Why evolving as a designer is important
Episode 002: Meta Career Shifter
From interaction design, UX design, product management, and, currently copywriting, Allan Caeg has seen the ups and downs, defeats and successes of design in the modern times. With his broad experience in many aspects of design — from conceptualization all the way to execution — Allan has nuggets of wisdom to share with budding designers.
Laying the foundation
Allan began his design journey as he was majoring in Psychology. His passion for design started when he quite literally and figuratively stumbled across Linux an Ubuntu — popular opensource operating system that allowed him to tweak and apply what he had learned with the open source community.
“I learned that I didn’t have to build the OS just for me.”
Allan quite quickly understood that to be able to grow and learn more about UX design, he had to see his work as something that would benefit others. He had to ask himself how can this design help or improve the lives of other people? He ended up being a contributor to many open source projects. As he learned and developed his skills through wireframing and designing user flows, he came to understand that strategy, interaction, and layouts were key to his work.
As a veteran of design who has seen its evolution, Allan tries to find ways to be “meta” with his work. He challenges himself to see beyond the surface level of his work and wonders how this all plays in the grander scheme of things.
After taking on different types of design jobs in both big and small companies, Allan found his place as a product manager. In this position, he found that his work was more concrete, able to see the light of day, as compared to his job as a UX designer. Allan calls all designers to be far more business-savvy and critical in terms of implementation. As you work, you have to ask yourself,
“What does it take to get there?”
Content is always going to be king
As a product manager, Allan came to understand the business side of design. With a lot of exposure to different types of jobs, he has also become aware of the trends and how rapid the progression of technology and social media has become. From the mindset of having his idea brought to life, he wanted to move to the next step — “How do I make my design stand out?”
In a world where keeping up with trends is the norm, it’s quite inexcusable to lag behind. At this point in time, UI design has been figured out. In the end, your content is what audiences digest, not the platform. Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Instagram have mastered this art, making you wonder how can smaller or lesser-known platforms compete?
Two words: Content and Substance.
To Allan, there are two things to consider: content and chrome. The latter is the container of your content: windows, buttons, controls, scroll bars, etc. If this has been mastered already, the next step it to figure out how you can make meaningful content.
You have to ask yourself, “Are [our audience] listening to something worth listening to or not? Are we advocating meaningful things? In what way will that make real impact in their lives?”
So, where do we begin?
Know who you’re talking to
Right now, Allan is venturing in the world of digital marketing and copywriting. In his company NorthStories.io, they are currently focused on creating content that they can measure in terms of meaningfulness and profitability. Their main tool? Storytelling.
In digital marketing, success can be measured in terms of your marketing goals. Do you want more people to go to your website? Do you want more people to sign up or RSVP? How much more do you want your sales to increase for the quarter? We know. It sounds overwhelming. How can something as specific and serious as a company’s marketing and business goals tie up with something as abstract and immeasurable like storytelling? The answer lies in the key trait of a marketer: empathy.
“You have to make your audience the hero.”
The actual storytelling begins once you know who your audience is. You have to know who you’re speaking to, what their problems and goals are. Talk about what they’re interested in and they will listen. You want to capture the attention of the people whose values you share.
Such a task also requires strategy. Look at the way they consume content. Do they prefer blogs over videos? Do they listen to podcasts or read books? This is where big words like SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization!) come in. You have to study the keywords, trends, and ads relevant to your target audience.
“Combine what the market wants and what the client or you are personally connected to based on your real experiences.”
Let’s say you’re figured out what your audience likes. The next step is to generate content based on your client’s passions. For your client’s clients, it’ll be easier to get their attention if the content you’re producing is relevant to their lives. No one is going to hire florist who doesn’t love flowers.
The importance of adapting to change
“If we’re not ready to transform ourselves, we’re not going to be productive contributors to society.”
All of this is truly easier said that done. It will take years of experience, trial-and-error, and patience to truly grasp this concept. When asked what advice Allan can give to designers, he gave three pointers:
1. Adaptability
As a designer, you are challenged to evolve with the environment. The rapid progression of current trends and events will call you to do things completely out of your comfort zone. This can also mean taking on a job completely different than what you expected because you were called to serve.
2. Willingness to learn new things
Taking on a job in a different industry means learning new things. You have to have an open mind about these things if you want to solve problems. Being a designer calls for versatility.
3. Starting from the bottom
Once you find a problem that needs to be solved, it’s possible that you will have to consider changing your career. Scary, we know, but design roles are often outward vocations. It requires looking for the thing that needs help and satisfying that under-served marketing, even if that’s not your forte. It’s always for the improvement of the lives of other people.
To cap things off, Allan hopes Filipino designers understand that the world is our stage! Just because you’re working in the Philippines doesn’t mean your abilities are not worthy of taking on bigger, international clients. You are only limited by the mindset that you have.
“Look at yourselves as designers, not Filipino designers.”
