I agree, 20% sounds about right. But designers are rarely high in the food chain—they receive requirements, they receive feedback, they receive timelines. A lot

I agree, 20% sounds about right. But designers are rarely high in the food chain—they receive requirements, they receive feedback, they receive timelines. A lot of the bad "design" comes before the interface gets worked on. These aren't really two way conversations. Much of the arguments engineers lose to non-technical leaders have the same dynamics. Except that the engineering function, if not an individual engineer, generally has more sway. Tech companies aren't organized well to make good products. Functional managers, like a design manager, are pretty toothless—their role is a middle man between the designer and frankly nothing. And a product manager (in many ways, the designer's real boss) has their own priorities.