Leveling Up as a Product Designer

How to advance yourself and become a better (designer)you.

Throughout my design career, and really my entire life, I’ve gravitated towards the shadows rather than the spotlight — absorbing and learning as much as possible from the people and resources around me. Like many designers, I’m an introvert — standing on the sidelines is what has always come naturally to me. But then one day, I asked myself: how can I take matters into my own hands and advance myself as a product designer? It’s an interesting line to walk, but I think a lot of designers ask themselves, if not this question, questions like it.

As creative types, we crave new adventures. I’m a big believer in never allowing yourself to grow stagnant or stop learning, regardless of your career path. That actually used to be my gauge for when it was time to job hop. If I wasn’t learning anymore, then I should find a new opportunity that would challenge and push me.

But here’s the thing: You can’t rely solely on the people around you to advance your knowledge and skill set. You have to take it upon yourself and do something about it!

You might be thinking “Yeah, that’s great and all — but how?” That’s the big question, isn’t it? How? How do I push myself to be a better designer? How do I teach myself to become a better designer on my own?

There’s no hard and fast rule to this loaded question, but I’ve picked up a few practices throughout my career that have helped me grow into the designer I am today. These aren’t necessarily ‘requirements’ you’ll find listed in a product designer job description, but they are more so expected of us to know and practice on our own time.

The nine skills outlined below have helped me advance in my career — from graphic design intern to product designer — and hopefully, you too will find them useful as you embark on your journey to becoming a better (designer)you.

1. Never stop reading and researching

As cliche as it sounds, it’s true. Especially when it comes to technology. With how fast our world changes and advances, it’s our job as designers to keep up with industry standards, emerging technologies, native patterns, and hot trends to ensure our designs and design decisions stay relevant.

I find it best to keep your mind sharp by reading industry books, browsing articles written by peers, exploring the latest products on the market, and taking the time to understand design implications of new software.

Here are a few things I like to consistently do on a daily (or weekly, if that works better for you) basis:

1. Browse Medium and subscribe to publications or authors in the product design realm that speak to you. A few publications I enjoy are UX Collective, UX Planet, Prototypr, and UX in Motion.
2. Read books that challenge your design thinking. Here are a few books I picked up on my last haul that might be of interest to you: Well Designed by Jon Kolko and Creative Confidence by Tom & David Kelly. Both are turning out to be great reads.
3. Use lots, and lots, and lots of products. Read on to #2 to learn more about this one…

2. Don’t just use products — take notes

This goes without saying, but as a product designer, you should be spending a significant amount of time using digital products and sitting in the user’s seat. One tidbit I’ve picked up along the way has been to not only use products but take notes on your experience with them.

This is a new method for me, but I’m quickly falling in love with it. Now when I use products and find interactions, patterns, or user experiences that delight or frustrate me, I’ll write them down so that I don’t forget.

When you start documenting your experiences rather than simply living through them, they become easier to recall. What’s more? You’ll now have your own personal catalog of findings at your disposal to reference at any time!

3. Be intentional about your decisions and stand up for your users

As designers, we’re constantly making decisions — but make sure the decisions you are making are backed with purpose. When you design with purpose and intent, it’ll create a stronger narrative and build confidence when presenting your designs to peers, superiors, stakeholders, and even end-users.

Next time you’re designing something new, take a step back and ask yourself: “Why did I choose to design [blank] in this way?” If you have a solid answer for your design decision, then you’re designing with purpose!

4. Never get attached to a design

When you’re early in your career, it’s easy to fall in love with a specific direction or concept and not want to deviate from it. But as product designers, we need to learn to design unbiasedly and equally for all user types. Your favorite direction might not end up being what’s best for the product or user base — and that’s okay! You just have to be mature enough to poke holes in your own ideas to make the experience better for your end-users.

Next time you find yourself rooting for a design that no one else is in favor of, go back to #3 in this article and ask yourself that question: “Why did I choose to design [blank] in that way?”

