When the job description stops holding
Product teams are no longer staying in their assigned lanes. PMs spin up prototypes, developers edit designs, and designers produce fully coded mocks. The cause is a familiar one: faster iteration cycles and AI tools that let people work further up the stack. As those roles stretch, the unwritten rules of collaboration are being rewritten too.
Numbers behind the shift
To quantify the trend, Figma worked with independent research firms to study how job functions are evolving across disciplines. The findings show just how common it is to wear multiple hats:
- 64% of product builders identify with two or more roles.
- 56% of non-designers handle design-related work.
That overlap is changing how teams manage time and organize their workflows, forcing individuals and organizations alike to rethink how they cooperate.
Illustrations by Saehan Parc
