Jeffrey Zeldman: The profession that dare not speak its name

Hypothesis: No one has tried to measure web design because web design has been a hidden profession.

The hypothesis is neither far-fetched nor particularly insightful. If you think about it, it’s obvious. Web design has been hidden because its workers have, for the most part, been masked by old business and old media categories. Call it death by org chart…

I still have a hard time telling people what I do. I have a hard time explaining what I do. There is no succinct way to describe it to the lay person in a way that is meaningful to them. Often I end up with something pithy and semi-humorous, “I make web pages,” or, “I draw pictures for a living.”