Product designers are responsible for balancing business goals with users' needs so that one does not suffer at the expense of the other. They are also responsible for ensuring that the user experience while navigating through their product is seamless and enjoyable. Below are five essential qualities found in successful product designers over the years.
Resilience
Resilience is a vital skill for product designers as they have many hurdles to scale in various product development journeys. It takes resilience to keep trying when a product fails and when a product is not performing as expected in the market. It takes resilience to keep going when people don't believe in your mapped-out project plan. It takes resilience to keep going when you seem overwhelmed with tasks, but you know you have to get it done because Product design is more about humanity than self-satisfaction.
Ability to Empathize
Easily one of the most used words in the Design industry, empathy is the ability to put oneself in the shoes of others. Great Product designers understand that to create products that resonate with their users. They have to understand their customers' pain points and what they would and would not do to complete their tasks. As the saying goes, "it is he who wears the shoes that knows where it pinches him." If you don't put yourself in their shoes, you may never know where it pinches them and what solution to proffer.
Desire to Improve
When it comes to product design, it is about laying aside personal preferences and conventional knowledge for facts and stats to thrive on meeting the needs of others and solving their problems. It is also about accepting and being open-minded to feedback and learning. In this regard, great Product designers have mastered the art of lifelong learning. They learn from every detail available to them.
Collaboration
Great Product designers know that Teamwork makes the dream work and that no man is an island in the product development journey. They carry every team member along to ensure that task distribution is even and that nobody is over-labored. Over time, it leads to even much more creativity.
Sense of Intuitive Design
Product Designers who have made their marks in the design industry know that there is the need to cut out excessive 'fats' and make details minimal, straight to the point, and the design almost invisible but enjoyable to arrest users' interest. They know that users will always return if they find a product easy to navigate without tutorials or onboarding pages. It takes a high level of expertise to identify excesses in design, which is why some designers are outstanding in the field.
Brave Achievers is a cradle for great product designers, and we can help you start your design career journey. Visit our page and sign up to participate in our forthcoming GoCreate virtual Bootcamp, which connects you to versatile employers seeking your talent.