Skills overlap
This over-specialization in careers is a by-product of XX-century-style industrialization, where each worker had a perfectly scoped role akin to a cog in a machine.
There are a bunch of skills that are useful in product design and transfer exceptionally well into other areas.
Take the concept of contrast, for example.
The stark contrast produced by #000000 over solid #FFFFFF is not as pleasing as the softer appearance of, say #1d1d1f dark gray over a #f9f9f9 light grey.
Visual designers know this, and it's also used in photography all the time.
The so popular "Instagram Faded Look" is exactly that:
The faded look crushes the shadows, so there's no perfect black, which imitates the look of old analog photography.
The great graphic designer, Massimo Vignelli, used to say, "If you can design one thing, you can design everything."
I believe he meant that the principles of design are universal and perfectly applicable to all sorts of crafts.
This over-specialization in careers is a by-product of XX-century-style industrialization, where each worker had a perfectly scoped role akin to a cog in a machine.
But people are so different from machines.
We can learn all sorts of things and apply them across disciplines.
I'll leave you with the question.
What skills have you learned outside of your day job that have been useful in your career?
Worth thinking about it.