Career advancement is a mix of many factors ranging from reskilling to upskilling, networking, consistency, and other factors that might be unique to each industry. One of the factors that contribute largely to advancement in a career is having relevant skills.
Hence, it is not uncommon to see those who seek to upskill or even re-skill after spending some years in a particular industry.
With the increase in demand for tech workers, it is not surprising that many are reskilling into tech, and product design is one of those tech niches that is presently gaining traction.
Foremost, you are making a good choice by deciding to become a product designer. Product design is one of the top 50 jobs in the USA, as reported by Glassdoor. Product design has opportunities for career growth, and its skills are currently in demand by most organizations.
Making a career change comes with many anxieties and uncertainties, but you have nothing to fear if you switch to product design. It is not as hard as you might have imagined. The good part is most professions already have the transferable skills you need as a product designer. Product design has no single path. Many product designers switched from different careers, and they are currently doing well in their careers.
This article provides insight on how to switch from any career to product design. Let's start with knowing who a product designer is and what he does.
What is Product Design?
Product design is creating products that solve users' needs, address their pain points, and give brands relevance in the market. Product design has a creative process that blends UI and UX design skills to create usable products for users. Thus, there is not much difference between UX and product designers. It is safe to say a product designer should work as a UX designer.
Who is a Product Designer?
A product designer uses insightful and dynamic thinking to create products that will do well in the marketplace while meeting users' needs. A product is a UX designer with an extra focus on the market performance of products. It implies that the same technical and soft skills in UX design will apply to understand users' needs and how desirable the product will be in the market. A product designer also carries out user research to understand the needs and desirability of users.
Making a career change comes with many anxieties and uncertainties, but you have nothing to fear if you switch to product design. It is not as hard as you might have imagined. The good part is most professions already have the transferable skills you need as a product designer. Product design has no single path. Many product designers switched from different careers, and they are currently doing well in their careers.
What does a product designer do?
A product designer applies UX design skills to meet market demands for products. Although he researches user needs, more focus is given to collaborating with different teams working on a product to ensure the successful performance of the product in the market. A product designer is like a project manager for products; he has to be fully involved in the design process and monitor the production process to ensure that they meet the requirements obtained from user interviews.
Job description of Product designers
Define product goals and create product roadmaps for the organization.
Lead brainstorming sessions with cross-functional teams to develop innovative ideas into marketable products.
Transforms user needs from research to sketches, wireframes, and prototypes.
Monitor brand performance in the market and blend users and business goals to meet product desirability.
Lead the UX team and ensure that all products meet usability and functionality requirements.
Drafts research questions for user interviews.
A product designer is like a project manager for products; he has to be fully involved in the design process and monitor the production process to ensure that they meet the requirements obtained from user interviews
Product design skills
Product design skills do not differ from the skills of a UX designer. Some of the skills include:
Experience with design tools like Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, Invision, etc.
Wireframing.
Prototyping.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams.
Familiarity with project management tools.
Research.
Familiarity with coding.
How to make a career transition to product design
People make a career change for different reasons. It could be that you are just about to switch to your actual dream career, or you want to get out of a tedious job to something more creative. It could also be to earn more. Whatever reason you may have, I am sure you want to switch to a more fulfilling career, and you want to know how to go about it.
If you work a full-time job, I won't advise you to quit abruptly without a solid plan. You don't want to go back to the job search stage without a complete grasp of your transitioning career.
So, how do you make a smooth transition without becoming stranded?
Start reading materials on product design
The first thing you want to do if you are switching to a new career is to read about it. For example, the GoCreate USA blog is an online platform that has lots of articles on anything related to product design. Get yourself informed on the new skills that you will need to learn.
Understand the core principles of product designers align with your goals and aspirations. Read any and every material on product design. You can do this anytime. While in the toilet, while watching a game. It doesn't have to be during profound moments alone.
Get familiar with the Product design industry
The next thing is to get familiar with the industry. Check job vacancies. You are not applying for jobs yet, but you want to know what is obtainable in the industry. Check the job requirements, the salary range, and the trends in the industry.
You can also talk to established product designers and product managers to get insights into the projects you will be doing as a product designer.
Take free courses online
Many free online courses can get you started on the knowledge of product design. Take UX design courses; they are pretty much the same as product design.
Get familiar with industry tools.
Now, you can start experimenting with some UX design tools. Experimenting with design tools like Figma, Adobe, Invision, etc. will broaden your creativity and improve your expertise.
Attend a product design Bootcamp
A free course can only do a little for you. It would be best if you still learned properly from professionals to access the current trends in the industry and get in-depth knowledge about what you have seen online.
A Bootcamp will provide the ultimate guide you need to become a product designer. You will also get to meet other designers and share knowledge with them. A Bootcamp will not just impart knowledge to you; it will help you build a strong community that can help you in your career, and you might even get one that promises a job guarantee.
Understand the core principles of product designers align with your goals and aspirations. Read any and every material on product design. You can do this anytime. While in the toilet, while watching a game. It doesn't have to be during profound moments alone.
Seek Mentorship
Mentorship will make the journey easier for you. Your journey to product design might be different from others, but you need something that your mentor has already, and that is experience. Your mentor can guide you with his experience in doing certain things to have a good result. Mentorship also helps you become accountable for the accomplishment of your goals.
Build your portfolio
Product design is a problem-solving endeavor. So, it would help if you started putting yourself out there to find how you can solve problems for people. After attending a Bootcamp, start taking projects to work on for people. Don't be picky about your first job because you need projects to build your portfolio.
Moreso, you don't even need to get a proper job before you start building your portfolio; because not everyone will get a job immediately after Bootcamp. You can start working on unique ideas to create projects for yourself. These projects will become the case studies that you will include in your portfolio.
Ask for feedback
Feedback is important. They help you get better in your career. If you want to experience real career growth, always ask for feedback and work on it to make yourself better.
Final thoughts
It is not too late to transition from your career to product design; you only need to be smart with planning your transition. This article is a guide on how you can have a smooth transition. Cheers to a successful transition!