This Week In Design: Feb 4th Week

A really (really) long but authentic history of design evolution in India

Kapil Moon traces the rich and diverse journey of Indian design from prehistoric cave art to contemporary digital innovations. Starting with ancient rock carvings and temple architecture, the author explores how design developed through the Indus Valley Civilization, colonial influences from Portuguese, French, and British rule, and the post-independence period where India established its national identity through modernist architecture and graphic design. The article highlights the impact of the digital revolution in the 1990s and how contemporary Indian design has evolved into a unique fusion of traditional aesthetics with modern technology, creating distinctive brand identities and user experiences that reflect India's cultural heritage while embracing global design trends. Throughout this comprehensive overview, Moon emphasizes how design in India has been shaped by cultural, political, and technological forces to create a diverse design language that continues to evolve.

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Building Super Experts: Why T-Shaping Matters in Product Design

The article explores how the design industry is evolving to favor professionals with hybrid skill sets over pure specialists. As companies face tighter budgets and higher expectations, T-shaped designers—those who combine deep expertise in one area with broad knowledge across complementary disciplines—are becoming increasingly valuable. Vandebeek outlines how his team is actively developing these versatile "super experts" through competency mapping, personalized upskilling paths, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and mentorship programs. The author presents T-shaping not merely as a reaction to market pressures but as a strategic approach to building resilient design teams capable of delivering exceptional work across multiple domains, ultimately creating more cohesive product experiences while requiring fewer resources.

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Bias, blind spots, and broken systems: Your leadership playbook is outdated

Traditional leadership models in tech fail to accommodate neurodivergent professionals. The author argues that despite research showing diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones by up to 36%, tech companies continue to evaluate leadership potential through neurotypical biases. Drawing from personal experiences with performance reviews that criticized her personality rather than her work, Logan illustrates how neurodivergent traits are often mischaracterized as deficiencies rather than recognized as valuable strengths. She calls for a reimagining of leadership that values authenticity over conformity, challenging organizations to meet neurodivergent professionals halfway and create environments where diverse thinking can thrive.

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Achieving The Right Balance in Your Case Study

This article lists the essential components of effective design case studies in a portfolio. Drawing from group sessions with over 150 designers on ADPList, author Arkadiusz Radek addresses a common question about the ideal proportion of text, images, and data in a product designer's case study. Through visual analysis of three exemplary case studies by experienced designers, Radek reveals patterns in structure and content distribution, noting that while solutions typically occupy about half the space and text-to-media ratios hover around 1:1, there's no universal formula. The article emphasizes that case studies should be concise yet comprehensive, highlighting business outcomes early to capture the attention of busy hiring managers who typically spend less than 30 seconds scanning a portfolio before deciding whether to invest more time.

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