Web Specialists, Web Generalists
May 06, 2004 | 
12 Comments
Yesterday Digital Web published another great article from the always interesting Drik Kneymeyer. It’s called Digital Convergence: Insight into the Future of Web Design and it’s very well worth a read.
The last part of the article is about how to avoid obsolescence as a Web designer. To preface, and this is taken a bit out of context so please read the article, he says:
Along with the Web becoming an integrated and smaller component of complicated digital products, the gap between the interface and application side will continually grow—to the point where the relative “jack-of-all-trades” Web designers of today will become extinct. At one extreme you will have the strategic professionals who will need a broad understanding not just of the Web, but of other products and technologies that are part of complex digital products. At the other extreme, there will be tactical specialists who will need a deep understanding of well-defined areas of expertise.
I want to talk about this. I think in general I think he may be right, and I also think this is something anyone who’s made a career designing for the Web should prepare for, but I also wonder how far away we are and what a Web professional needs right now to be successful.
Know It All?
When I wrote about the well-rounded Web craftsman many people took that to mean that I was advocating the road of the “Web generalist” or “Jack-of-All-Trades” that Dirk talks about.
Actually I was advocating a broader understanding of what makes a Web site successful to everyone working on the Web, generalist or specialist alike.
When you work in the real world you need to pay attention to all these issues and more. I don’t care where you sit. You could be a specialist or jack-of-all trades, it’s still important that you keep tabs on what is happening around you.
I think this is a valid point, both for the Web of today and for the Web of tomorrow. Sure there may be a convergence of media and technology as Dirk describes, but it will still be a good idea to keep tabs on things regardless of where you sit. But you can’t know it all, now can you?
I also see a place for the Web generalist, I just think the skill set will be different. The generalists of today will be Dirk’s “strategic professionals” of tomorrow.
Too Much To Know
I would consider myself a “specialized” generalist, if that makes any sense? I’m a generalist in many ways; I have design, programming, management and many other skills. I’m a specialist in that my skills are mostly front-end and interface related.
This might be a sign that this split between interface and application Dirk talks about is already happening. I used to do much more back-end and application type work, but I chose to go away from that. I think this is a good thing for it allows for a more in-depth knowledge of the issues you’ll need to succeed in the future.
Succeed Today, Succeed Tomorrow
Many of the specialists I know have really struggled in the last few years, where the generalists I know have managed to stay employed. Now I know this isn’t true across the board, but it seems like we’re still in a place where the generalist is valued.
I also think that by being a generalist I’ve been able to learn many things that I’d have never learned if I’d stuck with Flash development only, for example. By staying a generalist of sorts I think I’ve put myself in a good spot for the future.
I honestly think, no matter if you are a generalist or a specialist it’s a good idea to keep tabs on what is going on around the Web and don’t focus so much on specific technologies or techniques.
We don’t know for sure what the future will bring, or how long it will take to get here, but as Drik so accurately claims:
If Web designers focus on technology and Web-specific applications, they run the risk of not adequately preparing their skill sets for the decade ahead.
This is exactly why I think learning theory and establishing good learning habits are so important.
For a Web designer, it’s why learning a bit about usability, information architecture and interface design is important. For a Web developer it might be delving into systems administration, programming theory or database management as opposed to solely focusing on .Net or something.
The Web will always be here, and it might be awhile before we see significant changes. Do what you need to do to succeed today, but set yourself up for tomorrow.
What do you think? Are you a specialist or a generalist? How will you succeed in the future?
Filed under: Web General
Comments
1. Paul G said:
I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades type at the moment, mainly because I have a tremendous drive to educate myself about all aspects of what I do. Granted, I don’t have the deep technical knowledge in most of my interests that a specialist has, but I feel that I have a strong, extremely broad foundation that I can use to start just about any sort, from 3d graphics and animation to hardware. Hell, I could just as easily slip into a job as a mechanic, race car driver, or carpenter.
I feel that I am much better off having a broad, albeit shallow base to start from, regardless of the specialty. Maybe I just like keeping my options open, but it’s really more a matter of my own personal drive to aquire knowledge and experience, plus a strong personal conviction that that I excel at anything I put my mind to. So far, so good :)
I think that even if you are a “guru” type who specializes in one area, it never hurts to have an understanding of related fields and how they interact, no matter what industry you work in. It’s all part of forming a well-rounded skill set.
Posted on May 6, 2004 12:02 PM | #
2. Joey said:
I am by no means a “Web-generalist” or “Specialist,” however, observations from other fields may prove helpful when discerning how to approach web design.
