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So basically, the role of "web designer" is becoming obsolete for small projects, as people are taking notice web developers got their way path open to doing design tasks for peanuts, and conversely, web designers have to upscale their toolset to match the demand. Like, no one would list "React" in a designer's toolset like this article did UNLESS if the process was borderline a copy paste work.
Race to the bottom says it all.
Not necessarily obsolete. If the guy wants to do better, he should try to learn some of those AI tools. He's not being replaced by AI, he's being replaced by someone who uses AI to boost productivity
Doing better by... becoming one of the superset of the role, which includes Designer+Developer.
That effectively makes the designer as a solo role obsolete, and was what I was saying in my post.
But as productivity increases, doesn't that mean you need fewer people to do the same work, so people are still being put out of a job? I doubt that there are so many people needing web designers.
That's assuming that there's a fixed amount of work to be done. If the cost of getting a job done goes down, more people will be interested in that work.
In this case, perhaps you'll have more repeat clients, or more small businesses will choose to make a site than did previously.
Also, since there's likely fewer people needed to do basic design work (even if that market grows), more people would upskill to work on larger applications. My company struggles to find qualified FE engineers, since many are simply web designers. We can and do train them, but ideally we'd have a greater selection of people who already have the skills we're looking for.
Regular maintenance is still necessary, as well as keeping up with modern design standards. And more productivity just means increased sales as long as there are clients present
Design doesn't take any maintenance. Design additions and changes yes, but for small businesses those are rare. And redesigns to be modern are even rarer, often only happening after nearly a decade, if at all.
More productivity just means increased sales if there are clients present, yes, but that's a very big if. Most small businesses get one simple site to be their web presence, then have no need to change it for years.
Better to see more creativity then the real solution most small businesses go for of just making a face book page and letting FB handle their design for them.