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Play of the Week newsletter by Chris
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Newsletter issue: #157
Read time: 0m 51s
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Shopify just nuked “UX Designer” from existence.
Their CDO Carl Rivera dropped this bomb: “If you design, you’re a Designer. If you write, you’re a Writer.”
No more UX. No more Content Design.
Just… Designer.
My first thought? “Damn, glad I quit before this identity crisis hit.”
My second? “This is either genius or complete chaos.”
I’ve been on both sides of this war.
As Head of Design, I hired “UX Designers” who couldn’t design basic interfaces.
I also hired “Graphic Designers” who understood user psychology better than most UXers.
The titles were always weird anyway.
But Rivera’s reasoning hits different: “AI enables anyone to make things usable. Our job is to make them unforgettable.”
Translation: AI killed your wireframe job. Time to develop taste.
The pushback is real though:
“Who handles research now?”
“What about accessibility?”
“Is Shopify just copying Duolingo?"
Valid questions.
But after 10 years watching designers get lost in process instead of craft…
Maybe we needed this slap in the face.
Stop clinging to your title.
Start sharpening your judgment.
AI can handle the functional.
Your edge is taste, intuition, and a point of view.
P.S. The real tea is in the full article (including the one thing every designer needs to do right now).