First, we must realize that the internet and web design is still fairly new and unfamiliar to many people and businesses. However, that was the same for many other “creative visual” professionals. One such example would be the magazine industry. In the beginning this industry required more “jack-of-all trades” type of people due to the freshness of the field. Few people did many tasks, but as the industry continued to grow the need for more specialized people grew. Now we have editors, writers, photographers, advertisers, colomnists and much more.
Assuming that the internet maintains its popularity and growth, we can assume similar growth in this field. As business and communication and entertainment have needs to have a “web” medium, it will bring about a bigger need for people in this field, possibly so much so that there will need for specialization.
However large the growth/need, there will always be a need for both a specialist and a generalist though. Even in industry’s such as the auto industry where you may have someone who just turns a screw all day long on an assembly line, there is still a need for someone who knows what that car is going to look like at the end.
In the internet/web media industry, though we may have someone who souly creates and manages the database, and someone who designs what the site will look like, we still need someone who knows how the two fit together.
Reason for the success of generalists and the struggle of specialists today may be due to the premature industry and its journey towards commonplace in someones life. Though we may think the web is there because we spend a lot of time lives there, its still not there for everyone.
Posted on May 6, 2004 12:12 PM | #
3. Paul G said:
Um, that should have read:
“…plus a strong personal conviction that I can excel at anything I put my mind to.”
Sounds arrogant otherwise, which was not my intent.
I also think Joey makes a good point about the newness of the industry. The constant change and exploration requires the pioneers in our field to be very versatile.
Hmm… “The Arrogant Typos” might be a good dave barry-esque band name.
Posted on May 6, 2004 12:20 PM | #
4. Jeremy Flint said:
I am somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades.
My main area of “expertise” would be design, accessibility, and usability (pretty much anything to do with the user experience on a site). I have a passing knowledge of most programming lanuages (asp, perl, php, javascript). I know enough to get in and look around if something is going wrong, and attempt to fix the problem. I doubt I could write anything from scratch though, aside from the occasional javascript popup or something.
Being a generalists is a good thing because it allows you to at least know what is going on, even though you may be limited in what you can do about it.
Posted on May 6, 2004 03:26 PM | #
5. Rich said:
I think the “generalist” can never go away for one simple reason: money.
There simply isn’t enough money in any given budget to eliminate the “jack-of-all-trades” and replace him/her with specialists, as Kneymeyer writes.
It’s fun to think about the possibilities but at the end of the day, the best a company can do with its resources will steer the ship.
Posted on May 6, 2004 06:03 PM | #
6. Geoffrey said:
Since most design jobs we end up working on are created and arranged by commitees that direct everything to the middle of road, it would seem that the generalist would fare better in the long run. If we all had snowboard clients or shoe company clients maybe we could afford to specialize more. I like the generalist myself. The best design doesn’t come from 100% understanding any one thing, it comes from having a real life and being observant and involved in the world as a whole.
Posted on May 6, 2004 08:01 PM | #
7. Robert Lofthouse said:
I am in the same boat as Keith. I’m a generalist, but I specialize in those specific area’s (or I like to think I do).
I spend a lot of my time understanding internet technologies and computer technologies, i.e. i’ve done everything from assembler programming, to hardware repair to graphic design etc etc.
I don’t believe in limiting your learning to one/two specific things, that’s certainly not what life is about. Those who are specialists are more likely to become jobless than generalists. If you specialize in CSS, and ignore other technologies, then what happens if CSS becomes completely replaced?
I think to truly succeed in anything, you need a large skill set. However, not large as in: “I know 10 programming languages - but i’m only mediocre at best with them”, I mean large as in “Learn everything you can, dedicate your time to the technologies that help you, and become an expert in those technologies”.
I’m a freelance website designer/developer. Now, when a client comes to me to work on a project, I can offer them a more personal touch than businesses. I work on the graphic design, Information Architecture, Human Computer Interface, programming etc and the entire time the client only deals with ME. When you give work to a company however, the job gets split between several departments, who “specialize”, but give a less personal touch to the web site.
Final comment: There is much more to web design than just one thing. Web design consists of a variety of skills. Most specialist web developers I know don’t give a crap about accesibility, or have a clue what IA is. The web doesn’t need people who specialize only in each aspect, the world needs people who can understand them all, and build solutions based on that knowledge.
