5 Things I learned in a decade as a designer
A bit of background
In about two months I’ll become a dad for the first time. This made me think of all the things I want to teach my kiddo, all the stuff I feel I had to figure out myself. But it also gave me insight into just that: My first decade as a design professional is behind me. And I learned a lot.
10 years ago I started my career at an advertising agency, having just graduated in digital media design and online advertising. I did it for a few years with okay results, but then got lured to the client “dark side” — A global banking corporation — driven by the idea that I could change the world for the better if I would be working client side, instead of being called in to spit ideas and then leave again.
The same motivation — trying to make a change — led me to move to the startup scene, where often I found myself to be a 1-man-UX-team. Great to get your hands dirty and shape a company, but also a bit one-sided now and then.
So by now I’ve worked at a startup in healthcare, a “European Unicorn” scale up in football analytics and a consultancy agency. Over the course, I’ve learned a trillion of things, but for the sake of readability, these are the ones I would put in a letter written to my younger self.
The TL;DR summary:
1. Accept failing
2. Trends are just that
3. Learn to present (and sell)
4. Keep up in FIFA skills
5. Know your values — Give a fuck
1: Accept failing
When you’re just out of college and your world still consists of being graded and tested, often that hit-or-miss-mindset will follow along with you into your working career. Either you score — or you miss, and chances are that you base your self-image on those scores and misses. The more times you miss, the more you start to doubt yourself.
Gradually every job interview, every peer review or assessment interview the same questions started bugging me (especially early in my career):
What if I’m not smart enough? What if I’ve never been creative?
The times I thought I couldn’t do something, was under qualified or doubted myself are countless. The difference between younger me and me now is that I choose to accept failure as an option.
…but how tho?
The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
Instead of beating yourself up for being human and blowing a big interview, pitch or project, do what pro athletes do. Be aware of the mistake, accept it, draw learnings from it and move on.
Another part that actually helped turn my mindset to be more accepting of failure was the realization that I could be or do wrong and it didn’t automatically mean I failed.
Recognize that you have just as much right as the next person to be wrong, have an off-day, or ask for assistance.
I’ve learned that if you put your nose to the grindstone, work hard, stay curious and are not afraid to experiment (and have a chance to fail) you’ll beat the smarter or more gifted people that put in less effort. Curiosity and persistence beat out almost anything else.
2: Trends are just that
Looking back at the early days I think I’ve overdone it on several occasions. The urge to implement the newest technologies and innovations into projects, just to compete with what we read to be the newest trends and technologies we absolutely had to follow.
Turns out the best thing is to not be hyped up about all articles you read and trends you should follow. Don’t feel pressured into knowing about all of them.
I’m all for reading up and exploring and innovating, but my best advice is to find a balance between market trends and the ones that interest you and suit your client’s needs.
Often I’ve found and read about trends that were so early in an innovation curve that they just seemed very appealing and interesting, but they were far from “a trend” — Remember how we all couldn’t run fast enough to be the first with Google Glass apps?
So stop looking for the next big thing. Not all of us have to — or can for that matter — start a business like Amazon. But we can have an impact in our own small way; an impact that lasts.
That means creating value. It means helping others. Solving problems. It means having love and empathy for the man next door.
Don’t be mistaken: I fully support innovation and think we all should be reading up and experimenting with innovation. What I’ve learned is that focussing on trends or innovations leads to blind spots and while it delivers great products that follow trends, they aren’t durable for a client. Always ask yourself what the goals are and if the client is right for the idea and vice versa.
3: Learn to present (and sell)
Last week an old client of mine told me bluntly:
Tim, you’re a great guy, but not the best designer.
And he was totally right! I know I’m not the best designer, there are tons of people who can design the hell out of a project a lot better than I do.
You’re fair to think something in the means of “Yeah cool bro, so you’re just an average designer”. But what the client also said was:
I’d rather work with you than any other, cus you’re able to present, sell and close projects.
But how tho? Most sales experiences are negative because people rarely believe in what they’re selling. A multitude of reasons can be underlying, but to overcome this is to gain trust in yourself, your project, your teammates and your client. You need to own your stuff and be convinced of the product. If you won’t, there’s a 99% chance the other side of the table won’t buy.
To get better at this is to just do. It’s a skill and it takes practice to master it, but it’s not as difficult as becoming a Jedi. Keep in mind that nobody knows your designs as you do, so have trust in what you present and don’t second guess the choices you’ve made. If all fails refer to lesson 1.
My colleague Giorgio Lefeber recently wrote about this subject
4: Keep up in FIFA skills
The deeper art of playing FIFA {or insert any game} with your colleagues is to level and communicate with them in a more relaxed atmosphere outside of stand-ups & obligatory meetings. It’s a perfect moment to catch someone you’ve wanted to talk to in a more low key setting.
Second, if you’re a bit of an introvert it’s easy to get comfortable in your own space and avoid networking or keep communication at a bare minimum. Playing a game of FIFA is a great way to get better at these skills.
The low-key setting typically reflects in the conversations as they tend to be more relaxed and “real”. It’s a great way to connect to your colleagues on a deeper level and find out more about them, what drives them, what’s going well (or wrong) at the moment. Sometimes these are the moments that create the biggest impact.
Done right, a game of FIFA can take away barriers and touch subjects people otherwise dread to address.
Bonus points: Owning the losing game.
Not because you’re playing and losing. But because self-reflection is one of the greatest assets you can have. Know your weaknesses and don’t be afraid to address them. See point 1.
5: Know your values — Give a fuck
By now most of you have read Mark Manson’s best seller “The subtle art of not giving a fuck”. For my last advice, I could say “Read the book” but I’d rather give my biggest learning from it compared to my working life.
There is a simple realization from which all personal improvement and growth emerges. This is the realization that we, individually, are responsible for everything in our lives, no matter the external circumstances. We don’t always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond.
― Mark Manson, The subtle art of not giving a fuck
Many times it will happen in a career that you’ll be asked to do stuff outside of your job description. Nothing wrong with going the extra mile, right?
Or people try to bargain you down. Perhaps your hourly rate is high.
Or play the managerial hierarchy card. And the manager knows best, right?
These are all interpretations that accept situations that might go against your knowledge, feelings, and values. To know that only you can be held accountable for all that goes on in your life is to be able to take control of it.
One manager once told me:
Always look out for yourself.
It took me a while to understand why he said that. He just hired me, paid me well and was very positive about the organization I just joined. After a year and a half, my manager left. Soon the organization started changing into a direction that didn’t match my values and ambitions.
It’s easy to blame the environment, but when you know only you can control situations and the way you feel about it, take action. Or learn to give a fuck about it. Nobody ever loved a burnout. If you feel you give fucks about the right things and work on the problems that interest you, but without results, then there’s no shame in admitting that the shoe sometimes just won’t fit.
I’m not telling you to instantly quit your job but to look out for yourself.
Find your core values and take action according to what you feel is right, but don’t be lingering in negativity, criticism, and passivity.
7 minutes of your precious reading time can be recapped in this bit.
I chose not to dwell too deep into the different things I learned, but to give some takeaways which — if you recognize these situations — help you if you’re struggling with the same issues.
So stay eager, stay curious, keep innovating and keep your goals in sight. Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If all fails, learn from it and share those lessons — it might even help your presenting and socializing skills — during a game of FIFA.
