6 Common mistakes entry level designers make - How to overcome

Being an entry level designer, there is a lot of mistakes, which commonly people do. The big problem is many times they don't even know that they are making this mistake. So this podcast is going to give you six different mistakes, what people are doing and the proportionate steps one can take for rectifying that as well. Okay. If you are a guy who is starting up in your career and if you are a guy who's just about to complete an internship, going into a design jobs freshers, all these people, you can get aware of this podcast, take a lot of notes. Let's dive into this topic. This is a very favorite topic of mine. When it comes to what you call starting up as a designer, particularly I'm being a mechanical engineer before and started this journey. There is a lot of mistakes, which I used to do and there are some feedbacks and suggestions and corrections which used to always come from my seniors and what you call sometimes juniors, sometimes faculties. But the point is, many times we will not be able to accept it because design field in itself like that, you have to develop your own individuality, you need to develop your own uniqueness. So people really not take things very seriously. Right. Because they are afraid that their originality might get affected because of these advices. But on top of it, why I'm recording this podcast is there are some mistakes which definitely a designer needs to correct it. Okay. Because if you're not doing that, what happens is you just make the same mistake again and again, over and over again and then you will not be able to improve in your design career. Okay. And if you listen to the six mistakes and take action, definitely you will see a significant difference in next 30 days itself. Okay. Yes. So the first part of this particular podcast, the first mistake is focusing too much on presentation. It's like prioritizing your presentation and then your aesthetic substances who are superficial designs, not considering the real requirement of the customer or the audience. Who is your Persona, what's the real problem and the pro. The main point about this particular point is according to a survey research, 30 percentage of the entry level designers prioritize presentation over substance. Because there is a two reasons for it. One reason being their insecurity. They want to prove that they are worthy enough. They need to get hired for a full time role or they need to get hired for a professional project or they need to go into a bigger role. So that that kind of insecure feel also makes you what you call prove that you are good at it. Right? The second reason being you wanted to satisfy yourself first, that's a major thing which people don't understand sometimes, right? Leave about satisfying others. Many times you feel like satisfying yourself because if you are satisfied, what you do is you will not shout much, you will not make super wonderful this, that presentations or you won't even project yourself that much. So many times it's internal. So a lot of people wanted to prove to themselves that they are really worthy enough so they make wonderful aesthetics. They make presentation. But not focusing on the real need, like balancing between the functionality and aesthetics is a very very big problem, right? So you need to take care being a designer. Always you need to have a rational method to do it. Always you need to consult with your seniors, mentors, leads, project managers so that you will get in track. Okay? The second common mistake what people do for the entry level designer do is neglecting the content understanding. This is a major problem, even which I do before when I mean when I started my career. And a lot of designers, youngsters, freshers, interns, I'm seeing that lack of emphasis on understanding the project content and what is the real context, what people are working on, right? So many times it is understanding holistic picture of a project, not just focusing on only the solution. What is the customer's journey really going through? What is the value addition through our solution? A study suggests that Design Insights Institute 25 Percentage of the entry level designers admit to neglecting content understanding. They itself know it. The problem is they are not able to correct it on it. So the best part of advice I we would, I mean I would suggest is stress the importance of delving into the project content. Like let's say always trust the importance of diving into the project detail content and align with the goals of the project. If you have that alignment properly there no problem, you will be able to deliver a better output. Okay, so the third big mistakes, what people do is ignoring the organizational needs, right? See, whenever you're working for a project or maybe a small project or big project, you need to understand largely what your organization is trying to do. Let's say if you're working for a small scale industry startup or medium scale industry corporate, that doesn't matter. You need to align with your customer or client goal, right? So your organization goal will be very clear. Like let's say your organization goal is to meet sustainability goals. So you have to make sure your design is aligning to that. You should not focus too much on aesthetics. Aesthetics, you have to align the sustainability and then go for aesthetics and work on it, right? So designers have this problem of meeting that objective and goals. The reason what they give normally is my creativity will be spoiled. So leave me alone. So give me my freedom and space. A lot of people develop an ego and they have a fight with their boss. Compared to an engineering degree where there is less kind of a fight which will happen in terms of this kind of idea presentation, creativity, presentation and concepts. Why in design it is predominantly high? It's. I already told you, it's because of the nature of the design. Like many people want to express their own idea, their design, their creativity, their way of solving the problem. Lot of design studio heads, lot of experienced designers really understand this, right? Okay. If you are a fresher, you might have lot of what you call a very sometimes unrealistic ideas, sometimes vague ideas, sometimes very creative ideas, sometimes very brilliant ideas. So as a, as a project manager, not all people really understands that. So that is why it is our responsibility as an entry level designer to align the organizational need. Exactly. See, 40% of the entry level designer struggles with alignment. They really have a problem. 