Posted on May 7, 2004 04:28 AM | #
8. Jonathan Snook said:
After having read the article, I feel like the general messages were “Design for the web of today and you may be out of a job tomorrow” along with “Focus on front-end instead of back-end because the skills are more transferable”.
I believe that no matter what you do, if you become stagnant, you will not succeed. This applies to life and almost any industry. Your skillset has to be continually changing and improving.
As to the second point, I’d have to somewhat disagree. When I first started out in my career as a web developer 8 years ago, almost everybody was a designer. There were very few programmers. They usually did all the HTML with maybe a little perl thrown in on the occasional project. Now, I find there are less designers and more developers… and why wouldn’t there be? Everything is data driven and on a much larger scale. There’s just more information. And different technology (cell phones, pda’s, etc) isn’t going to change the need for those programmers. What they will need (going back to my first point) is the ability to learn the technologies required to take advantage of those new platforms.
Who will succeed in the next 5 years? Those that continue to learn and improve themselves. Don’t paint yourself into a corner.
Posted on May 7, 2004 07:12 AM | #
9. DaveP said:
Hi Keith et al.,
I’ve been reading your website for about a month, and I thought it would be appropriate for me to post my first comment here. Unlike most of you I come from an IT, not design background, and I see things a little differently.
I disagree that we are seeing the death (however slow) of the “generalist”. Rich makes a great point that is hard to argue against.
What we are starting to see however, (and don’t shoot me for this) is the death of the “web designer”.
As the web matures, it becomes more and more complex. The days where an artistic general designer can learn some HTML and build a corporate web site are numbered. What we are seeing is the reclamation of the website by the developer. More often the website author is also the same person who set up the web server, database and physical machine.
Is this a good thing? I think so, when done properly. A good developer rarely has the artistic gifts to be a designer with vision, and a good designer rarely has the skill set (or desire even) to troubleshoot a php page that is misbehaving.
When designers move back to the marketing department, and developers return to IT, we benefit from the best of both worlds.
The key I think (as with everything) will be the person who sits in the middle and runs the show.
Posted on May 7, 2004 09:51 AM | #
10. Keith said:
DaveP – I think you’re wrong. Don’t shoot me. ;)
We’re not seeing the death of the “Web” designer at all. “Web” designers are just fine, thank you.
What we are seeing (and really this is just semantic issue) is the death of the “graphic designer who does Web stuff” – as you describe in your second paragraph.
As a Web designer who “sits in the middle” of Marketing and IT, I can say that my skills are essential. Neither marketing or IT are suffeciently equiped to do what I do.
“Artistic skills” have very little to do with good Web design. Also, a good Web designer may very well have the skills and desire to troubleshoot PHP. I would hazard a guess that I’d have a better shot at that than lots of IT folks, to be honest.
But then again my title at the hospital is Lead Web Developer – even though I conside myself a designer and my job is much more like that of a Web producer.
See it’s all just semantics.
Posted on May 7, 2004 10:54 AM | #
11. will said:
I’m more of the generalist type, and I like being that way. The original “Jack of all trades” saying was “Jack of all trades, master of none”. I like to consider myseld a “Jack of All Trades, master of some”.
A specialist is someone who learns more and more about less and less until he/she ends up knowing everything about nothing. How fun is that?!?
Posted on May 7, 2004 01:00 PM | #
12. Gabe said:
This discussion seems to be centered around generalizing vs specializing in technology. Only knowing one language is like putting all your money on one stock; you might profit tremendously, but you’ll just as likely be screwed. You need experience with specifics to be efficient, but you definitely need to be nimble in such a rapidly changing industry.
Specialization also extends to methodologies and clients, however. Specializing in certain types of problems and approaches means having the background that sets you above the competition for certain jobs. Targeting yourself for the business problem is much easier because it’s a slower target than the technology itself (and it means speaking the client’s language).
I strive to maintain equal experience in the front-end design aspects as well as back-end programming issues. I specialize in PHP, MySQL, and Apache because I know they’re not going anywhere, whereas ASP MS-SQL and IIS are just the flavor of the week. I specialize where it suits me, but I keep it general enough to solve entire problems gracefully. This approach suits me because I’m interesting in working for small businesses and other clients with a lean budget.
If I wanted to work for a large corporation then there is very little chance I could get a job where I get to design in Photoshop as well as program in PHP. Specialization is the wave of the future as the Web matures, but with the current state of things, I think the sizable generalist market will persist for several decades. Eventually I may need to specialize, but I should have enough background to delve in-depth quickly. Going the other way is not so easy.
Posted on May 7, 2004 02:29 PM | #
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