A Little Background:
I decided to pursue product design late in my college career. I thought I was late into the game, but I quickly realized that this mindset would only hinder, not help me, from gaining knowledge and experience.
There was a lot to learn on my own, but thankfully the internet is a magical place and there was no excuse for me not to jump right into an ocean of information and tools.
These are some steps that I take to push myself to deepen my design knowledge and improve my skills, day by day.
Even when I feel incompetent.
Even when I don’t feel like it.
1. Remind yourself why you do what you do.
If you don’t know why you’re doing something, you simply won’t do it. Or you’ll do it half-heartedly.
So it’s helpful to ask yourself: What got you interested in the first place? What drives you? Even if it’s a small interest right now, it can grow to be the motivating factor that pushes you to improve and make progress.
There are two simple truths that drive me to be a better designer:
I am joyful when I create.
This is why I wanted to be a designer in the first place.
It’s an amazing privilege to be able to observe the world and bring ideas and solutions into the physical world.
Design is complicated. Learning is tedious and tiring. Practicing takes deliberate time and effort. But, whether it’s working on visual design or a full-process design project, it’s rewarding and satisfying to bring concepts and visions to life, to design for people and their specific needs.
So I do myself a favor by actively creating, no matter how difficult it may be– because I know that it brings me joy.
I want to contribute quality work.
It’s easy to do projects for the sake of having content on your portfolio and to get a job. But this can lead to approaching projects as a dreaded chore– something you have to do and get over with.
I think it’s helpful to think bigger, in terms of skills and abilities you can gain from doing projects, which you will bring to the workplace once you do get the job. You’ll be expected to bring value to a company, its products, and the people it serves.
I can’t be content with doing the bare minimum or stay satisfied with knowing what I already know. To be the best designer and employee I can be and to produce quality work for the real world, I need to be learning and deepening my skills, always.
2. Notice excuses you find yourself making, and argue with yourself.
There are many barriers to being productive and proactively learning. It’s important to overcome them through self-talk.
When you feel overwhelmed, you may think:
The argument:
When you feel insecure, you may think:
The argument:
3. Fuel your curiosity
Your interests won’t develop if they are outside the frame of your mind and your passions won’t grow if they are not fueled.
Outside of design classes and doing personal projects, I make it a habit to read a lot of Medium articles, spend time on Dribbble, keep up to date with designers who inspire me (Pablo Stanley and Gal Shir), and listen to podcasts (DesignBetter.Co, Google Design Podcasts, High Resolution).
There are a ton of resources, but don’t be overwhelmed! Pick and choose a few and start from there.
Remember, you don’t have to learn everything at once. Ask yourself: what can I learn today that I didn’t know yesterday?
You don’t need to master an entirely new skill– every small insight, advice, design inspiration, and iteration counts. Make progress, step by step.
Resources:
https://uxplanet.org/the-best-ux-ui-designer-tools-resources-blogs-books-collection-2d045592d7d7
4. Proactively seek and seize opportunities
Design classes are a great way to learn the process and principles of design, but by branching out beyond the classroom, you can solidify what you’ve already learned and learn what you don’t know.
Figure out what you want to learn and seek opportunities that can help you learn, apply, and develop those skills.
Want to challenge yourself to think critically and to communicate design effectively? Put together a UX Case Study for a project you’ve already done or create a design concept that solves a problem you see. Focus on clearly describing the process, not just the solution.
Example:
Want to learn front-end development? Try coding your own portfolio.
Want to get better at visual design? Learn principles of visual design and reach out to organizations to see if you can help create flyers and design material.
Want to know what it takes to build and ship a product? Find a problem you care about and a group of people with diverse skill sets, and build a feasible solution together.
My friend Nancy is leading a team through the design and development process, to build, release, and maintain an app:
Want to have real-world experience? Contact local companies, non-profits, and start-ups to see how you can contribute, or try getting involved with the Design Lab. Apply to internships early, and make sure you have a portfolio with projects that show your ability to think through a problem and explain your design process thoroughly.
Want to use design for social good? Join Design for America.
Want to be a part of a student design community and be surrounded by driven individuals? Join Design at UCSD.
Want to seek career advice and mentorship? Reach out to experienced designers with questions you may have (LinkedIn is great for this).
Conclusion
Becoming a better designer is not something that happens overnight– it’s an ongoing process. Surely, there will be growing pains and moments where motivation is nowhere to be found.
But like all good things, improvement comes through intentional effort and patience. Thankfully, there are steps you can take today to invest in your growth.
I’m excited to see what I will learn along the (long) journey, and hope you are too. You got this. :-)
