact the bottom line?"

The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

Study after study has shown the quantifiable business value of investing in good design. For example:

• Design-led companies outperformed the S&P index by 219% over 10 years (DMI, 2015)
• Every $1 invested in UX yields $100 in return, a staggering 9,900% ROI (Forrester, 2017)
• Attractiveness of a website directly influences perception of usability and credibility (InVision, 2019)

The fact is, in today‘s oversaturated market, design is a key differentiator. It‘s often the primary factor that determines whether a customer will engage with and enjoy your product. Skimp on design and you‘ll pay for it in the long run with decreased user satisfaction, retention, and revenue.

And it‘s not just about aesthetics. Thoughtful, user-centric design has far-reaching ripple effects on every aspect of your business.

"Design isn‘t just about beauty; it‘s about market relevance and meaningful results."
— John Maeda, Designer & Technologist

Well-designed digital products are more intuitive, accessible, and delightful to use. That leads to better word-of-mouth, organic growth, and customer loyalty. Conversely, poor design actively frustrates and alienates users, no matter how good the underlying technology may be.

From an operational standpoint, robust design systems and component libraries speed up development velocity. When your devs aren‘t constantly rebuilding UI from scratch, they can ship more efficiently. That‘s why tech titans like Airbnb, Uber, and IBM are doubling down on design infrastructure and tooling.

Of course, all this takes serious time, specialized talent, and yes, money. The median annual salary for a Senior UX Designer in the US is $128k. Seasoned Visual Designers command $95k. Respected agencies charge anywhere from $100-300/hr.

Quality design work doesn‘t come cheap. But pinching pennies here is the definition of false economy. You‘ll either waste money on endless revisions to salvage something mediocre, or pay far more down the line to overhaul designs that should‘ve been better from the start.

Just ask Citibank. Their haphazard UI design recently led to an erroneous $900 million wire transfer. All because of an unclear submit button. I bet that UX audit seems like a bargain in hindsight.

It‘s on Us to Change the Narrative

Designers, by and large, are an underappreciated and misunderstood bunch. Perhaps because our work deals in intangibles, it‘s all too easy to overlook or minimize the expertise that goes into it. That leads to toxic anti-patterns like design by committee, or developers railroading designers because they don‘t understand the rationale behind certain choices.

We‘ve all heard nightmare stories from the design trenches. Stakeholders demanding nonsensical changes based on personal preference. Bosses imposing arbitrary deadlines with no regard for creative process. Clients haggling over invoices because "my niece could have done this in Microsoft Word." It‘s exhausting and demoralizing.

This pervasive lack of respect also makes it hard to attract and retain design talent. Most skilled designers would rather go work someplace their contributions are properly valued. Wouldn‘t you?

So how do we fix this? To start, we as developers and technologists need to become better advocates for our design colleagues. Acknowledge the effort and artistry that goes into their craft, even if you don‘t always understand it. When non-designers try to commandeer the process, gently but firmly redirect them.

Learn to differentiate between subjective and objective design feedback. "Make the logo bigger" or "I don‘t like blue" is rarely productive. Instead, ask questions that probe at the strategic intent: "How will this color palette resonate with our target users?" or "What message are we trying to convey with this iconography?"

Above all, if you hear someone trivializing or belittling design work, call it out. Explain that great design doesn‘t just happen by accident, and that there‘s always more going on under the hood than meets the eye. It may feel insignificant, but slowly chipping away at the misconception matters.

"Designers: never forget that the people using your designs are always more important than the people paying for your designs."
— Mike Monteiro, Design Advocate

Fellow designers, we have to raise the bar for ourselves too. Stop underselling your worth and settling for one-sided relationships with clients or employers. Advocate fiercely and articulate clearly the value you bring. Embrace the interdisciplinary skills needed to thrive in today‘s fast-paced digital world.

Most importantly, support each other. Be generous with your knowledge, your network, and your compassion. Uplift and amplify underrepresented voices in the field. Cultivate a community of mutual respect and solidarity.

Because at the end of the day, we‘re all on the same team. Developers, designers, marketers, product managers—we share the same fundamental goal of building things that enrich people‘s lives. Quality design is an essential part of that mission, and it‘s high time we start treating it as such.

I‘ll leave you with the wise words of Steve Jobs:

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

Words to work by indeed. The next time you see an unsung designer catching flak for their work, remember that. Take a moment to appreciate the care and craft that went into it, even if you don‘t love the end result.

Together, bit by bit, we can change the way the world values design. Let‘s stop trivializing this vital work, and start giving it the recognition it rightly deserves. Our products, our industry, and our fellow humans will be better for it.