Ep 258|- Skillset myths for Product & UIUX Designers

Welcome to this video podcast. Thank you for staying tuning in Design for change. Today we are going to address something which is very, very important for a designer skill set myth. What is mean by that? A lot of people think skill sets are very, very important. Yeah, it is very important. But in this podcast I'm going to break you the myths. What is associated into this particular aspect and what are the common questions which some of my students have really asked. I'm going to read that questions and I'm also going to answer each and every one of them very, very carefully. Because what happens lot of the times is people value Skill set as 80 percentage and mindset as 20%. Sometimes it's even ignored, but it's exactly ulta. Mindset is 80% and skill set is only 20 percentage. So many people ask me, you must be naturally a designer. You must have that quality of a designer. No, it's absolutely not correct. That's what is the question I'm reading. So the reason why it is like that is any skill could be learned. If you spend enough time to master that skill. Learn that skill, practice that and again and again you will definitely could hang of it. That's the big part in it. Like let's say it's normally said that 10,000 hours, if you spend on any particular skill, you can master it. You don't have to spend 10,000 hours. At least spend thousand hours first to get some confidence and then you can slowly scale it up. The next question, what some of the designers ask is they only need to focus on aesthetics. No, aesthetic is also a skill. Functionality is also a skill. Emotional is also a skill. There is something called visceral design, behavioral design, reflective design. These three layers. If you make the people come across through your product and service, then only the likability factor will be there. Or else they'll just see the product is good, but the functionality will not be good. Or maybe the usability is also good, the functionality is also good, the aesthetic is also good, but they won't like it forever. Only a seasonal hit that product or service or application will be. But if you touch their senses, if you touch their aesthetics, if you assess their functionality, if these three things are there, you can able to create a lasting product in your entire career. This is one of the special masterclass I teach for my students for almost one and half to two hours. I make them do some live activities and understand this is completely a myth, guys. The reason being it is a learnable skill and everybody can learn it. It's not like you have only a magical skill to do it. Designers only work alone. They are already in harmony. They don't want to get disturbed with the corporate meetings and the corporate misalignment and other people biases. And designers only are in the solitude state. No, you cannot solve problem until you come out to the people and really ask for it. You cannot solve a problem until you understand what is your business need. You cannot solve a problem unless you understand the cost technology viability of it. Until you go to the reality to understand, you need to work in a cross functional team. That is the reality. Okay. And A report by McKinsey says a company which highlights its cross functional teams improve their product development rates and successful of their product launch at a very very high rate. The user engagement goes up to 2 to 3x if it is done properly through this manner. That is why cross functionality is important. The next question what people ask is design is only about visual design. Tools. Tools are just a tools case. It's like a pencil or pen. Like let's say if you take remote as a tool just to operate. Pencil is a tool to write. Sketchman is a tool to write. Right, tool to draw. Tools are just tools in order to create some things. But ultimately your thinking process and your approach and mindset is majorly, majorly important. Use the tools, do not allow the tools. It's very, very important to understand this basic factor. Okay, the other question is designers don't need to understand code. See, sometimes you need to understand what is really happening. You don't have to turn as a developer, it's very important to understand that development is also a process where they also have some restrictions, constraints and other factors in order to develop a successful product. You as a designer, how you can reduce that friction. You as a designer, how you can empathize in that overall process. Try that. That is actually a very good empathy part. What a designers can play. I'm telling you guys, this is all myth. Any skill set is learnable. Spend 31 days to first master one skill, spend another 31 days to again master another skill. So in a year span of Time, 12 skills you will be able to master. Like let's say if you want to master only one skill, take that one skill practice for one year completely every single day, 12 hours to 16 hours, you can able to practice and do it again and again and again. Like let's say if you wanted to build a skill in research, you want to build a skill in ideation, you want to build a skill in visual design prototyping and interactiveness. You want to build a skill in thinking, process, design, thinking, methodology. Take that one and do it for the next one year without any doubts, without any interruption. If you do it for 365 days, like let's say 10 hours, if you put it's close to 3650 hours, if you do it for three years, you'll become a celebrity in that particular skill. People will be after you for getting your opinion and your discussion and your points towards that. If you do it continuously for five years to seven years, you will become an international celebrity to do it. My mentor usually always says every day, if you spend one or two hours to learn that particular skill for seven years, you become a master in that field. I'm not taking you seven years, I'm asking you in three to five years you can become because you're spending maximum hours in that particular skill and practicing it consistently. Consistency is the key here. Any which way five years is going to go, right? Whether you like it or not, if you ask, hey Jagdish, five years is very, very huge. Three years is very huge to do it. For your information. Anyways, three years is going to go. But are you taking the action or not? Have you taken the action or not? If you make that, then you will have the life entirely set in this particular area, entire mainstream. What you have as a skill, what you can call will follow you for the rest of the career. So that will become a great brand and an identity for you. With that you can able to create a great living, you can able to create a great impact, able to create a huge change. And that's what we teach in design for change. Also to do that. The reason why I'm stressing you too much is change is always there. Skills keep on changing, skills keep on updating. But you need to learn and master and go ahead. But ultimately mindset is very important. Remember this. So if you understand this podcast deeply, I would have literally broken all the myths regarding to the skills and also the mindset. Okay, see you in another episode. Take care. Bye bye. And also make sure you claim the free gift which is available in this description of the podcast so that you can able to come and interact with me live also in the opportunity. If it happens early in the morning. Yeah, I'm sure if you are very interested, you will come there and meet me. Okay, take care. Bye bye.