Growth as a designer?
been working at a product based startup as the only ui/ ux designer for over 6 months now. work is usually solving for and designing new features, or thinking redesign from user grievances. the products were already designed for them by an agency before my joining and feel poorly designed to me, but does the job for the users. decisions regarding usage and the how-tos of implementation are taken by the product leads.
in such a scenario, i don't see myself taking product decisions, but i try to suggest my ideas (mostly accepted) when we frame the requirements and solutions. how do i grow from just largely only designing what my leads tell me, to actually making an impact with the products we have?
background- i'm an electronics engineer, landed a design internship at a startup a little before graduation and they offered a full time role after. accepted it over my placement and it's been over 6 months in this role.
thanks & cheers :)
You’re six months into you job and have already started thinking about improving the product; that’s a great start 🤩
If you’re the first and only designer in a company, it’s both a boon and curse. Boon because you get to shape the design culture of the company and might also work closely with the founders. Use this to you advantage and start asking them about the following:
- What are the short term and long term goals of the product? (in a startup these could change every month or week)
- What are their expectations from the design team or to put it in a different way; how can design add value to the product
With these answers, you’ll be able to make smart design decisions which are better aligned to the goals. It’s easier said than done but you’ll get a hang of it in time.
When working with your leads and PMs, ask for a scope document. You should have clarity on why they’re recommending something. In an ideal wolf they should tell you what to solve and as a designer you should be coming up with ideas. But most PMs and Product leads ofter start forcing their designs; it’s common across the industry. You’ll have to build trust by sharing your designs backed by user research.
Now, as the only designer you’ll be facing some issues.
- Lack of another designer to bounce off ideas or get feedback
- Lack of mentorship from a senior team member
- In the long term these designer find it difficult to work with a team of other designers who might have their own strong opinions and ideas.
Please try to get another designer on the team or get a freelancer which whom you can work together.
All the best 👍🏽
big thanks! pretty much sums up my situation yes and decided to act on it today. suggested some big picture changes on a service to the tech lead, and immediately went over to have a coffee chat with our CEO about it. started working on the requirements doc + tonnes of insights ultimately giving me hope i'm doing something for the improvements.
i also intend on making a roadmap to check out all the impact points i have in mind. at this point, i feel like an over enthusiastic fresher at the desk, and don't want to be outright annoying in a single day.
also we already had a conversation about having a second designer, and it is off the table.
just a couple more questions to you- how is it that i develop more into the "product designer" role from here? does it mean seeking more autonomy with problem solving and decisions? or does it come from being able to level myself up for thinking 'large-scale', broader picture and then taking making decisions? im not exactly feeling like i'm making myself better professionally, even after half an year here. any thoughts/ advice is so much appreciated! thanks & regards, you're amazing @DesignTinker!
A product designer role could be different based on the organisation structure.
In your case, focusing on a few things can help:
- Try to find ways to improve the product experience. Don’t wait for a PM or lead to give you a problem to solve. Find problems or opportunities by testing and analysing your product
- Set goals for yourself which align with business goals. Start by understanding how your organisation makes money and how can design help them do that. As a designer you’ll want to solve 100s of things. This will help you prioritise
- Start reading and talking to other products designer in the industry. You can learn from other’s mistakes.
I hope this helps. 🙌🏼