Word: T-shape people

Definition: A term used to described a worker's skill set. The vertical portion of the T represents a specialized skill that is known and practiced in great depth where the the horizontal portion represents those skills that are known on a more broad level.

Thought: Thinking of UX practitioners as a T-shape can be helpful because of the interdisciplinary skills that make up the field of user experience. For example, a UX designer may be specialized in user research but a generalist in a variety of other useful skill sets like prototyping, font-end development, or product strategy.

Concepts like T-shape people fuel the ever-present debate over specialized versus unicorn designers within the UX community. I'm just going to throw this out there so do with it what you will, but are debates like this nothing but apples and oranges? Perhaps it's more about finding the right fit for the right skill sets instead of pushing everyone to be a unicorn or specialist.

Question: Can a designer be both T-shaped and a unicorn?