What I’ve learned in my first 5 months as a Product Designer in Carousell
(Has it really been just 5 months?)
5 months ago, I joined Carousell as a Product Designer and was promptly assigned to the Property Team.
Ever since then, I’ve been getting plenty of questions — “What do you really do?”, “How are the other designers?”, “What’s the culture like?”
Many of these questions were from friends who were curious about what it’s like to work at the homegrown firm, which has now expanded regionally to 7 countries. I am grateful for the interest shown and after some nudging from my manager, I decided to pen down some key takeaways from my time, albeit short, at Carousell.
1. Don’t expect buy-ins, earn them
Looking back, it was naive to think that my engineering counterparts and product manager would always support the design decisions without question. The reality was far from that, thankfully.
I recall calling into a meeting on one occasion, and feeling rather confident about the solution. During the presentation, my lack of consideration for the engineers’ efforts and the product’s roadmap was rightfully highlighted.
I’ve neglected explaining how I arrived at the solution, why it was worth the additional effort, and why it deserved more time and priority on the roadmap. I may have had all the answers floating in my head, but it was definitely not articulated across.
Why? At the time, I did not see the need for it, expecting an easy buy-in with full support. Instead, I was humbled by my stakeholders’ pushbacks.
Having a solution is great, but it is a designer’s responsibility to communicate. Essentially, design is communication.
2. Propose visions, not just solutions
Don’t get me wrong, solutions are definitely important. At Carousell, we pride ourselves on being problem solvers. Yet, it is hardly enough, especially when working with multiple stakeholders. There are so many problems, and many possible solutions for each one.
“Excite people with a big, bold aspirational vision first, and then show how design will get us there”
— Agnes Kwek, Singapore Design Ambassador.
Rather than presenting solutions simply as they are, I’ve learned the importance of conveying the vision driving these solutions. Bring your stakeholders through the problem-solving process, take them through the user research, show them how you’ve arrive at it and explain what it means for the near or far future.
When I’ve learned to communicate beyond the solution, it helped the team to understand where all the design decisions were coming from.
3. We’re all working towards the same goal
One of my main responsibilities as a product designer is to represent the users. It is easy to get caught up and forget that others also share the same objective, even if there are disagreements in how to go about achieving it.
At the end of the day, we’re all working towards the same goal — to create a good product for our users to enjoy.
So when different stakeholders raise concerns, rather than feeling trapped, take a step back and pause. Realign. And then get excited! Parameters and constraints are what makes a design challenge worth pursuing.
We may all be solving different problems. But really, we’re just trying to get to the same finishing line.
4. Keep your ego in check
Your idea/solution/wireframes is like your baby. You’ve been nurturing it, pouring in weeks of research and iterations. And when you finally show it off only to get a reality check on how bad it actually looks or even worse, tearing apart the existence of the baby — It hurts.
All designers have an ego; it is what drives us to do our best work. Sometimes, it gets in the way in the form of arrogance. At Carousell, there is no place for that. One of the company’s core values is: Stay Humble, after all.
Take the Product Design team, for example.
Everyone — from junior to senior — sheds their ego before stepping into the meeting room. Staying receptive to feedback and really pushing our ideas to its best potential. Experiencing this, especially as a ‘newcomer’, really encouraged me.
I understand firsthand how frustrating it can be, but always keep in mind that you’re not your solution and your value is not in the output of mere wireframes.
Conclusion
The four takeaways I’ve shared above is the result of the numerous conversations and interactions I have had with my design head, product manager, product designers, engineers and the business team.
I hope this post resonates with my fellow designers as well as give an inside look into what it’s like working at Carousell!
The past 5 months with Carousell has truly been an eye-opening ride and I’m looking forward to the future.
P.S. If this post inspired you… We’re hiring product designers! Check out the roles on the banner below!
