In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick become the "Design Mythbusters" and tackle the biggest misconceptions about UX design that both designers and non-designers believe.

From the idea that UX is just about making things pretty to the pressure of getting everything right the first time, they bust (or confirm) myths that hold you back in your design career.

Tyler shares his perspective as a senior product designer in-house, while Nick brings his freelance experience to debunk these widespread beliefs.

They explore myths from both sides; what stakeholders wrongly believe about designers, but also what designers tell themselves that creates unnecessary stress and limitations.

Here's what's on the table in this episode:

🔸 Why "UX is just about making things pretty" isn't wrong
🔸 The myth that UX designers create "delightful" experiences
🔸 Why you don't need to get everything right the first time
🔸 The accessibility myth of "we haven't heard any complaints"
🔸 How to balance pretty AND useful design
🔸 Why UX designers don't hold all the keys to user experience
🔸 The pressure to shoulder all responsibility for design decisions
🔸 Case study number inflation and why 2% improvements are impressive
🔸 The "it depends" answer and when it's actually helpful
🔸 Whether you need a traditional art background to be a UX designer
🔸 How AI myths are creating unnecessary fear in the design community

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👋 More about Tyler and Nick

In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick are trying to untangle the confusing world of design job titles and their many, many variations. From UX designer to product designer to the emerging UX engineer role and everything inbetween.

They share what each title actually means, their differences, and how to survive the ever-changing landscape of design careers today.

Also, Tyler shares his experience as a senior product designer in-house, while Nick explains his approach as a freelancer who uses "UX and Product Designer" to catch different types of clients. They discuss the evolution from web designer to the current product design trend, and upcomgin roles like UX engineer that challenge the lines between design and development.

Here's what's on the table in this episode:

🔸 Why Nick uses both "UX" and "Product" designer in his title (it's an SEO play)
🔸 How design titles evolved from web designer to today's product designer
🔸 The difference between UI, UX, and product design roles
🔸 Why larger companies need more specialized design roles
🔸 What service design and customer experience (CX) roles actually do
🔸 The rise of UX engineer and what it means for designers who code
🔸 How AI is helping designers learn development skills
🔸 Why "user" vs "customer" language matters more than you think
🔸 The Pokemon evolution of design careers (and what comes next)
🔸 Senior vs junior titles and how they affect your career progression

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👋 More about Tyler and Nick

In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick talk about the actual day-to-day of being a product designer and how it is very different from what social media tells you.

One's an in-house designer while the other is a freelancer. Both have over a decade of on-the-job design experience. Together, they discuss how AI creates overlap between design, product, and engineering, and why good design often looks like you're doing nothing at all.

They also share what real design-client collaboration looks like, how to stay strategic without losing your momentum, and what to do when your best design work gets shelved by stakeholders.

Here's what's on the table in the rest of the episode.

🔸 What your job actually is as a product designer
🔸 The hidden work behind design decisions
🔸 How to collaborate across product, design, and engineering
🔸 Why most “bad design” is just the result of unclear priorities
🔸 The myth of pixel-perfect design in real teams
🔸 How to handle feedback from non-design stakeholders
🔸 What separates strategic designers from execution-only roles
🔸 How to protect your energy and sanity as a designer

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👋 More about Tyler and Nick