For years, design was considered the last step in the corporate business plan. Programming, even more so. But with the increasing convergence of disciplines in today's top creative firms, the business world has taken notice, introducing design more deeply into its operations than ever before. To offer strategic recommendations that are grounded in a real-world understanding of the technologies, companies, and markets at play, consultancies – and their clients – have turned to the iterative validation of design. For this process to be possible, the technology team's function has adapted, as well, moving away from the pure implementation of ideas into a more collaborative role. No longer can or should there be a hand-off from designer to technologist, but rather a communion that pushes the limits of what is possible, technically, visually, and strategically.

The traditional digital design workflow – in which designers give a completed specification to the development team for execution – is being quickly replaced by a methodology favoring rapid prototyping, reflection, and refinement. This practice is a far more efficient way of validating concepts, because it allows solutions to be put in front of both the client and the target audience much sooner. Feedback can be incorporated and designs adjusted in response to these initial prototypes. This period of trial-and-error requires that the technology team be involved from step one, helping not only to create the prototypes, but to translate the user feedback into feasible technical solutions.

A new role has emerged to meet these dual needs of programming and design: the technologist. A technologist must possess the skills necessary not only to program an application, but to contribute to the design itself. He must understand the principles of interaction design, human-computer interaction, motion, and many other elements that traditionally fall to the designer.