Some of what makes Salesforce so special is its propensity for change and creating new opportunities so the ecosystem’s experts can grow.
After Salesforce announced its newest career path, Salesforce Designer, and the Salesforce User Experience (UX) Designer Certification, we surveyed the 10K Expert community for their initial thoughts about the certification:
- More than 25% of respondents consider the certification a “must-get”
- 13% don’t see the value
- Almost 7% don’t have an opinion
- And more than 50% hadn’t heard of it yet
We realized this was an excellent opportunity to help clarify what Salesforce design is (and isn’t), the role design plays in making every Salesforce solution sing, and how the UX designer certification is intended to help advance every type of Salesforce career in the ecosystem.
The rise of Salesforce design
Design, in its broadest definition, is an intentional, iterative, human-centric approach to innovation and problem-solving that puts people first. So whether you’re an administrator, architect, marketer, or any role in between, every type of Salesforce expert at every experience level stands to gain an edge by sharpening their design knowledge.
Across the Salesforce ecosystem, design skills are also more in-demand than ever before.
From Design Strategy to User Experience, Salesforce Designers, despite not having a defined Salesforce career path until recently, have been working in different forms and capacities over the years throughout the ecosystem.
Let’s put the rise of the user experience (UX) designer into perspective. Ten years ago, Salesforce had about 2,500 employees with only a handful of User Experience designers. Fast forward to today, after a series of strategic acquisitions and major organic growth, and Salesforce now has a significant design footprint in both capacity and design role specializations, including design operations, inclusive design, conversation design, and design strategy to name a few.
A common misconception is that design is just about making things look pretty.
Across the Salesforce ecosystem, design skills are also more in-demand than ever before. According to data from Burning Glass Technologies, in 2019, Salesforce job posts requiring at least one design skill included:
- Salesforce Administrators, 15% of job postings
- Salesforce Developers, 41% of job postings
- Salesforce Architects, 37% of job postings
- Salesforce Consultants, 27% of job postings
Every Salesforce expert already practices design thinking
A common misconception is that design is just about making things look pretty. That’s absolutely part of the equation, but it’s also about making things work quickly, efficiently, and effectively to enhance the user experience, build loyalty, elevate trust, and increase adoption.
Every Salesforce expert in the ecosystem providing a service practices aspects of design-thinking. If you’re an administrator that edits Salesforce page layouts or a developer that builds new Lightning components, then you’re using elements of the design process to make things happen. The Salesforce UX Designer certification can help expand the skills that are essential to building customizations that lead to better usability, increased user adoption, and happier users.
The Salesforce Designer role is for anyone who aspires to design human-centered experiences on the Salesforce platform.
The Salesforce Designer role is for anyone who aspires to design human-centered experiences on the Salesforce platform. It’s also an opportunity for more Salesforce experts to co-create solutions that are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable — the three primary components of Salesforce Relationship Design.
Why the Salesforce Designer deserves its own career path
Since its inception, user-centered design practices have been essential to creating success on the Salesforce platform. But it wasn’t until 2019 that Salesforce recognized the necessity of giving Salesforce Designers a defined career path while skilling up all roles on design with the Trailhead platform of solutions.
Salesforce now has a crystal clear view of what good design should look like.
Adam Doti is VP and Principal Design Architect for Salesforce Design which sits at the intersection of product, design strategy, services, and creative. He was the driving force behind making the new Salesforce Designer role a reality. Adam recognized the timing was just right for defining this new role, and with the support of partners like IBM, Salesforce now has a crystal clear view of what good design should look like.
“I felt this was our [Salesforce’s] responsibility. Considering the sheer growth of the ecosystem, the amount, and the speed of new tech we’re innovating, the role of design is super important. It will help upskill our ecosystem’s experts while providing a platform to be successful as a professional Designer. Having good design and being driven by a design-minded approach will help experts co-create better solutions with their communities. Then you’re in a better position than just building tech for technology’s sake.”
Defining and celebrating the Salesforce Designer role will enable more experts to level up their careers, deepen their design practices, and create better outcomes for customers.
How to level up your Salesforce career with the User Experience (UX) Designer certification
Defining and celebrating the Salesforce Designer role will enable more experts to level up their careers, deepen their design practices, and create better outcomes for customers.
You can learn more about the UX Designer certification here.
Check out these Trailmixes to help you become one of the first in the ecosystem to get certified UX design and expand your Salesforce design skills:
