I’ve been thinking for a while about this question: Why do Designers, more often than not, have an insecure personality? If you are a designer yourself, how many times have you doubted your work? How many calls ended with “Okay, I’ll change that”?

As designers, we find ourselves at the core of the delivery process. Our involvement spans from research, through ideation, to the craft of the final output. Maybe that is the reason why. Maybe it is because we have to deal with lots of sh*t from lots of different people. We have to gather requirements from stakeholders, clients, product team, and then act on them — But ultimately, isn’t that part of our job?

Then maybe it is because we constantly find ourselves under friendly fire? Because our work is constantly reviewed by several different people at several different stages of the delivery process. Those people have feedback and sometimes we can take that feedback too much to heart — But ultimately, isn’t feedback the key to delivering a better product?

So then the question stands: Why do Designers tend to have an insecure personality? I don’t have an answer as to Why, but I think I can address Which are the designers’ traits of insecurity and How to address them.

1. Set unrealistic goals.

Setting unrealistic goals is a great way to fail. I’d go as far as saying that it is the most common reason why people fail. By setting a goal that is extremely hard to achieve, you position yourself in a situation where you do something unbelievably good, or you fail. There is no middle ground. There is no average. And if there is no average, there is no basis to improve upon. It is either good enough, or it isn’t.

This setting leads to being your own worst critic. You set yourself a standard so high to achieve, that when reviewing your work, you can’t be anything but harsh with it.

How to address it:

Avoid being a perfectionist who is rarely satisfied with their work. Instead, set a MISSION and SMART goals. Divide the goals into subtasks. Remember that setting achievable and realistic goals will give you a headstart. Focus on what creates the MOST value in the SHORTEST time. Deliver that. Then compare how this contributes to your Mission. This way you will know what to focus on next.

2. Not letting go.

Falling in love with your designs is very dangerous. You can be proud of them. You can fight for them. But be aware that you might have to let them go at some point. It could be soon, it could be later down the line. But it will happen.

Understand that there are multiple factors in play. Surely, Design should carry lots of importance. But so does Marketing, Data, Legal, Sales, etc. A product (or a company) is like a creature. Made of different limbs. Design is just one of those. Some people might argue that design is the core body that brings those limbs together. But either way, whether we are a part of a whole or the glue that makes things stick together, Design needs to always listen not dictate.

How to address it:

My suggestion would be to always try to come up with different approaches. Even though you might want to deliver only one at the end, make sure you went through that ideation process of exploring different routes. And by different routes, I do not mean squared vs rounded corners. I mean differences in the core aspect of the experience you are delivering. Remember that there is never one single way to go about something. This will help you with letting go of your designs when appropriate.

3. Lack of confidence.

Building on the point made above, when you believe something, fight for it. there is a fine line here between fighting for something vs not letting go. The key aspect here is that some insecure designers take for granted the fact that others know better. That is wrong. You might know as much as them if not more.

How to address it:

I would say that the crucial aspect is to share why you believe something. Why do the designs look the way they do? What made you go down that direction. Always share your point of view. Sharing it will make other people see what you see. Then, you will have to collaborate with them to understand if your POV is more accurate than theirs. Sometimes it isn’t and you will need to let go of your designs. But it is for the good of the project. Though some other times your point will come across and people will start sharing your belief.

4. Giving up.

Giving up is not equal to letting go of something. Giving up means completely surrendering or not caring anymore. Some Designers give up. Often, insecurity is the biggest reason why that happens. Some people are not confident enough in their work and give up design as a career or worst as a passion.

How to address it:

If you’re struggling to get a project off the ground, stop worrying about making it perfect in the beginning and just say the magic words — “fuck it.” Don’t get demoralised, and make things work. Keep creating, keep designing, keep talking to your users, keep putting things out there — it’s ok to start with baby steps, and do a little every day. It is also okay to compromise. Compromisation is what ships things. When something is live in the wild, you will have more time, data, and means to understand how to improve it.

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