Dealing with Impostor Syndrome as a Junior UX/UI Designer
It was one of the most exciting feelings in the world realizing what I wanted to do with my life. When I realized design was what I wanted to do, I threw everything into learning and becoming a better designer. 2017 was the year I told myself I would become a UX/UI designer no matter what it took and three years later it feels incredible to say I’ve made that a reality.
From receiving my BA in graphic design while working full time, to moving across the country to spend 6 months in an intensive UX/UI design boot camp, to pouring myself into every online resource I could get my hands on (thank you Chris Do, Ran Segall, Mike Locke, the Interaction Design Foundation, and many others for sharing so much amazing content!) You could say life for the past few years has been pretty design-heavy.
Along the way, I have learned many useful lessons and grown tremendously as a designer. I have become much more confident all around but the one thing I still struggle with is impostor syndrome. I tell myself it will get better with time and once I transition from a “junior” designer into a senior designer, I’ll have finally hit my stride (goodbye impostor syndrome!) but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. From those I’ve talked to with years of experience it seems that impostor syndrome isn't necessarily something to destroy, but more something to face, understand, appreciate, and overcome.
Here are some tips I have used that have helped me face the dragon that is impostor syndrome:
Know that you aren’t alone
When I get stuck in my head and start feeling that I am “not enough” I try to reach out to other designers and remember previous conversations we’ve had where they told me they felt exactly the same way. It’s sort of like how I felt after my second breakup. The first one felt horrible and like I would never survive it, but once I went through that first experience and managed not to die, the second one was much, much easier.
Being new to design, you may think you are alone in feeling inadequate but trust me, you aren’t. Give it a try, reach out to another designer you know, or even one you don't know on LinkedIn. Tell them how you’re feeling and ask if they’ve ever felt the same. You will quickly realize how widespread and insidious impostor syndrome is. Write it in social media posts, and you’ll get lots of comments from others telling you they’ve felt your pain. Just realizing you are not alone in how you’re feeling will help a lot.
Ask others for advice
As I mentioned above, talking to others about the feelings associated with impostor syndrome will open your eyes and heart to a community of people who’ve experienced what you’re feeling. Beyond just realizing that you aren’t the only one who’s felt this way, you can also ask other designers or professionals in most capacities how they overcame impostor syndrome. People are very similar in some ways and very unique in other ways, so what works for them may not work for you, but hey, you’re a UX Designer! You have all the tools to UX this problem too. Conduct research by talking with those who have dealt with impostor syndrome. Ask them how they felt in the moment, what they did about it, how they felt after, and what they feel now about experiencing impostor syndrome. After collecting lots of insights, it’ll become even easier to fight the good fight.
Trust your process
When you’re feeling like phony, stop and ask yourself how you’ve gotten to where you are right now. Think about the steps you took along your journey to becoming a designer. Think about your process. Sure, you’ve had help along the way, but you’ve done a lot of work to get where you are! Just think about the people out there aspiring to become a designer who aren’t getting any closer because they are choosing to use COVID-19 as an excuse to day-drink on a Tuesday afternoon instead of taking the steps you took!
If you really were a fraud you probably couldn't have made it this far. Trust that your process is the right one and that if you keep going, you’ll keep improving and becoming the kind of designer you’ll be proud of. But, also, get a grip! Be proud of the designer and HUMAN you are now! You’re pretty awesome!
Welcome constant critique
This last one was inspired by Jesse Prehodick, a Senior Product Designer at Willow Tree. Jesse’s article on impostor syndrome is wonderful and worth checking out! In his article, he states,
“I’ve talked to a lot of designers who hate showing in-progress work at a critique because they feel like they aren’t good enough. Often times, the feedback they receive is perceived as if they’re a failure because they don’t know what they’re doing and got something wrong. But being wrong doesn’t make you a failure. The whole point of having your work critiqued is to get others’ perspectives because you can’t possibly be expected to know everything. Embrace that you’re a good designer, even if you don’t have all of the answers. I can guarantee it that none of us do.”
Jesse goes on to discuss that though being the center of critique can feel soul-crushing at times and a sure-fire way to assume you don’t have what it takes, it is an incredibly important part of becoming a better designer. Being critiqued isn’t a personal matter. Your team members aren’t critiquing who you are only what you are producing and they're only doing it to help you produce better work! So, don’t let critiques get you down. Embrace the constructive feedback and ask yourself how you can integrate what was said into your design process in order to produce better work!
At the end of the day, we are all human and we all have a need to belong and achieve. Impostor syndrome is only as effective as you let it be. When you’re feeling like a fake, remember that you are not alone, you have made it this far, and the more you open yourself up to receive constructive criticism, the faster you will improve.
You are not alone and the design community is one of the most supportive communities I have ever been apart of! Embrace us and let us support you! If you ever need to vent about feeling like an impostor in this industry, please feel free to reach out to me. I’ll try to help however I can and remind you of the above!
Want to learn more?
If you’d like to become an expert in UX Design, Design Thinking, UI Design, or another related design topic, then consider to take an online UX course from the Interaction Design Foundation. For example, Design Thinking, Become a UX Designer from Scratch, Conducting Usability Testing or User Research — Methods and Best Practices. Good luck on your learning journey!
Until next time. Cheers!
