Jeffrey Kuo
Jul 21, 2017 · 1 min read

Thanks for sharing! As a former full-time wedding photographer and only one year into being a product designer, I constantly ask myself this question and deal with imposter syndrome. Giving a shit really is a huge part of it but, just like with photography, so is having the ability/skills/data to do your job at the level of a pro.

What I continue to tell myself is that “Designer” now means multiple things in the software world (and even more so in the world of Design — industrial, architectural, interior, fashion, and even engineering: I used to be a digital integrated circuits designer :P) so imposter syndrome is largely a projection of our own fears or shortcomings and others’ perceptions of what design is and should be.

I generally prefer calling myself a problem solver than a designer because that’s the unifying message we should be putting out: DESIGNERS SOLVE PROBLEMS. Not every problem is a visual one and the research we conduct helps lead us to elegant solutions we *design*.

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    Jeffrey Kuo

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    Product Designer in SF Bay Area