10 Softskills for Creative designers to level up your game 10X

Welcome, welcome, welcome to this new episode with me in Design for Change podcast. Thank you for staying tuned in. Guys, it's really essential to have a lot of skills which people normally don't talk about. Okay, so this is called soft skills, okay? We have both type of skills for designers. It's something which is different, which is called soft skills and hard skills. We're going to dissect it. So this podcast is going to give you clarity on how you can develop certain soft skills as a designer. See, being a designer, this topic itself looks soft. People think, I have skills, I have sketching skills, I have rendering skills, I have presentation skills, I have research skills, I'll do my projects, I'll do my product development, I'll do it. But let me tell you guys, if you're not developing as a person who are not having a soft skill, you will not be able to succeed in your design career for sure. As aspiring designer, it's naturally we are tend to focus on building our technical skills, but it's very much equally to build build our soft skills. Whatever I referred to before is called hard skills like sketching, what you call this, rendering, modeling, prototyping, wireframe. But soft skills is something which people, 80% people do not take care of it. Can I tell you in nutshell, soft skills has huge money and career development. Money is there in soft skills. If you learn soft skills, even if you don't know any design skills, you can eventually learn it. It's not a problem at all. Okay, so with this context, we'll dive into the 10 soft skills mandatory for a designer to learn. Welcome guys. Welcome. So the very first soft skill, what you are going to learn is actually empathy. You might be wondering, empathy is something which is, is it really a skill? Let me tell you guys, you have to program yourself to develop that empathy towards other person. Because if you are a designer, it's an essential skill which you need to develop. If you're not empathizing, you will not understand your customers, you will not understand your business, you will not understand the exact problem statement. It's a very fundamental soft skill which can really transform as a designer because you need to feel it, you need to empathize it, and then only you will be able to create a product which is gathering that particular solution to meet the people's needs and wants and desires. Right? This is very, very important skill which you need to really reflect on. See, when you're doing a research, when you're doing a lot of activities with, with respect to understanding problems, if you're not having empathy. What will happen? It's going to be a disaster. You will understand half, you will deliver half. Output will be quarter and the final customer experience will be quarter, quarter. So empathizing is the first skill. The second skill is effective communication. See, there are two types of communication. One is verbal communication. Another is non verbal communication. Okay. See despite of all the communication, this is extends beyond the visual presentation. What you make the ability to tell clearly what you wanted to tell. See if I'm explaining a concept like let's say, hey, I wanted to design an interface for people who wanted to actually have something like a handheld device which is able to create a user interface experience for them. So I can able to create a something like a mouse. See, I've used three, four sentences. Okay, Is it really effective? Let's compare. Second time. Hey, I have to design an interface for people who are having problem in interfacing in touch. I'm going to give them a handheld device for them to operate. Is it something? Okay, better. Now we'll go for the third version. I have to design a simple interface for people who are comfortable with handheld products. Simple, right? So you can look at the three sentences, how specific, how clear, how you articulate. So iterate upon yourself before you talk to others. This is a very effective communication of verbal skill which you will need to develop as a designer. That will reflect in your presentations, that will reflect in your internal activity. If you are confused that wordings will really tell you you're really confused. So you can also cross check yourself whether you have properly understood and your communication is clear. Even I also had a lot of problem when I'm communicating. I used to talk a lot, I used to tell a lot of things. But prime focus is completely missing in my communication. So then people will not understand and articulate you. Right? That is the first verbal communication. Non verbal. Let me tell you guys, 55% of your delivery presentation is going to be judged based on your nonverbal. That's your body language, that's your tonality, that's your intention, that's your mindset, that's your. What do you call like let's say how you nod your head, how you take up, how is your energy when you communicate non verbally. This delivers 55 percentage. Guys, can I tell you something? 7 percentage is only verbal communication. 55 is big or 7 percentage is big? Of course 55, right? So take care of your non verbal. Even if you're in a zoom call, even if you're in a virtual Meetings. Try to present even if your camera is not visible. Try to assume as if the customer or somebody is a business head or maybe a client is opposite to you, as if they're watching you. And when you're able to deliver a non verbal communication better, let me tell you guys, your verbal will also reflect that. It's a very essential second skill which is effective communication. The third important skill is adaptability. See in the changes environment with respect to the AI taking over, a lot of designers job and lot of software are getting automated. If you are not able to adapt to an agile environment, you will have to definitely switch your career for sure. From design to different field, from different field to different field. Adaptability is a major major thing. If you wanted to learn and sustain in a longer term, you need to be very bold enough to embrace that change. Guys. Okay, the fourth aspect is creative problem solving in a short span of time. See, problem solving in a long span of time is also a skill, but that will completely be not