Top 10 Tips for New Graduates in Product Designing Industry

‘Graduation’ is a phase of human life where youths turn to another chapter of their life calling for work life. According to successful startups, businessmen, and experts, it has been suggested that success lies in the implementation and execution of knowledge and skills.

Work-life essentially calls for the implementation and execution of the concepts and skills you have gained throughout high school and graduation.

Product designing is one such dynamic field where new graduates enter into the instantaneous and creative realm of the product designing process which involves designing images, creatives, typography, prototyping, and more such concepts to provide a quality customer experience.

As you step into this rapidly expanding field of product design industry, here are ten invaluable tips to help you steer and thrive in your new career:

1. Mastering the Fundamentals

Solidify your understanding of basic concepts of designing such as principles, typography, color theory, and user experience fundamentals to lay a strong foundation for your design journey. You can also apply for a suitable product design internship to gain the necessary knowledge.

2. Cultivate a Diverse Skill Set

Expand your overall skill set beyond design by learning about related fields such as project management, marketing, and business fundamentals to become a well-rounded product design engineer capable of tackling diverse projects across the product design industry.

3. Cultivating Strong Collaborative Skills

Before you enter into product designing jobs work on effective communication, active listening, and teamwork skills to learn to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders throughout the product design process.

4. Cultivate Design Thinking

Attempt to adopt a human-centered approach to problem-solving by empathizing with users, understanding their needs, ideating creative solutions accordingly, prototyping wisely as well as testing iteratively to create expressive and innovative designs for the users.

5. Iterate, Iterate & Iterate

Understand that your first design iteration might not be perfect. Take up the product design process by gathering feedback, making adjustments, and refining your designs continuously to achieve optimal results and address user needs effectively.

6. Sweat the Details

Product designing is a creative process that involves meticulous attention to detail in every aspect of your design, from typography, layout, and color choices to well-thought-out interaction designs and animations.

7. Ensure to Prioritise User-Centric Design

Always allow room for placing the needs and preferences of users at the forefront of any design process. Design products that create enjoyable experiences that resonate with your target audience.

8. Learn to master design Tools

Familiarise yourself with industry-standard design tools and software such as 3D modelling, sketching, Illustration for prototyping, packaging design, and presentations to efficiently bring your design ideas to life.

9. Build a Strong product design Portfolio

Work on curating a diverse portfolio that showcases your best past works, demonstrating your design process, results achieved, progress made by the brand, problem-solving skills, and ability to deliver impactful design solutions that address branding challenges. Don’t forget to add a touch of user-generated content using testimonials from your peers or educators in your design portfolio.

10. Network Strategically

Learn to connect wisely with industry professionals, look for joining design communities, networking events, online webinars, and online groups to build meaningful relationships with the experts, gain insights, and access opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and career advancement by learning through their vast experiences in the product design industry.

Conclusion

To thrive in the product design career, graduates must take care of the recommended tips, stay passionate and curious to learn, implement, and remember that success doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process of practical learning, growth, and perseverance. Armed with these tips and a dash of determination, you can create an impactful career in product design.

Go Forth, Dream big, Work Smart, and design your future!