5. Think big, then scale back

If you’ve ever worked on a product professionally, you’ve probably heard the phrases “in scope” and “out of scope” before. There are always going to be limitations to a project — whether technical or financial — but I find it’s always best to design for the most ideal, future state, regardless of scope, to help stakeholders envision the end product.

If you design in this way, it’ll be easier, in the long run, to scale back to an MVP version as well. It not only aids in scalability and phasing but helps build a concrete narrative for the grander vision and storyline for stakeholders.

6. Be flexible, but not too flexible

As a designer, you’re no stranger to technical limitations or stakeholder pushback, whether you’re in a client or in-house setting. While you should always be understanding and compassionate about others’ opinions, know when to stand up for your designs and what’s best for the product’s end users. You don’t need to abide by every peer, stakeholder, or developer’s opinion, but do take their thoughts and ideas into consideration because, at the end of the day, anyone can be a potential user.

This one also ties in nicely to #3 above. When you design with intent and purpose, backing your design decisions becomes easier to explain and clearer to comprehend, even for non-designers in the room.

7. Ask questions early and often

When starting a new project or solving a new problem, don’t be afraid to ask questions. But the earlier you ask them, the better. It may seem daunting if you’re just starting out, but by asking questions early, you’ll save yourself — and your team — a lot of time and rework if you get all of your questions answered ahead of time.

The goal of asking questions is to get a complete understanding of the task at hand. So what questions should you be asking? This varies depending on the project, but it does become easier to know what questions to ask as you get more experience.

A few of the big categories you should always touch on are the users & their habits, the business & its product, the technical limitations & advantages, and the aspirational competitors.

A few general thought-starters might look like this:

• What are the goals of the product or feature?
• Are there any technical limitations?
• How do users currently interact with the product or feature?
• How does this benefit the user?
• How often will users interact with the product or feature?
• Are there any special circumstances that need to be accommodated?
• How are other product experts solving for this?

8. Look at every opportunity as a chance to learn and grow

You know that person in school that everyone called a “slacker”? The one that got by doing the bare minimum? Don’t be that person when it comes to your career — unless, of course, you’re only looking to get by and not better yourself… but if that is you, you’re probably reading the wrong article…

If you don’t want to be that person, do yourself a favor and start saying “yes,” to everything. If an opportunity comes up, no matter how challenging, look at it as a new, exciting opportunity to exercise muscles you might not have known you had before, or maybe develop a new skill in the process!

This recently came up for me at my job. I had been working on a long-term project when the opportunity came up to dive into another project to help out. Instead of hesitating and weighing the pros and cons of workload and interest, I instantly jumped at the offer and said “yes.” Keep reading to learn more about this mentality…

9. Practice, practice, practice

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. And it holds true for designers! The more opportunities you accept and products you touch, the more you will learn and the stronger you will grow as a designer. If you only take away one thing from this article, make it be this: practice, practice, practice.

If you don’t have a “real” project to exercise your skills, then make one up! Or even take part in a daily or weekly UX challenge to push yourself on the side. You will never become a better (designer)you if you don’t crack open your sketchbook or computer and get to work.

Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:

• Redesign your favorite app/website (or a feature within it)
• Solve a frustrating problem you’ve encountered while using a product
• Design a feature or product you wish existed (or revamp if it already exists)

Wrap-up

That was a lot of information! Let’s put it all together…

Here are the nine practices I’ve adopted into my professional career to help me advance from a graphic design intern to a product designer:

1. Never stop reading and researching
2. Don’t just use products — take notes
3. Be intentional about your decisions and stand up for your users
4. Never get attached to a design
5. Think big, then scale back
6. Be flexible, but not too flexible
7. Ask questions early and often
8. Look at every opportunity as a chance to learn and grow
9. Practice, practice, practice

The next time you find yourself feeling stuck or down about your product skills, take matters into your own hands by using the methods described above and advance yourself to become a better (designer)you.

Ali pushes pixels and shapes user experiences at Livefront.