suitable for this trend. You will have to solve a problem with a stipulated point of time, five minutes. How you're able to come up with a good idea, one hour. How you're able to come up with a greater clarity idea in one day. How do you present your solution in one month? How do you deliver a project creative problem solving within that time frame? It's a very important skill of a designer. It's a mindset. That's why it's a soft skill. Okay, you need to think from a different approach. You need to talk to different person, you need to do some research. You need to understand from a different perspective how this problem is coming into picture and how different angle I can add to solve it. See that's called creative problem solving. Again, it's a very deep topic, but I'm telling please do some exercises to solve your creativity problem. If you're having problem in thinking creative, put some statement like okay, I'll create 20 different ideas within five minutes for this problem. So if you consciously trigger yourself with that kind of an activities, your mind will become automatically creative. Eventually again you will have to build this skill. Then and only it will become okay in one day. You will not become a God of design and all this is the fourth skill. Fifth is open mindedness. Definitely it's designer's best friend. If you're not open to accept the criticism and not building perspective from different culture, different people, different language, different religion, different demography, different ethnography, you will not be able to bring a creativity flavor for your Problem statement, what you're working, right? Very, very important skill, open mindedness, embracing the different viewpoint will remain a greater opportunity for you yourself to grow as a designer. Right? And then let me tell you guys, in my earlier career I was very rigid. I was very much resistant to change. Personally, it was very challenging for me to approach a new kind of a design perspective even I did a lot of design education. It took me more than four to six months for me to become agile, for me to become open, for me to become very flexible. I was so much rigid. So that opened minus was very much against me. I was not able to tune into that frequency. I was coming from a mechanical engineering background. I was very much into solving problem. With respect to a constraint, with respect to a boundary, with respect to a formula, with respect to the requirement solve it. That's it. There is no big creativity. I have not asked the question why. I have not asked the question who is the customer? This kind of a questioning ability and understanding from different perspectives completely zero for me. That is why I'm not able to become flexible. So do not do that mistake guys. Same what I did. Don't take four to six months. Try to tune in yourself thinking everything could be solved when you apply a different perspective. That is why it's a very important skill of a designer to have that. Okay, Try programming yourself to think in a different, different patterns. Let's say. I'll tell you one exercise, you can improve it. Let's say if you're doing, if you're going to some office or work or something like a shop, or your relative, your friend's house, in a very often route, try to change different route. Try to go in a different way. Don't try to refer map, try navigating yourself. Ask people here, roam here and there. Your new patterns will form. See, normally we are conditioned to go for a shortcut path. That's how our brain is triggered. There is a book called habit. Okay, you can read that book. It's an excellent book. In that habit, it's been scientifically proven that our brain always tends to program to go in a shortcut way. That is why we are not very flexible for new things, right? So you will need to break that pattern consciously. If you're not breaking that pattern again, you'll be pulled back by your own habits, right? 95% of the people get success because of habits. 95% of the people get failure because of habits. So this learning pattern, if you break only you'll be able to become an open person. Okay? This is a sixth skill. Seventh is patience. Definitely. Guys, you need to have a lot of patience when you are a designer. You should not jump into solutions. You should not come to conclusions. You should not be judgmental. You should allow yourself to digest, listen to the people, listen to the problem statement, Think about for some time. Refining, refining, refining. You should be in Level 5 when it comes to patience compared to a normal person in level one or two. Then and only you will be able to make a progress. Eighth, very important thing, stress management. Of course, designer will have a lot of stress guys, in your every day to day life. Let me tell you, it's. It's very normal. During my earlier days of design, I find myself so much stressful. When some kind of a concept is not arriving, some kind of ideas are not coming. Even I used to see my juniors getting a lot of ideas. I came to know that I was so much stressed and that's why I'm not able to come up with a lot of ideas. See, you need to understand and realize it is exactly opposite. When you wanted to become creative, you need to become stress free. That is how law of nature also works. If you allow yourself to become calm, you will get more ideas. If you force yourself, what will happen is you will build a pressure. See, there is something called positive pressure. You can do a mind storming technique that's different. You can do. Hey, in 20 minutes I have to put 20 ideas. Don't think if I'm not ideating 20 ideas, I'll be out of my job. Somebody else will find a fault in me. That pressure is not positive pressure. That's negative. So that should be also done. But also you have to allow yourself to become free and thinking towards that. And then you will add a greater perspective for it. Okay? So I learnt it by a lot of activities and mistakes, guys. So your creativity will flourish much faster when you allow yourself an ease. Reflecting on my own experiences and mistakes. I'm telling you this, so please take it very seriously. Because one of the strategies that I discovered during my time at NID is power of disengagement. I used to engage in a variety of activities and disconnect myself. I