The job of a product designer is a very complex one. It requires a lot of skills, and on a daily basis, you need to apply many of these skills to do your job. It's very challenging. An industry standard designer is one who has all the skills the industry wants. But does that apply to someone who is just getting started?
As I mentioned in the previous chapters, there are certain pieces of the puzzle that you can get only after you start working in a mature company. This means it's impossible for you to have all the skills before getting into a mature company.
So in that case what is the industry standard?
Well, that depends on the stage you are in your career. If you've been working as a designer for a while, you must be strong and competent at your craft. There is no exception. But if you're still in the very early stages of your career, the definition of an industry standard product designer is different.
It's one who has learnt MOST of the skills that can be self-learnt.
You see, companies are looking for candidates who have potential. They aren't looking for someone who has every skill because it's impossible to find one. This applies to every single stage of a product designer's career. If a senior designer wants to move into design management, they have to showcase potential.
So with that being said, let's answer the bigger question.
Is it decided by a community of designers? Is it decided by the general public? Is it decided by the FAANG companies? Or is there someone else?
Well, the answer is actually…YOU!
Let me explain. If you're a wealthy person who wants to buy something such as a car or phone or even plan a vacation, you have many options to choose from. You can go for a cheaper alternative or go for an expensive one. You have enough money to spend. The wealthier you are, the more options you have.
If not, you have fewer options to choose from and will sometimes have to compromise.
Similarly, in the world of product design, if more and more people enter this industry, companies will want the best of the best because they have more options to choose from. It's a simple concept of economics.
Even though we are called Product Designers, in hindsight, we belong to the world of product and not the world of design.
You see, the world of product is evolving at a super fast rate. Mainly because the world of tech is evolving at an even faster rate. Blockchain, Dall·E, Metaverse, ChatGPT, etc. I can go on and on. This opens up plenty of opportunities to solve many big and small problems in the real world. And to solve many of them, you need a great product, backed by great tech and great design.
The industry standard is so high because product and tech are already way ahead of design. Design is still picking up worldwide, but it's not fast enough. This is because the design education system is absolutely broken and with so much misinformation online, things are getting even worse.
People entering this profession and assuming Product Design is just about interfaces is enough evidence.
So what this means is that the moment you enter this industry, you automatically raise the industry standard. But as long as you do the right things at the right time, you have nothing to worry.
If you don't train yourself to become a skillful designer in the early stages of your career, you'll limit the opportunities you can access in the later stages of your career.
Now that doesn't mean you can't make money. It doesn't mean that you can't get a job. Of course, you can. But if you don't do the right things at the right time, you automatically limit your career growth and may eventually hit a dead end. Trust me, I've seen it happen to so many designers.
Please don't mistake me. I know so many people who are happy with their rate of growth and the money they make. And that's absolutely okay. Not everyone wants to aim for the stars. Not everyone wants to work at FAANG companies. Not everyone wants to be big achievers. Everyone is entitled to their choices.
But if you want to aim for the stars, it's time to face reality.
Success means different things to different people. Some want to earn a lot of money. Some want to work in the best companies in the world. Some want to work abroad. It could be anything, and everyone is entitled to their own definition of success. There is no right or wrong answer. But if you ask me, I'd say that,
a successful designer is one who has access to the most amount of opportunities they would want.
Everyone wants a different set of opportunities. For example, as a freelancer, you might want to work with some of the biggest companies in the world. As a designer with a 9-5 job, you may want to work at a FAANG company. As a designer with 6 years of experience, you may want to become a design lead at a mature startup.
The only way to get access to more and more opportunities is to be extremely talented at your craft, and that's what this guide is all about. It's all about learning the right things at the right time. The most important thing to remember is this process of learning design takes a monumental amount of time.
If you're here for quick and fast results, this profession will likely not provide you with the expected returns.