KC, this is exactly right. I shared many of the same ideas in No, not everyone is a designer.

We’ve both come to similar conclusions:

1. Everyone is a designer and problem solver in their lives, but that doesn’t make them a *product designer*.

2. Everyone can be involved in the design process, but it’s up to the designer to be the expert who can facilitate that process to ensure the best ideas surface from the right people and the right time.

3. A designer’s value is in taking that disparate feedback and translating it into a coherent course of action, and then having the skill to execute those ideas.