As a designer, you learn that different people, companies, and problems all require different ways of working.

This will be the first in a series of articles, covering some less talked about designer traits that will be helpful for you as the years go by.

1. Learn to repeat yourself a lot.

“Don’t get frustrated if you have to repeat a concept, request, or requirement a few times and a few different ways. After three times, call it out kindly. Humans don’t always hear things or remember things that aren’t top of mind for them, especially if they’re stressed or overwhelmed.” —

Leslie Chicoine

This sounds like a weird one, but it’s important. What’s in your mind and how you see things may not be apparent to the person you’re talking to.

An example could be chatting with an engineer about how something needs to be put together. They may have thought they understood, but maybe you didn’t fully confirm it.

How do we know that what we communicated is fully understood and will be done right? We keep repeating ourselves.

Also when you need feedback. If you’re not getting it for whatever reason, repeat yourself.

2. Learn that natural talent is bullshit.

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always struggled with the idea of natural talent. I thought that I was the only one who lacked it because I was different from everybody else.

When I started out designing, this kind of self-loathing, imposter rhetoric was magnified. I didn’t feel like a ‘real designer’ which made the work intimidating and me feel vulnerable.

Things got easier when I focussed on working hard, stretching myself outside of my comfort zone and looking for any and all types of feedback. Over time, I learned to trust myself better, and I’ve realised that natural talent isn’t a real thing — you rarely see the grit.”

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. “ —

Simon Pan

Simon has a lovely way of putting this.

When I was young, I had an art teacher called Mr Beard. I remember him asking the class to draw a horse. Some made them look very realistic, others (like me) not so much.

I believed that if you were asked to draw a horse and it looked like a horse, you were a good artist, an excellent creative. If not, you were not creative and didn’t have natural talent.

Stupid, I know, but that’s what I thought. This stayed with me for a while. This pisses me off looking back as I would have gotten into a creative field much younger if this belief had been dispelled earlier.

3. Learn to present your work strategically.

“Presenting work can be stressful and intimidating, particularly for work in the latter stages of design. If you present work with a clear focus on what the audience will need to do with the shared information, with a shared focus on specific aspects of the work, and by allocating more time for listening and conversation than talking, the work and the team benefits.” —

Tanner Christensen

You have work to show stakeholders. They may or may not have the context of where you’re at or how you got there. You need to figure out what’s important, be specific about what you show and ask for the feedback you want.

To be honest, I’m not brilliant as this, and it’s something I want to improve.

Presenting your designs can be weird. People jump on dummy text and say it’s wrong, colours can mess with people, etc. You need to get to know the people you present to over time and find out how they work. There’s no one size fits all. Some are super time-poor, and some are fixated on certain things. Find out these quirks and adapt.

Whatever the quirks, keep it short, simple and if you’re showing on a Sketch or Figma file, be sure to zoom in and out and move as slowly as is sensible. It can be hectic for your audience.

Have good reasons for the design decisions that you made.

4. Learn to write a story about your designs.

“I write a Google doc for my front end engineers and it allows me to walk through each step of the design. It finds bits It slows me down and finds bits I missed.” — Me

I’ve only started to do this recently, but it’s been super helpful. I walk through each flow and write notes for the front end engineers. This may be overkill for some, as a Product Manager may have written a book of requirements in a JIRA ticket. I work in a start-up, and we don’t do that.

I do this to align with the front-end and anyone else who want to see it. Things can still be missed, but it allows me to step through each scenario more slowly than I usually would.

5. Learn to increase your guesses and bets.

Just proceed with the best intentions, unapologetically, at full speed, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you that you are on the right track. —

Andrew Doherty

This is a lesson that goes for everything in life. At some point, you need to trust yourself, put yourself out there and make the call. Screw getting permission.

Leslie Chicoine frames it nicely:

Develop your intiution — It’s an excellent tool for making more significant leaps in your design thinking. Make guesses and bets on a regular basis and follow up to see the outcomes. For example, guess about people’s motivations and then ask them, or place bets with friends on industry trends. —

Leslie Chicoine

Don’t wait for permission. Make your calculated guess and go with it.

6. Learn to make the right noise. Show you matter

“Your work does not speak for itself. You do.Many of us are taught not to brag, so when it comes to speaking about our own work we often hold back speaking about the value it brings, because we think the work will do the talking. This also assumes that someone is listening. Reconsider how can you make some noise? How you can tell stories about your work that connects on an emotional level? How can you show how you matter?” —

Simon Pan

This may seem obvious, but I think it’s gold. Telling the story of how you got to your design choice is essential. Maybe it was a back-end engineers idea. Tell that story. Perhaps it was talking to a user, and they were finding something a real pain in the arse. Tell that story.

Whatever it was, tell a story. You’ll be surprised how powerful a good story can be.

The work of a designer is important like everyone else’s role. Don’t downplay what you do.

7. Learn to be a pain in the arse and question everything

“Design is a series of decisions. Question the design decisions you make and make things with purpose.” —

Chirryl-Lee Ryan

If you’re in a team that questions everything, that’s great. It’s a pain in the arse if it’s when is when you’re all done and due to start development. Make sure your team gets the chance to question everything earlier on. If you leave it late, it can be very stressful.

Use your intuition if something doesn’t sit well and speak up. Sometimes people are tired and let things through without paying too much mind to it.

Repeat yourself. Keep asking why.

In summary

Repeat yourself a lot.
Natural talent is bullshit.
Present your work strategically.
Write a story about your designs.
Increase your guesses and bets.
Make the right noise. Show you matter.
Be a pain in the arse and question everything.