7 tips to become a better product designer
I started my design career in 2010 as a web designer coding animations, websites and apps. I was fascinated by how I could make my work accessible to people through design and development. I soon began to realise the impact of UX on digital products and how it could help me solve usability issues and improve my design solutions. So I decided to dive deep into the UX world and focus on a Product Design career.
From there, I faced many challenging projects and thankfully, through support and feedback I got from my colleagues here at Just Eat Takeaway.com, I’ve been able to grow and improve as a designer. I have listed the 7 most relevant areas that have helped me to become a better product designer, and I hope they will help you too.
1. Set goals
Start by reflecting on what you want to do in the future as a designer. In my case, I want to push my career further as a product designer, so I listed all the skills I need to improve in order to get there, such as gaining more experience doing research, moderating workshops and presenting design decisions for stakeholders.
I found valuable inspiration for my list of necessary skills from fellow female designers who share great informative UX content on YouTube and Instagram. In particular, I highly recommend following Femke, Charli Marie, and Ioana Teleanu. They offer excellent resources for improving both design skills and career prospects in the UX industry. I also found a couple of UX career frameworks and paths as a reference to identify areas I could improve. The internet was a really useful resource when it came to researching the skills needed.
2. Prioritise
Next, it’s time to prioritise the skills on this list. In my case, as I mentioned previously, I aim to improve my communication skills in order to perform better in moderating workshops and delivering presentations clearly and effectively. To achieve this, I listed a series of concrete actions I need to do to improve my communication skills, including reading material about storytelling in design, practising more speaking, and moderating workshops. Depending on your goals, the actions you’ll take to improve your skills could vary from mine, but the aim will remain the same: gaining knowledge and practical experience on the subject you seek to improve.
3. Learn
Reading and studying will be part of the process of moving forward in the position you aim for, in any career and level. I get inspiration from other designers I work with and also from designers on YouTube who take their time to kindly share their knowledge with us. One book I’ve recently added to my reading list is “Articulating Design Decisions” by Tom Greever, which I found on Amazon due to its great reviews, and through this video from Designalily which explains its topics of influencing an organisation and effectively presenting your design decisions. Another is “Design is Storytelling” by Ellen Lupton. I read a few books from Ellen Lupton at university and believe this one will be just as helpful, judging by the reviews. I can’t wait to dive into these books.
One tip I constantly give myself is around how easily I can get overwhelmed with all the content to learn out there. It’s important to establish a realistic approach to track your progress. Setting a deadline helps me focus on what to read next and understand how much reading time I can add to my routine.
4. Improve your communication
Use the knowledge you have to communicate better with others. Communication is essential if you’re considering growing as a designer. For some, it comes naturally, but for others, it can be a skill to be trained and acquired in your own way. If you’re like me, it can be hard, but we need to get out of our comfort zone and run workshops or present projects to stakeholders in order to improve this skill and become better product designers.
5. Be a mentee
Just Eat Takeaway.com offers mentoring sessions for its employees. It works when a senior designer mentors another designer in 1-on-1 sessions. I’ve been a mentee for about a year now and it’s not only been fun meeting other designers in the company, but also a great way to validate ideas, processes, learn from their experiences and have constructive feedback to find more areas to work on.
6. Learn from your peers
Even if you already have a mentor, it’s great to talk with other designers and learn how they work. So why not have a quick 1:1 with your colleagues to listen to their experiences? I also like to have co-design sessions with other designers whenever possible. These are safe spaces to explore new ideas and find solutions in a collaborative session. There’s always something good and new to learn from them.
7. Travel your own path
There are so many paths you can take to achieve your dream position. I was stuck in the thought that I had to follow the same path as the designers I admire the most, or that I should read all the same books they recommend. Sure, all those things are nice to learn but keep in mind that we’re all different and that you can bring your personality, experiences and unique skills to differentiate yourself from others.
Becoming a better product designer is a process that requires dedication and effort to constantly learn and grow. By following the tips I shared in this post, such as setting clear goals, prioritising areas of improvement, learning from others, and travelling your own path to success, I hope you’ll feel confident in this path. Remember that everyone’s journey is different, and it’s important to embrace your unique strengths and experiences to become a better product designer. Most importantly of all, enjoy the journey!