used to dance, I used to play. I don't like. I don't know how to dance. But one of the classes I did intentionally try to dance, I loosened up myself. I used to play Frisbee. I used to spend time with friends, watch movies, enjoyed cycling. I bought a cycle when I was there. I was doing different. Different activities which I never used to do before. So this will try to make you disengaged. It's not just a luxury, guys. It's a necessity for you to become a very good designer, taking care of your well being for improving it. Ninth is conflict resolution. See, designers always face criticism from programmers, from developers, from testers, from engineers, from marketing, from sales, from CEO, from common public. You need to really know how you can understand the feedback properly and resolve that conflict to empathize with that person. Again, I'm reflecting back to that skill 1 empathy. If you're able to empathize, you will be able to resolve the conflict. It helps to maintain a positive working environment and ensures your team also can move forward with a very unified vision and mission. See, it's a very important skill. 10th and important. 10th and the last important skill is networking and relationship building. Design does not evolve in isolation, guys. Building stronger relationship will not only give you edge to go for jobs and get improved in your career and what you call find good contacts for even getting good opportunities in job freelancing and all. It's not only that, it also builds your knowledge, it also feels that you're secure. You're just growing in the environment. So that kind of a networking support. And you can have collaborations, you can have mentorship, you can do valuable connections with different different people. You can do lot of building network, guys. I'll separately record a podcast on how you can network being a designer. There's a template which I used to give my students also you want to take my coaching and mentoring. I'll teach you very deeply because you need to build that habit to network with people. It's not like one day you call a lot of designers and then you switch off. There needs to be a consistency in building your relationship with faculties, with mentors, with designers, with co workers, with other people. Not only in design community, in other people also. And then only you will be able to navigate across your organization projects. Getting work done, understanding people, their pain points, reality and then even iterating your design process accordingly. Let me tell you guys, the golden tip of networking is in the world of design, you cannot truly evolve unless until you have a robust network. This is really true. Network is not just for just asking people for job referral. It's about understanding their needs and also helping them. You have to give more when you're networking. Remember that if they help you one time, you have to help 10 times. If they help you for job referral, you need to ask them for help them 10 times more. That is how you also Build good relationship. Okay, so expand your horizons guys. Networking exposes used to wide amount of ideas and trends and what's happening. And engage in some mastermind sessions collectively collaborate with different, different people and engage in problem solving. Have industrial clarity like what is happening in the industry, right? You will come to know what's happening. You'll get to know what a skill is required and what is the demand and you can deliver. And then you will have future clarity like what is really the vision and mission of each and every industries going forward. If you have that clarity, then you will flourish in this industry and you nobody will even touch you. Okay, let me tell you guys, these are all the 10 different different skills, soft skills which a designer needs to develop. The first is empathy. The second is effective communication in terms of verbal and non verbal. Third is adaptability. Fourth is creative problem solving. Fifth is open mindedness. Sixth is patience. Seventh is patience. Sorry, sixth is actually something like. Yeah, open mindedness. You need to be very flexible, not rigid. And stress management is the eighth. And ninth is conflict resolution. And tenth is network networking and relationship building. Let me tell you a bonus guys, okay? Fitness for well being. Let me tell you, physical fitness is a vital, vital role in designers life. If you're committing to 30 to 40 minutes, at least three days or four days a week, that keeps you very much fit. Being conscious about your health takes care of your creativity. Let me tell you guys, one of my junior had actually fallen sick and he's no more. The point is taking care of your health and becoming fit is the first priority more than designing. Because if you are there, only you will be able to create some design, right? So take care of your health. Do a consistent exercise for 30 to 40 minutes a day, at least three days to four days a week. That improves your mental ability, that improves your physical state, that reflects in your creativity and work. And you'll be able to work for longer, productive and give a better output without getting exhausted. So in conclusion, hard skills could be undoubtedly important. But if you're not having soft skills, you will not be able to grow and properly flourish in your career. Okay? So thank you so much guys for listening to this podcast. I hope you would have applied this 11 skills which soft skills designer needs and take action, Take action because if you're just listening to this podcast and not taking action, at least apply three skills in the next 21 and then you start to see the changes. Okay? So thank you guys. Thank you so much for staying tuned in. Subscribe to my podcast channel for further episodes. And get notified and give me best rating if you feel this podcast added value. And if you wanted to jump in and get my mentoring and support, please feel free to send an email. I'll check whether if you're qualified or not because I take only few students to help them and nurture them and and I really put them into the circle where they can grow themselves as a discipline designer and build a habit to become successful. Okay, so jump in if you're really interested. Thank you so much guys. Take care. Bye bye.