7 tricks to appear to be a rockstar ninja guru wizard unicorn UX designer
If Donald Trump can be president, sure you can find ways to appear to be a rockstar ninja guru wizard unicorn UX designer, or whatever the hell they like to call themselves. The amazing Pablo Stanley already wrote in details about How to pretend you’re a great designer, but if you need something quick & dirty, like if you have an interview tomorrow and you don’t know what you’re doing, read the following tricks:
1. Dress for the job you want. Wear those Warby Parker glasses and a patterned shirt. It will make you look creative and light-hearted.
2. Have a Moleskine notebook with you at all times. If you can’t afford one, use post-its instead. Just doodle random stuff whenever you can and say you’re visualizing your thought process. Make sure to post them on Twitter too. This shows that you’re a visual thinker.
3. Complain about everything. Some talking points to get you started: Complain about how a lot of companies don’t get the value of design; Complain about unsolicited redesigns; Complain about the collaboration process with you PM & ENG; Complain about how the craftsmanship of print design is lost in this digital era. It indicates that you understand the landscape and have the motivation to make the world a better place.
4. Tell people that you care about designing for humanity and social change. It’s fine if you don’t know what they mean, because no one does. Just say you deeply care about them. This sets you up to be more empathetic and compassionate than those who only work on soulless products.
5. Make up some bullshit side projects and talk about them non-stop. It could be an app, a website, a podcast, a Snapchat account, a missing cat poster, a tree house, or whatever you want. The point is to demonstrate your passion and your maker spirit outside of your day job.
6. Remember the lingo in pairs: Gulp vs Grunt, React vs Angular, Sketch vs Figma, Framer vs Principle, etc. If you hear someone talk about one thing, just dismiss it by saying the alternative is superior. If they ask you why, just say “If you have to ask, you won’t get it.” It establishes you as an insightful domain expert.
7. Always tell people you enjoy mentoring other junior designers, even if you’re also junior as fuck. This proves that you’re a thought leader and you contribute back to the UX community.
Good luck out there and let’s make UX great again!
