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Great post! As I am working in a new product team, with more designers, I am understanding to let designers do what they do best - so I need to do something else, and like you said, what I bring to the table is the business side of things. I am not going to tell a designer which button to put, which color, or how to structure things, then we don't need PM. It's always the business / marketing part, in my opinion, and so I will focus on developing my skills on that side

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This was a great read. I wonder though... Of all the tasks that could be 'Design', and all the tasks that could be 'Product'... Who does what? Which ones are shared? Which ones are being 'falsely' assigned to Product?

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Great points on how Product repackage the old ideas as their own. If I may, I found your point on specialization and collaboration vague and conflicting. Specialization inherently creates some “territory,” and that’s necessary because we need quality and accountability. Collaboration doesn’t negate specialization. Our goal shouldn't be to blur boundaries but to build respect across roles. When it comes to Design/UX discipline, respect from others is often missing. The repackaging(gaslighting) points you brought also proves that. We can't leave it at "deep cross-functional collaboration is needed". Imho, we need to talk about: Who leads what, and why? When does input matter and when to defer to the expert.

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