As a writer on Medium with strong opinions about the platform and media in general, I read the job offer with interest.

If I understand it correctly, Medium seeks an individual who can help overcome the recently popping up problems. I might have misread the job description, but my impression is that Medium sees the source of the problems in the technicalities of the platform operation. Consequently, I perceive that Medium expects from the candidate design skills, which could fix the current disruptions. In that approach, Medium expects miracles from the new hire because I see the source of problems not in the platform design but in the business concept.

The biggest challenge of Medium is in retaining readers. As I wrote it almost four years ago, it is in matching “outstanding writers with readers willing to pay for quality writing. Medium does not do it because its mission is purely ideological. During the Ev Williams tenure, it was “spreading ideas that matter,” now it is about “fixing the internet.” The internet is fine; the only problem is with the people who use it. I explained that in the example of Facebook.

Medium can be 100 times larger by bringing opposing views to the readers and letting them decide who stands for the truth. Medium can be the next big thing in the media.

The weakness of the mainstream media is the chance for Medium. It has everything needed to beat the media giants like The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, except the audacity to do that. A new Principal Product Designer will not do that. It needs to be an executive decision, but I do not hear about it in the announcement.