The design manager role has grown considerably over the past five years. As design has been recognised as a business value-driver and organisations have increased their design maturity, we’ve seen lots more design management roles being created. The design leadership community is now represented by Slack groups, conferences, meetups, content and books that offer support and guidance for navigating the transition from designer to leader. Through all of this material and rhetoric there is one undeniable theme:

在过去的五年中，设计经理的角色已经大大增加。 由于设计已被认为是业务价值驱动力，并且组织已经提高了设计成熟度，因此我们看到了更多的设计管理角色正在被创建。 现在，Slack小组，会议，聚会，内容和书籍代表了设计领导者社区，它们为从设计师到领导者的过渡提供了支持和指导。 通过所有这些材料和言辞，有一个不可否认的主题：

Becoming a design manager is really hard

成为一名设计经理真的很难

It’s as simple as that. This shit is really difficult.

就这么简单。 这狗屎真的很难。

People are struggling, stressed out, and having to figure out new ways of working. But why is it so hard? There is a growing demand for community support in this field, in a way that isn’t as overt for product management and engineering. I decided to take a look at why our community is calling out for help.

人们正在苦苦挣扎，压力重重，不得不寻找新的工作方式。 但是为什么这么难？ 在这一领域，对社区支持的需求与日俱增，但这种方式在产品管理和工程设计方面并不明显。 我决定看一下为什么我们的社区呼吁寻求帮助。

是什么让一个好的设计师 (What makes a good designer)

Designers often describe their profession as an obsession. Sometimes it’s referred to as ‘the designers' disease’. People often say that it’s not something that can be switched off and once you open your eyes to design, you’ll see it everywhere.

设计师经常将他们的职业描述为一种痴迷。 有时，它被称为“设计师病”。 人们经常说这不是可以关闭的东西，一旦睁开眼睛进行设计，您到处都会看到它。

The design community has a tendency to fetishise people like Steve Jobs and Stanley Kubrick and pore over stories about them being entrenched in the minute detail — dedicating hours of their lives worrying about the tiniest (some say insignificant) details. Designers who are willing to go to this level of detail are considered to be good at their craft.

设计界倾向于迷恋史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)和斯坦利·库布里克(Stanley Kubrick)之类的人，并仔细研究有关他们被牢牢抓住的细节的故事，这使他们一生中的时间都在担心最细微的(有些人说微不足道的)细节。 愿意进行此类详细设计的设计师被认为是擅长于手艺。

Good designers are often anxious people and their desire to design comes from an underlying need to control. Designers take comfort in making sense where they see a mess, and fixing the things around them.

优秀的设计师通常是急切的人，他们对设计的渴望来自对控制的潜在需求。 设计师在看到混乱的地方并保持其周围的事物的感觉很自在。

A working designer has the continual satisfaction of seeing their work out in the world. When I recently asked a group of designers what was the most satisfying part of their jobs, 95% of them said it was ‘seeing an output’. The work of a designer has a visible outcome. A designed solution that, more often than not, will be built/produced and shipped. Thus creating a body of tangible work.

一位工作的设计师一直对在世界上看到自己的作品感到满意。 当我最近问一群设计师时，什么是他们的工作中最令人满意的部分，其中95％的人说这是“看到成果”。 设计师的工作有明显的成果。 一种经过设计的解决方案，通常会制造/生产和交付。 从而创造了有形的工作体系。

是什么使一个好的经理 (What makes a good manager)

Getting painstakingly close to the details and focussing on outputs are not the traits of a good manager. With around 85% of today’s design leaders coming from design practitioner roles, you can see why the switch can prove difficult. In short, the skills that made you a good designer, will not make you a good manager.

刻苦接近细节并专注于产出并不是好经理的特征。 如今，约有85％的设计领导者来自设计从业人员角色，您可以了解为什么转换会变得困难。 简而言之，使您成为优秀设计师的技能不会使您成为优秀的经理 。

The outcome of a recent study by Google, confirmed that a good manager ‘empowers the team instead of micromanaging’. The manager role is no longer responsible for taking care of the micro-level details but is now also measured by the output of their team. The body of work now belongs to the designers in the team, not the manager. Instead, a design manager is responsible for fixing all the invisible problems and messes found between people (e.g. org design, workflow, tools, role definitions).

Google最近的一项研究结果证实，优秀的经理“赋予团队权力，而不是微观管理”。 经理角色不再负责处理微观细节，而现在也由其团队的产出来衡量。 现在，工作主体属于团队中的设计师，而不是经理。 相反，设计经理负责修复人与人之间发现的所有不可见的问题和混乱(例如组织设计，工作流，工具，角色定义)。

A designer shifting to a manager role has to shift his/her toolset from Figma and Framer to strategy communication, team reputation and skills development. You will have a wider remit, but less control of the details.

担任经理职位的设计师必须将他/她的工具集从Figma和Framer转移到战略沟通，团队声誉和技能发展上。 您的职权范围会更广，但对细节的控制会更少。

According to Forbes an essential quality of a great leader is decisiveness. Citing that “ bosses who aren’t decisive are often ineffective”. This does not play well with the design philosophy of continual iteration, test and learn cycles and in-depth discovery phases.

