🍨 The Inside Scoop-Gloria Lo 🇦🇺
This week I had the amazing opportunity of talking with my first ever mentor, Gloria Lo. Gloria is a Product Designer at Canva, university tutor, and what you can call an overall creative! When she is not designing you can find her singing, painting, and writing.
If you want to know more about this remarkable mentor, keep on reading! ✨
- What’s your go-to book?: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!
- Who’s your favorite singer/band?: Oh, that one is a difficult question. I would say I really like Joy Crookes at the moment. I really like jazzy pop, and she’s like the modern day version of Ella Fitzgerald!
- What show are you binge-watching?: I haven’t really binge-watched anything for a while, the last show was during the pandemic on Netflix and that was The Big Bang Theory.
đź‘‹ Hey Gloria! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Of course, I have been a Product Designer at Canva for the past 2 and a half years. I am also a tutor at the University of Sydney, and a mentor on ADPList. Outside of work, I also like to paint, sing, and write.
🎩 What made you decide to become a product designer?
Yeah, so I am a self-taught designer. I did not go to a bootcamp nor did I study a design degree, but learned how to design by exposing myself to the field. Before becoming a Product Designer, I was a financial auditor during my university years which was kind of boring for me because I could not see the creative side of it, nor could I see myself doing this for the rest of my career.
I was lucky to have met some amazing people in the startup industry, where I got to learn more about what it was like to start a company from scratch. Since then, I gained more exposure as to what designers were doing in startups by attending hackathons, going to meetup events, and talking to professionals in the industry.
What I like most about this career path is that every day is different. As designers, we are challenged daily in not only needing to wear the designer hat, but also needing to wear several hats.
What I love about this field is that it requires a lot of creativity.
Besides being a designer, there are some days where I also get to be a data analyst, researcher, interviewer, product manager and so on.
“As a Product Designer I approach challenges as a generalist rather than a specialist, solving problems from a larger scope.”
Something really incredible about being in this field is that as designers, we have an influence on how people act and behave in society. The role of a designer is to ensure that we are focussing on solving the right problems so that we can design for a better society and more inclusive future. The fact that my work gets to have an impact on both a small and large scale truly inspires me.
👩‍💻 What kind of impact are you making in the world using your design skills?
At Canva, I get to see the influence of the product on a greater scale within the design industry.
Given that our product is so diverse, it has a larger audience. It’s amazing to be able to see our impact on all the different types of users the product serves for. Canva is designed to ensure that no matter what your age, skills or background are, it should be easy for you to pick up the tool and create something that visually communicates your idea. As product designers, we want to make Canva accessible to anyone — from young children in schools, to small business owners and all the way up to the elderly.
At work, I am part of the Product team and collaborate within several teams that focus on different features of the product. Something that I’ve been really excited to share with you is that we’re close to launching a new website builder that will allow you to create a very simple landing page. We are currently in the process of improving and iterating on it as it is still in its early stages, so keep your eyes peeled!
👩‍🏫 What kind of mentorship do you wish to provide and why?
I’m interested in providing the type of mentorship that can help students and mentees get their first job in design. A lot of the questions I get are related to getting your foot in the door, portfolio reviews, design interviews, etc. I hope to provide the support that my mentees need in order to achieve their goals.
âť“ What are some of the most common questions you get as a mentor, and how do you usually answer them?
Most of the questions that I get are related to portfolio critiques, interview tips and how to break into the industry. The reason why I started writing on Medium was so that I could share the answers to these types of questions in more detail.
For example, I get a lot of questions about how to improve a design portfolio. There are a lot of things that you can do to improve your portfolio, but I think it really comes down to ensuring that you have a strong personal statement when someone lands on your homepage.
It’s important to inject your personality into your portfolio, as your portfolio is like your design fingerprint — it represents your identity, style and beliefs.
🤓 If there is one thing you could tell every single mentee you meet, what would that one piece of advice be?
To not be afraid of asking questions, and accepting that it’s okay not to know everything. Life is all about learning, so it’s important to acknowledge that even when you’re in your most senior years, there are still going to be times when you won’t know everything. In order to grow, we must accept that there’s still so much out there to learn.
As our CEO, Melanie Perkins would say, “we’re only 1% of the way there”.
That’s really a testament to how you should always be in a growth mindset and never stand still. There will always be a learning curve, and as part of your growth and development, it’s really important to recognize that there’s still room to improve.
And lastly, never let your ego get to you!
