Continuing the discussion from Information that will change our lives. 
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I personally choose to work as a unicorn early in my career. It was my persnoal intereset to work as unicorn, not forced.
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Thatās an interesting point that you make. We tend to talk about āunicornsā in an almost negative way ā I guess because people are frequently pushed into the role ā when it isnāt necessarily. What were the upsides for you @jaisonjustus?
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The main benefit that I got working as a unicorn are -
- Better coordinating with front end team
- understand how interfaces are implemented.
- understand the underlying technologies of all product i worked and pros and cons of each of them.
- I do a lot of hobby projects, Sometimes I design apps to and my knowledge of programming helps to prototype it and see.
- understanding the new technologies that help improve interface implementations (eg: javascript framework, animation libraries etc.)
But more than anything, The main benefit that I felt is to understand the feelings and pressure of a front-end developer, and most of the time I am able to support my friends when they are technically challenged.
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Hi everyone,
Is this what we call a āgeneralistā?
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Yes, it is. Thanks for clarifying ā I imagine others were wondering the same thing.
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Yep 
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Thanks for the confirmation. 
For me as a newbie Iāll work as a generalist for a while to experience all the design process. What do you think guys?
I agree with @jaisonjustus. For as long as Iāve been working in the industry it has been my experience that the person willing to wear a lot of different hats is the person still working when layoffs occur.
I consistently try not to be the guy that says, āthatās not my job.ā
At the end of the day, being able to do lots of different things is what provides insight to pain points and processes. All of these combined make you more valuable to the organization.
With that said, being able to properly prioritize a large variety of taskings is probably the hardest thing about ābeing a unicorn.ā
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That is a VERY good point.
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Not only is this a great strategy for surviving in a down economy, but it can really help your career along the way.
Iāve been able to rise up the ranks in the design and development world by adding value to the companies I worked for. By picking up new projects and skills, you only highlight what youāre capable of doing, and you help people see you for what you could be, instead of simply what you currently are.
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Can anyone help me out here pleaseā¦ what exactly is a unicorn? I thought I knew but now Iām doubting myself! 
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Here you go: the UX Unicorn
It essentially refers to someone that is expected to be able to do all of the things.
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That link is amazing!
So is a ux unicorn not a good thing? Or is it a bit like Jack of all trades, master of none?
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It has a reputation as not being a good thing, in that employers tend to be unrealistic about their expectations, but as @jaisonjustus mentioned, there are definite benefits. I think itās all about communication and making sure what you want and what you ask for are the same things.
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Iām self-studying to become a unicorn, kind ofā¦ where I live there are lots of startups, and one way to get into the field/get experience is to pitch my skills to them. And they donāt have money for a 10-person UX department.
Itās a bit daunting at firstā¦ but Iām getting my learning schedule figured out so I stay hopeful. 
Also I donāt know what I might be asked to work on for my first job so Iām broadening my skills. I donāt agree with the āmaster of noneā ending to the adage. I believe that you can dabble in many things and eventually deepen your understanding of your favourite things and stay up-to-date in the rest.
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I would put a slightly more specific spin on the popular definition of a UX Unicorn as being someone who both designs the UX and then can actually CODE the real product - so a designer/developer.
If a person is a UXer but is also say doing interaction design, visual design, animation design, info architecture or any of the myriad closely related disciplines I wouldnāt consider that necessarily as being Unicorn-ish but I am, admittedly, being picky on my definitions here.
My reasoning has to do with the perceived split between ādesignerā types and ādeveloperā types in terms of what they feel most comfortable, most qualified to do both in terms of interest and capabilities. There are always going to be a few superstars who actually feel equally comfortable in both areas but, Iāve found any way, most people who call themselves Unicorns actually only dabble in one area while considering themselves professional in the other.
I am a BIG proponent of designers being technically aware and trying to learn as much as they can about development but I donāt think they actually need to be hands-on coders themselves - unless they want to be Unicorns!
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Iāve been at my company for a number of years. The team is small, and I was initially hired as a junior web designer/front-end developer, but throughout the years Iāve had to learn print design, animation, mobile design, interaction design, creation of iPad apps, Wordpress administration/customization, PHP, user interface design, information architecture, you get the pictureā¦ the culmination of which has evolved into my current role as a User Experience Designer. I love to learn and have been fortunate enough to get paid to do it.
It has been a magical ride, but I am no Unicorn. I would consider myself to have a T-shaped skill set. I have skills in which I excel, and some that I am merely proficient in, and I have the wisdom to know which is which
I wouldnāt change any of it. Iāve benefited from all of it. However, it can be a daunting position to be in. Technology changes at breakneck speed, and keeping up with - as an example - the latest libraries, frameworks, accessibility issues, standards, etc. takes a lot of time and energy. Look at this list of deliverables for UX alone. I get tired just looking at that.
I would never discourage anyone from learning as much as they can, but expectations need to realistic for both yourself and your team/manager/company.
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Iāve never heard of this I, T and X shaped person, sounds very interesting. This might be a stupid question but how do you work out what type you are?
The following is subjective and my interpretation only. I would classify I-shaped as someone who has a depth of knowledge in one area but unable to effectively collaborate or understand the perspectives of other roles - many times because of lack of experience; T-shaped as being multidisciplinary with a specialty in one area and an ability to bring that knowledge & perspective into projects; and an X type as a Super-T with experience in management, strategy and leading teams.
For instance, a UXer that is T shaped and has learned about programming logic or web technologies will have a better understanding of a technical constraint that a developer might have with a particular feature that theyād like to implement. So, if the developer says she canāt do x-y-z because thatās client-side and this stuff is server-side - they understand that - sometimes not wholly, but enough to figure out a work around.
In my opinion, most UXers appear to be T-shaped. If you look at this venn diagram of the disciplines that make up User Experience, itās quite expansive. I think it would be difficult to not incorporate that knowledge in a collaborative environment.
BTW - note this quote when reviewing the diagram in order to avoid the onset of panic (ha ha):
To think anyone could be an expert in each of these circles is sheer absurdity. Scratch that: To think any designer could be an expert in each of these circles is sheer absurdity, but to recognize that every end user is an expert in each of these circles is highly important.
You can also read Tim Brownās original interview.