When it's time for designers to stop designing and do something else
There’s something fundamental about designers: we have an urge to design. It’s core to who we are, both professionally and personally. We make things better, prettier, more ordered. We focus on every detail, no matter how small — we literally worry down to the pixel. This internal drive makes us good at our jobs.
Until it doesn’t.
Where the designer instinct fails us most is our transition from manager to director. This career progression represents a serious step-change in role and responsibility. Unfortunately, most organizations do a poor job preparing designers for this shift, creating a steep learning curve that catches many off guard.
The Manager Mindset vs. The Director Mindset
A design manager typically stays hands-on with the work. They have management responsibilities, but they remain close to day-to-day execution. They’re in design reviews, working through solutions, opening figma as needed. They are deeply concerned about every pixel. That is their job.
A director cannot and should not operate this way. Directors must act strategically. They must focus on identifying which problems the company should solve, which opportunities the business should pursue, and positioning design to lead those efforts.
When directors get caught up in specific design solutions, they’re neglecting their core responsibilities. Other designers and managers can provide valuable design feedback to the team. But they cannot walk into executive rooms and define strategy for the business. Only the director can. If they don’t, no one does — and design suffers for it.
The Creative Urge Problem
The other challenge facing new design directors relates to that innate instinct to design. We all have that urge, and it doesn’t disappear because our role changes. Directors should not stand over a designer’s shoulder controlling their work. It is incredibly demoralizing and hurts design execution. Individual contributors design. Leaders lead. Know your role.
When I became a director, I realized I needed a different creative outlet so I wouldn’t interfere with my team’s work. I threw myself into organizational design — building and structuring teams to meet company needs. I approached it as a creative challenge, which helped since this actually is a director’s responsibility. This shift allowed me to give designers the space they needed while focusing on work that was truly mine to do.
The Default Trap
Without proper guidance, design directors default to skills they’ve honed throughout their careers. They keep doing what made them successful as managers because it feels productive and familiar. Meanwhile, the strategic work core to a director’s role gets neglected or crowded out.
This transition requires learning entirely new skills: influencing others beyond the design organization, framing arguments around business objectives and metrics, making the case for additional resources, and positioning design to capture new business opportunities.
These tasks are fundamentally different from typical design work. Developing these abilities will determine whether new design directors succeed or fail in their expanded role.
To put a finer point on it
Think of the transition from design manager to design director less of a promotion and more of a career pivot. Pixel-perfect instincts will get you here, but they won’t take you further. Embrace the discomfort of stepping back from those tasks and channel your creative energy into learning new director-specific skills: influencing strategy, building systems, and positioning the team to for impact.
The sooner you make this mental shift, the sooner you’ll discover that strategic leadership can be just as creative and fulfilling. And you will be a better director for it.
