Full-Stack Designer is a designer that takes a full range of responsibilities in the design process: from user research, to ideation, to wireframing, and prototyping in code (HTML/CSS/JavaScript), and testing the designs.

Full-Stack Designer is rarely used as a job title. Typically the job posting would call for a UX Designer, Product Designer, or Web Designer. In rare cases, UX/UI Designer, or UX Developer can mean Full Stack Designer.

The term “full stack” came out of software development world, where front-end and back-end developers are common roles. Full-stack developer would be someone who takes responsibilities of both: front-end and back-end. In design world, there is no clear separation between the roles, but the term still exists. In design circles full stack designer is often referred to as unicorn (a mythical creature that doesn’t exist).

There are different schools of thought about design roles and responsibilities. Some believe that unicorns do not exist, while others embrace the fact that a designer might have to take a range of responsibilities and fill in different roles. Some say designers don’t need to know how to code at all, while others believe that being able to code the designs is a requirement. Typically the actual role is defined by the company, and even by the project within a company, so it might change drastically for an individual designer many times throughout the career.

I believe in T-shaped designers, so my personal view is that every designer has to be proficient enough in all areas of design, and should be able to code (at a level similar to a front-end developer) to put together a prototype in HTML/CSS and JavaScript.

More on Full Stack Designers

There are couple excellent articles on full stack designers that can check out:

• What is a Full Stack Designer? Will You Be One? by Trista Liu
• Why I believe in full stack designers by Damian Horn
• Becoming a UX Unicorn by Jared Spool
• The Unicorn Designer – Full Stack Designer by Cindy Botha

And a book that I highly recommend for any UX designer:

• The User Experience Team of One by Leah Buley (buy it on Amazon)

It is not really about full stack designers, nor unicorns, but about real UX designers just like you and me.