Fire the "web designer"

Would the analogy be hire a DBA, Sys Admin, Back-end Developer and a Front-end Developer? Programmers have really stepped it up in the past few years and I feel that the UX/UI/X designer group hasn't. I don't know about you but I'm going to wait and hire the person who can do all these tasks. It's true they are rare but not because it's hard, but because they got lazy and didn't adapt to the web. Sounds a lot like Madison Ave doesn't it.

If you're a startup, what you really want is people who can do all of the above. And even better if that person is you.

intro: the missing link "User experience designer"<p>Oh shit another title; that those of us that work at small companies - will have to explain why we don't need.<p>*looks like a solution looking for a problem.

Many graphic designers I've met think CSS is a once-yearly conference in Vegas. I consider a "web designer" to be a superset of a graphic designer. They can do everything a traditional GD can, plus break it down into html/css (the cleaner the better).<p>I value them more highly than the user experience designer, because it's considerably easier to improve the user experience. Focus groups and a/b testing are fairly easy to implement and allow you to make great strides in a short period of time (the latter is obviously not true if you have little traffic though).<p>I can run an a/b test in far less time than I can make a great looking site.

I doubt there's a YC-type startup that can employ a full time UX designer, or needs to, really.<p>IIRC I once read that Amazon employs <i>one</i> UI dedicated person. It makes sense, since UX (no offense to UX experts) tends to be less work intensive than code or design - you don't spend hours pixel pushing or debugging. And if you're not the NY Times or Amazon, you can do fine by hiring a consultant when needed. Or you just take the Zappos/Craigslist route, and listen to no one but your users.<p>BTW, a title like "Fire Your x" is lame. Firing someone should be a last resort, not something you do after reading a couple of blog posts.

When I first moved to the Bay Area, I was really surprised at the number of UX and usability positions that required a background in graphic design.<p>It's why I like the role of product manager in a startup. There are few people who have an engineering and UX research/design background, and it's one of the few situations I can use both competencies.