据《福布斯》(Forbes)称 ，伟大领导者的基本素质是果断。 援引“ 没有决定性的老板通常是无效的” 。 这与连续迭代，测试和学习周期以及深入发现阶段的设计原理不能很好地配合。

从IC(个人贡献者)过渡到设计经理的影响 (The impact of transitioning from IC (individual contributor) to design manager)

I wanted to understand more about the impact of transitioning to a management role on designers’ wellbeing so I ran a survey with more than 175 design leaders from around the world.

我想了解更多有关过渡到管理角色对设计师的幸福感的影响的信息，所以我对来自全球的175位以上设计负责人进行了调查 。

While the majority of respondents (74.5%) said they were satisfied with their current role, 60% also said they wouldn’t be happy taking a bigger role, indicating a state of unease with their position.

虽然大多数受访者(74.5％)表示对目前的职位感到满意，但60％的受访者也表示不愿意担任更大的职位，这表明他们对自己的职位感到不安。

As we all know, feeling supported is a key part of being comfortable in any role, however 73.4% said they have no mentor or coach, and 38% said they did not feel adequately supported by their manager. When you consider that feedback it’s no wonder that a whopping 84.7% of design leaders surveyed said that they feel a lot of pressure in their roles and 83.9% have felt burnt-out. So the evidence supports the opinion that people have been struggling.

众所周知，获得支持是任何角色都能自如的关键，但是73.4％的人说他们没有辅导员或教练，而38％的人说他们没有得到上司的充分支持。 当您考虑这些反馈意见时，不足为奇的是，接受调查的84.7％的设计负责人表示，他们的角色承受了很大的压力，而83.9％的设计负责人感到倦怠。 因此，证据支持人们一直在挣扎的观点。

These numbers paint an unpleasant picture, but there is a bright side. The majority of respondents stated that they feel (emotionally or socially) close to the people they work with, feel optimistic about their future and most importantly are keen to be better managers. All are all key aspects to good mental wellbeing according to the NHS.

这些数字描绘出令人不快的画面，但有一个好的方面。 大多数受访者表示，他们(在情感上或社会上)感觉与所工作的人亲近，对自己的未来感到乐观，最重要的是渴望成为更好的管理者。 根据NHS的说法，所有这些都是良好心理健康的关键方面。

应对风暴的帮助和指导 (Help & guidance for navigating the storm)

Today the design practice is not mature enough to have pure management track all the way from education to retirement, but what follows is a list of tips that I’ve relied on to help transition from designer to design leader.

如今，设计实践还不够成熟，无法实现从教育到退休的全过程管理，但以下是我赖以帮助从设计师过渡到设计领导者的一系列技巧。

1. Make an outlet for your creative cravings

   为您的创意渴望提供出口

   You shouldn’t switch off your enjoyment for creating and seeing outputs, so look for a new channel e.g. side projects, learning new skills, sketchbooks.

   您不应该关闭创建和查看输出的乐趣，而是寻找新的渠道，例如辅助项目，学习新技能，写生簿。

2. Change what you wear when you get home

   回家时改变你穿的衣服

   This small action has proven mental health benefits. The process of discarding your workwear helps distinguish you, from your work. Also, think carefully about your lanyard. When the day is over remove it from your body, so you’re no longer tagged by your employer.

   这种小动作已证明对精神健康有益。 丢弃工作服的过程有助于您与工作区分开。 另外，请仔细考虑您的挂绳。 一天结束后，将其从您的身体上移开，这样您就不会再被雇主标记了。

3. Interject your book pile with non-work titles

   在书本中插入非工作标题

   Learning more about your work and developing your knowledge is important, but should not be your only source of learning and growth.

   了解更多有关您的工作和发展知识很重要，但不应成为您学习和成长的唯一来源。

4. Keep a notepad close by, especially by the bed

   将记事本放在附近，尤其是在床上

   Get good at lists – particularly at the end of the day. Carrying work thoughts around is exhausting, so get them out of your head.

   精通清单-尤其是在一天结束时。 随身携带工作想法很累，所以要把它们从脑子里弄出来。

5. Don’t send messages out-of-hours

   不要在下班时间发送消息

   By all means, draft notes or messages when inspiration or clarity strikes, but don’t send anything late at night or very early morning. It sets a bad example in your team and a precedent that you’re never out of contact.

   一定要在灵感或清晰度清晰时起草笔记或消息，但不要在深夜或清晨发送任何东西。 这在您的团队中树立了一个不好的榜样，并为您提供了永不中断的先例。

6. Own your inbox and your calendar

   拥有您的收件箱和日历

   A manager’s time and attention are precious. It’s very easy to get swept away with ad-hoc demands. Try setting times for dealing with emails each day and holding time in your calendar for getting tasks done.

   经理的时间和精力是宝贵的。 被临时需求扫除很容易。 尝试设置每天处理电子邮件的时间，并在日历中保留时间以完成任务。