The Challenge

Imagine a scenario in which one designer says to another, “I accepted a job at a company in industry A right out of school because I had no choice, but now, years later, I want to explore industry B. The problem is that companies only want people with domain knowledge and direct experience.” How might a person transition from designing healthcare platforms to working on tools for construction and operations?

For many professionals in UX and product design, the idea that we must stay within a single vertical—such as healthcare, financial technology, or e-commerce—becomes a self-imposed limitation. Let’s broaden our options. What if we treated our industry experience not as a box, but as a launchpad?

A few months ago, I faced this same challenge during my job search. Most companies I spoke with wanted designers with vertical expertise, that is, deep experience in a single industry, such as healthcare or financial technology. They wanted to hire designers who “know the field” and were seeking a shorter ramp-up time and faster deliverables (Cooper 2023). To cross industries and establish a foothold in the target industry or dream companies, we need to identify our transferable horizontal strengths, such as storytelling, systems thinking, and user empathy. We need to frame our work in ways that resonate beyond a single field.

For example, I’ve designed an internal healthcare system that helps clinicians handle patients’ requests more efficiently. When I first started job hunting, nearly all my interviews were with healthcare companies, including electronic health record (EHR) systems, hospital portals, and similar tools. I felt frustrated. Healthcare is a mission-driven industry, but some bureaucratic issues feel beyond what design alone can fix. I wanted to be in an environment where design could drive a bigger impact.

As I talked with designers from other industries, I realized that, although our audiences and business models differ, the core design challenges (such as information density, opinionated stakeholders, and UX debt) are often the same (Pandey 2025). Every company still needs designers to solve complex problems thoughtfully (Vallejo 2025), something AI tools like Cursor™ or Lovable™ can’t yet do.

Reframing Transferable Skills

I expanded my research to identify the things I did that AI couldn’t. AI can quickly generate layouts and ideas, but AI lacks critical thinking and contextual awareness; AI doesn’t understand how features connect, evolve, or support long-term goals (Rintel 2025). That’s when it clicked for me: Companies don’t hire designers just to make industry-specific mockups. They hire us to think holistically, strategically, and humanely (Designlab 2022). I started reflecting on my past work, and I distilled it into three key strengths. When I position myself, my strengths aren’t limited to healthcare UX but reframed around three transferable skills.

1. Systems thinking and workflow design:
Whether you’re scheduling hospital shifts or managing crews in a construction setting, the challenge is the same: complex processes and legacy platforms. This experience applies across industry boundaries: I help simplify those systems, modernize outdated flows, and unify fragmented operations.

2. Internal tools and enterprise UX:
High-stakes internal systems exist in every industry, not just healthcare. Every business-to-business (B2B) or operations-heavy company needs designers who can take a 360° view to optimize a holistic product lifecycle. This experience applies across industry boundaries: I build strong relationships with operations teams, improve collaboration between product and ops, and create effective feedback loops to surface and address operational pain points.

3. Balancing tech debt and user goals:
Traditional industries often rely on legacy software, creating engineering and design constraints. This experience applies across industry boundaries: My secret power as a designer is to map a future vision while breaking it down into achievable milestones for the product team.

Now, with the rise of AI, many traditional sectors such as logistics, energy, and manufacturing are rethinking how automation can transform their operations. They’re looking for designers who understand complexity and systems, not just those who’ve been in the industry.

Of course, you’ll still hear, “But you don’t know our domain.” And yes, there’s always a learning curve. But curiosity and the ability to learn quickly are universal strengths.

How to Identify Your Transferable Skills

The design mindset of empathy, structure, and iteration stays constant. When you can identify what you bring to the core of your work and can articulate it clearly, you gain freedom. That’s the key to moving from vertical experience to horizontal growth. Here are some tips to identify transferable skills.

1. Revisit your past projects.

Identify what makes your design solutions unique. What did you do that an AI tool couldn’t easily replicate? Reflect on why you made impactful decisions and what insights guided them.

• Talk with other people.

Chat with designer friends, mentors, or even people outside the design field about what you’ve built and the problems you’re solving. You might hear, “That sounds similar to what I’ve seen in [another field],” and realize your work has value far beyond your current industry.

• Research target industries.

Find companies or sectors you’d love to work in and craft a narrative that connects your past projects to their challenges. Highlight how your skills and perspective can bring unique value to their teams.

Resources

Cooper, K. 2023. “Is UX Design Still an In-Demand Career in 2025?” Springboard Blog, May 30.

Designlab. 2022. “Product Design Skills: What Hiring Companies Are Looking For.” Designlab Blog, September 23.

Pandey, S. 2025. “Enterprise UX Design in 2025: Challenges and Best Practices.” Tenet Blog, September 19.

Rintel, S., L. Reicherts, L. Tankelevitch, A. Sarkar, P. Ghosh, and R. Banks. 2025. “The Future of AI in Knowledge Work: Tools for Thought at CHI 2025.” Microsoft Research Blog, April 18.

Vallejo, P. F. 2025. “Redefine Your Design Skills to Prepare for AI.” Nielsen Norman Group, January 3.

More Reading

D’Orlic, M. 2025. “Soft Skills Matter Now More Than Ever, According to New Research.” Harvard Business Review, August 26.

Warren, S. 2024. “Six Human Skills That Will Future-Proof Your Design Career.” Adobe Design Stories, July 10.