Is product design the right career for you?
Not everyone should be a product designer. Most people probably shouldn’t be. And that's okay.
I’m going to be very candid and honest in this one. I’ll be blunt. But I’ll also be kind. Not everyone should be a product designer. Most people probably shouldn’t be. And that’s okay.
Design is very competitive.
The design field is saturated with talented individuals, making it challenging to stand out and secure a job. To succeed in this competitive landscape, you’ll need to invest time and energy into developing your skills, networking, and building a standout portfolio.
Design asks that we be creative and yet wholly separate from our work.
You are not your work. Designers are expected to be creative, but also to detach themselves from their work. This means you’ll need to handle criticism and iterate on your designs without getting personally offended. To be a successful product designer, you’ll need a thick skin and the ability to embrace feedback as an opportunity for growth.
A lot of people who become interested in design find that interest because they were first interested in art. That’s okay; I’m one of those people. But you have to understand that design is not art. Our identities get so tied up in the things we create when they’re artistic in nature, and often young designers run the risk of tying their identity to their work. Don’t do it. A rough critique is not (or at least should not be) a critique on you as a person. That can be really hard for some people to reconcile.
Product design is much more about business than a lot of people realize.
Product design isn’t just about creating slick visuals and solving user needs; it’s about understanding business goals and aligning design decisions with those objectives. This means working closely with stakeholders, analyzing user data, and designing with the end goal of driving business success.
Product design is a generalist practice.
As a product designer, you have to wear many hats, especially at small companies. From conducting user research and designing user flows to creating high-fidelity screens and prototypes, you’ll be expected to have a diverse skill set. It’s okay to have weaknesses, but if you desperately hate or don’t understand a piece of the product design puzzle, you’re in for a bad time. It’s okay to specialize; find what you love to do and pursue it. Don’t force yourself into a role because it’s trendy or because of a sunk cost fallacy.
You have to be at least somewhat good at visual design.
Having a solid foundation in visual design is essential. UX and UI are tied together. You don’t experience either in isolation. You’ll need to understand hierarchy, typography, and composition to create user interfaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional and user-friendly.
Other paths
First, let’s really dissect what it is that drew you to design in the first place. Do you like making stuff? Do you just love visual design? Are you excited by tech? Do you just want a nice paycheck? All of the possible answers to these, generally speaking, are valid. But think through your own rationale for why product design is or isn’t right for you.
UI design: If the visual side of design is what drives you, consider pursuing visual design, UI design, or design systems roles.
Graphic Design: If the visual side of design is what interests you, you don’t particularly care for tech, and you think you have a knack for it, graphic design could be for you. But, just know, graphic design is also very competitive.
UX design: If you’re cool with being handed already designed components and purely focusing on the user flows, user journeys, and other deep UX work, consider pursuing UX design roles. You’ll usually find this sort of role at larger companies.
UX Research and/or UX Strategy: Do you love talking to users, synthesizing research, and presenting your findings? Do you love thinking strategically and long term? Consider research or strategy. Strategy roles are almost exclusively found at larger companies, but research is common across the spectrum.
Product Management: Dig business, love strategizing and coordinating, and want to build products with a team? Product management might be for you. In my view, a good PM deeply understands design and code, but doesn’t necessarily need to know how to do them.
Still in?
Still think product design is right for you? Perfect. Let’s go. I love this job. I love design. And I love that other people love it too. It’s hard. It requires you be self-motivated and driven to find your way. If you really want to do it, you can.