40% is a huge strength. Right? Out of 10 people, four people face this problem. So the best part is you need to understand company's mission first. What is their vision, what is their value system, what is their objective? What does the client need? If you write it down in a paper and if you are able to read it properly and understand it, what happens is automatically you will be aligned. And you know what, if your project alignment is met automatically, your concept will be good and then you will get appreciation and recognition. People don't understand it. They wanted to prove themselves. That is why they get a lot of problem, ego. And you know what, I've talked to a lot of designers, majority of the people, I mean 40% of the industry, stat. But out of the people whom I have talked to, I would say more than 6, 7 people out of 10 people, or let's say 60, 70 percentage people, they are not very well fitting in any organization is because of this one reason. Because they wanted to do their own stuff. It's okay to do their own stuff, it's fine. But if you're working for an organization or a freelance project or a client project, there needs to be a discipline, right? So that is the third, fourth mistake. What I would say, okay, sorry, that's the third mistake. The fourth mistake is over emphasis on personal preferences. See, when it comes to choice of colors, aesthetics, graphics, typeface, so designers really don't prioritize. They have their personal design preferences over the organization needs. What happens. This is a Disaster. This is a big, big, what you call loop. Which designer gets into and never gets back. They stay in their own cocoon. Like let's say if you like a typeface, Helvetica, if you like a color like let's say orange, you really don't come out of it. You apply orange for every client, you apply Helvetica for every font family. And that doesn't make sense, right? So your design process is different, your client needs is different. His particular problem statement is very different and his user might be very different. He might have some kind of a readability problem. He's an age old population. So you cannot use very stringent typefaces. You cannot use very stylish typeface. You need to use legible typeface. There you need to go for DIN family. There you need to go for areal family. So this kind of understanding should be developed. People don't get this clarity, right? You know what? A design trend monitors survey shows that 35% of the entry level designers really face this balance. They don't do it. The best way to focus is really make a user centric diagram. What is your user needs? What is your user requirement? How does it really, what do you call get the problem solved because of your solution, what you're providing. If you're able to do that, definitely guys, this is a wonderful step which you will be crossing as a designer. And you know what? You will be promoted twice thrice faster if you really take out your personal preference and work for the company's organization or the client goal or something. Right? This is the fourth very important mistake. The fifth important mistake is insufficient discipline in career development. See lack of discipline in managing time, their projects, their career development. People really face this problem because it's not about facing it comes from their attitude and their self discipline as well. Designers are normally very free in their design studios and even the design institutes where I studied nid it was very free. Like you can come at any time, you can do your own stuff. I mean if you're, if you're, if you're not able to complete a project, you can take one more semester and do it. But the point is people don't really what you call, they don't respect that, they take it granted and they comply. The same kind of a habitat when it comes to the design organization as well. That is a big, big problem. So the one way to really understand is emphasizing time management and having the clear written goal and continuous learning process should be done. You need to be more curious towards Learning you need to be more what you call disciplined towards learning and managing the time and setting a goal. Like what you wanted to really accomplish being a designer. What you wanted to really solve being a entry level designer for your organization. If you're able to do that, what happens definitely you will have a greater career opportunity provided a lot of people really, really don't do that. 45% of the entry level designers really face this problem. Design Career insights from statistics shows that the sixth mistake what people do is inconsistent work habits, exhibiting inconsistent work habits leading to unreliability. What happens is sometimes your concept will be accepted, sometimes your concept will not be accepted. What happens is people really, really make this kind of inconsistent. Like let's say sometimes you will be very consistent to make 50 to 100 ideas per day. Sometimes you will not even make five ideas. What happens is that day you will not be motivated properly. So workplace dynamic survey states that 50% of the entry level designers face this problem. 50 percentage guys, almost half the designers, right? So you need to be very consistent when you're making ideas, when you're presenting concepts, when you're talking with your team, when you are presenting a project. So this kind of a what you call step is very important to cross this entry level mistake. Definitely you will be falling in that category. Guys. Statistics show that. But out of the designers whom I've talked to like let's say freshers designers, including around 5,000 to 6,000 fresh designers, many people do this thing like many people are not consistent in their projects, in their concept, in their ideation session. So that is why you need to form a consistent work habit. You need to follow a 21 day pattern. You need to follow a seven day work habit. You need to follow a one hour discipline for creativity or you need to follow two hours discipline for creative exercises. And when you're able to build this habit consistently, no matter whether the project gets succeeded or not, you will make hundred ideas, you will make 50 ideas, you will be consistent in your project. Okay, so the entry level mistakes of designers you need to keep in your mind. Okay? So remember guys, growth comes from learning. We have provided some statistics and resources. But the thing is the more in depth insights you can check out many what you call websites and you can read about statistic statista and you can read about employee employee world design organization, WDO there is an employee survey which has been put there. You can able to read that so you can understand what are the common mistakes, what designers do and when you are able to do it, what happens, guys, you will definitely become a wonderful designer. And no matter what, whether you are working in India, whether you're working in foreign countries, whether you're working in any particular part of the world, you will be very consistent, you'll be very disciplined. You will not be carried away with the aesthetics. You'll be focusing only on which is required being a problem solver for the customer. Okay. I hope this podcast would have given you some value. Take care of this mistakes and correct it. Let's meet in the other podcast. Thank you so much, guys. Take care. Bye. Bye. All the best.