5 mistakes I made when I started in product design
In my career as a product designer, I have made a couple of mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. However, it is only wise that we reduce them by learning from others. We shouldn’t learn by experience what we can learn from the stories of others. This is why I am publishing this writeup, as I share five major mistakes I made when starting out with UI/UX design.
These are the mistakes, I’ll discuss in this article:
- I self-loathe as a Beginner
- I made designs without understanding design concepts
- I handled feedback poorly
- I didn’t master my tools
- I let imposter syndrome win
I Self-Loathe as a Beginner
When I started out designing, there used to be times when I’d feel bad I didn’t start earlier. Some form of self-loathing. I constantly compared myself with other designers and how much experience they already garnered. It made me feel bad as a beginner; a “God When” feeling. Looking back, it can say that it did affect my learning. People often feel this way when learning a skill with more of younger people involved. But trust me, irrespective of your age or people around you, learning a new skill should give you joy.
“Most of us look back at mistakes we’ve made in the past and wish that we’d done things differently. What we forget is that we may not have even made it to where we are today without making those mistakes. While we can’t undo our mistakes, we can learn from them” — Adham Dannaway
I Made Designs Without Understanding Design Concepts
I started with Adobe Photoshop for interface design. I was in a hurry to learn things fast because I felt I started design late. I put so much into mastering the tool. Forgetting that tools were only a means to an end, not the end itself. I was only after the beauty of the interface. I wish I understood earlier that design is not all about making a beautiful interface but solving problems. It is important to understand the principles of good design and acknowledge that they are far more important than any technical design skill.
I messaged Jaykay — the guy I talked about in my story of how I started interface design — and told him I wanted to go into Product design. The first question he asked me was why I wanted to go into Product design, and I gave him my reasons. I was surprised he didn’t ask if I’ve learned anything but went ahead to assign a task to me. My first design task was to design a pizza delivery app. I used Photoshop, and I was very happy with the results. I felt it was the best thing since sliced bread.
On finishing the task, I messaged him, and he requested that use I Figma so he could make comments. I remember receiving notifications that evening. It was JayKay, and he was making comments. He made precisely twelve of them, and that leads us to the next mistake.
I Handled Feedback Poorly
Checking the comments made me feel bad. I regarded them to be comments for someone who is a design noob. The feedback bruised my ego as I was expecting pleasant feedback. I shut down my system for the rest of the night.
He messaged me on WhatsApp to check the comments on Figma, and I told him I had checked it. He sent some articles that I read the next day. I did a lot of reading after that. I learnt the hard way; I needed my ego to be bruised before accepting the learning curve.
I must admit that I went hard and fast, rushing through design content. However, I began taking things slowly on reading an article which advocated a step-by-step approach to learning.
One must understand that: “because you’re doing a lot more doesn’t mean you are getting a lot done” — Denzel Washington
Learn to take things slowly, learn at your own pace but don’t be lazy about it. Also, you should not expect positive feedback always as a designer, learn from feedback.
I spent quite a lot of time reading articles, but I acquired most of my core skills through practising my craft. I did design sketches, mockups after doing user research on my friends. I most times turn my friends into users to practice things I’ve read. Don’t just read. Put the concepts you learn into practice. I will be writing about my design processes later on.
I Didn’t Master My Tools
Another mistake I made was not learning a tool well. There was this illusion of being able to use some software based on my knowledge of others. Yes, I was able to use new tools but not to their max. It’s good to know your tools well as a designer. I switched from using Photoshop to using Figma, which was not hard. But later on, I discovered that there were many features I wasn’t using.
For example, I “discovered” components in Figma after a long time using it. I was speechless the day I saw a video about it on Youtube. I had put in a lot of effort making designs without them.
I Let Imposter Syndrome Win
I suffered a lot from imposter syndrome. I didn’t feel like a ‘real designer’ which made the work intimidating and made me feel vulnerable. I was always looking forward to positive comments on my designs, and I discovered it wasn’t helping at all. At some point, I stopped showing my designs to other designers. This affected my learning process as there wasn’t any feedback to improve on. Over time, I learned to trust myself better.
“So trust yourself, because natural talent is bullshit. Worry less about other people’s success, and work harder on bringing and developing your best self. You are a real designer.” — Guy Ligertwood
Bonus: learn to learn from people around you. “It’s normal your colleagues know far more than you do. It’s an opportunity to learn from them. Absorb as much as you can. It’s going to take time to hone your skills, and someday you will be confident in your work and yourself as a designer — Nirissa Govender”.
Thanks for reading.
