How to stand out as a product designer being a fresher or Intern .

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People have asked me how to make a very, very standout career in product design and UI UX design. Particularly when they've started up as a fresher. A lot of people get depression, a lot of people go into a insecure mode and people don't know what exactly to do to really level up and cope with the code designers and everything.

Right.

So how do you really deal this? In this podcast I'm going to give you eight different strategies how you can work out on it. Okay, so let's jump into this podcast. The very first strategy which I'll be telling you is you need to have an excellent portfolio. The very first thing when you show as a designer, when you show up as a designer in any industry, whether it's a startup or medium scale or corporate or studios, so they really expect a good amount of work needs to be done. So the kind of judgment really happens over there. Even if you don't have a very good portfolio, that's okay. But in fact if you have a very good portfolio and if you're able to showcase it, it would be highly good. So have a diverse range of projects and which is showcasing a problem problem solving ability, your creativity. How do you really understand your users? Show some real examples in real time projects.

Okay?

If you're not having, do not worry. Just tell that I've did one or two good projects and right now I cannot show it for confidential reasons or it's not in a proper shape to showcase. So something like that, you can tell honestly whatever is your thing.

Okay?

The second important thing is you need to showcase a continuous learning ability. See guys, this is for you as well as the others. If you stay updated with the latest design and trends and the methodologies, the tools, the techniques, and if you show that commitment towards learning continuously, you will definitely have a lot of confidence when talking to other people. Particularly when you're a fresher. If you are staying in the trend, people will really take care of you like anything because they also needed your support and service. Being a designer, right? That's why they have hired you in. So you need to showcase that continuous learning ability. The third important thing is user centric design. So emphasize your dedication for learning this user centric design and design thinking principles. See, you need to conduct lot of user research, usability testing, iterative design. Based on that feedback, you need to work on it. Being a fresher, you'll be tempted to really start up with concepts, making ideas, doing fancy renders, right? People really make a big mistake, particularly freshers. They don't do a user centric design approach at all because they'll be in a hurry to rush and impress their boss or impress their colleagues or impress their co workers. That's not the point. You have to follow the process if you really wanted to make a standout career in your product design and UI UX design. Okay, so the fourth important thing is collaboration skill. This is very, very important guys, because when you are a fresher again, you will not gel with the people very easily and they will be also not very friendly initially. Unless until you go and break that barrier, you go and break that ice, nobody's gonna help you out.

You.

Okay, so highlight some of the skills which you have. Showcase and talk to cross functional teams like testing, engineering, different teams like let's say marketing, sales, showcase them how you're passionate and very interested to showcase your concepts and make a difference. Because like minded people really attract like minded people. So if you're not showcasing that, you won't be able to collaborate. This guys, people don't understand this collaboration skills. They think it's a very high level skill. But no guys, this needs to come from your beginning of your career. Okay, so the fifth important thing is question. Quantify your impact. See the very big problem what freshers do is they don't show the impact what they're creating. They just make some concepts, they just ran away. They'll just do a project and they'll look for a new project and then they'll do a three months project and then they'll go for a new project. No, even if you do a one week project, showcase how it was before and how it was, how it where now, how it is now. Like you have to show that percentage improvement, you have to show some metrics. You need to showcase that engagement, how it improved, how is the conversion rates improved by the interface, what you changed, how is the KPIs really important? Because when it comes to design, it's all about the measure. Before user were able to do the payment in 10 seconds, now people were able to do it in five seconds. Yes, you did it even after you made the solution. If the user is making the payment in 20 seconds, then you failed. So design is successful when it is metricated and measured properly. So even experienced designers don't do this. Guys, that's the major problem in design arena because people are just driven by the thoughts and opinions of others. They say, hey, you're just coming and going. Hey, you're just sketching and you're making some renders. Hey, you're just going this that, hey, you're doing this that. Unless until you show, I've improved the company's website views from 5 million to 20 million because of the change what I did. If you talk like this, nobody will come near you. You will be itself feeling so confident. So if you're able to quantify that impact, even when you are starting as a fresher, that would be a great, great opportunity for you. Okay, so let me recap you. The first is portfolio excellence. The second is continuous learning. The third is user centric design, showcasing the process. Fourth is collaborative skill, how you're able to effectively do it. Fifth is quantifying the impact. And sixth important thing, what I'm telling you is problem solving approach. See guys, the approach is what people will be really looking for in you. People will know that you are good in this skill. You are selected from college, you're a fresher or this that. But when it comes to a problem, when it comes to an emergency situation, how you are able to approach that, how do you really go on instead of solving it in ad hoc way, how do you structure it? How do you ask seniors for help? How do you collaborate with different people? How do you understand the existing benchmark? How do you understand the case studies? And how do you iterate the process? See guys, it all matters how you really approach it. This is what is the impression which company people really gets on you.

Okay?

So please take care of it, be mindful, be conscious. And this is what I teach in my mentorship program. If you're really interested to learn all these things in a very nuances and practice and practical way, you can jump into my program where I teach, really an intensive 42 day program where you can learn and accelerate your process of product design and get into an industry in less than 90 days. Imagine guys, it takes two and a half years for someone to get a master's degree in design or go into a design industry, right? So my students are getting into the industry less than 90 days. So that's the point. So you need to know how you are really now and how you can improve yourself and where you want it to be. So that thing you need to have in your mind and then you'll be able to get a very good approach and solve a problem to really make a mark in your design career.

Okay?

So the seventh important thing is the passion for your field. See guys, needless to say, so convey all of your passion in your personal projects, your initiatives, what you're taking and you can take any Kind of a projects like forums, you can participate in community discussion, you can go into any team building activities. So show your passion being working in this organization or being in the startup. Or showcase your participation and enthusiasm and engagement. So this is really, really important. And the eighth important thing is adaptability. See guys, last three what I've told you. Problem solving approach and mindset. Passion for the field, adaptability towards the environment. Because if you're not showcasing this last three, you will be really rejected in any field guys, irrespective of design. I'm saying you. Okay, so your design is very specific. So always demonstrate your ability to learn and evolve. Because UI UX is a dynamic field guys really employee value their designers who can really adopt for different different condition. That is why it is very important to keep that flexibility mindset in you. Okay, so I hope you got this particular eight important strategies which I told you. Let me recap you very shortly. Portfolio excellence is the first thing. Continuous learning is the second thing. User centric design is a third thing. Fourth is a collaboration skill. Fifth is quantifying the impact before and after. Sixth is problem solving approach. Seventh is passion. And eighth is adaptability towards different different environment. So if you're able to follow this mindfully, you will be able to make a significant mark in your design career even as a fresher guys, even if you're an experienced guy, just make sure that you are really following all these eight things.

Okay?

So thank you so much guys. Thank you for staying tuning in with me. If you need my mentorship support, you can find the description dfcdesignforchangemail.com where you can find a email id. You can send an email, my team will respond to you. And if you're selected in that particular process, we'll be taking up for you in our mentorship program. Because I don't teach for everybody. I take only a few students, damn serious people. And then I help them reach their goals. Because it's a very intensive program. Not all people can take it. Okay, so thank you so much guys. We'll see you in another episode. Bye bye.