The design field has always been more competitive and exciting than a repetitive and mundane task carried out in other careers. It is thrillful for someone passionate about honing their creative skills. Product design is one such career choice that involves art, science, and technology. Product design can be defined as designing and developing products to increase the performance rate in the market and satisfy consumers with the user experience. A product designer can play the characters of User Interface (UI) Designer, User Experience (UX) Designer, Interaction Designer, or Information Architect based on the design brief. Product Designing can be a successful career provided, we can be flexible to the trends and needs of the end consumer.
Knowledge is Power
A product design career demands working with a broad range of commercial enterprises. It can be technical, or aesthetic driven which depends on the kind of projects undertaken. The designer should also be aware of the new materials and manufacturing techniques in the current applications to be on track. The recent innovations should also be on the checklist to study. Consistent study and upskilling themselves are a part of the job to be successful in the product design industry. The designer’s job doesn’t end just by finishing the product launch since it might need constant updates as it matures to hold a place in the competitive respective industry. This allows the designer to be in the commercial loop of a particular product. It takes time to grow a skillset to stand out in almost every design industry since it’s constantly changing and faster. The designer should also be well versed with the basic sketching skills and software tools to iterate the designs. To summarize, the constant knowledge gain of upcoming trends and innovations creates room for personal growth and development and glides through successfully in his career since standing out is key.
Job Satisfaction
This career offers an opportunity to make a lot of contributions to innovations and influence the industry strongly. One can advance from the design concept stage to the outcome fostering a wide range of knowledge in the industry with job satisfaction. It is a cherished desire for a designer to witness her design becoming a commercially viable product being manufactured. Job satisfaction comes with its perks although salary, work environment, utilizing skills, and job suitability take the bigger picture. It can vary from one organization to another and relies on one’s capability to grow in such scenarios. Although a career in product design can be fulfilling and impactful, it squares down to the performance of the product and consumer satisfaction. Understanding users’ psychology and desires are equally important to sustain in the design field. Being passionate and satisfied with the job can help a designer reach heights and pursue goals ambitiously.
Career Growth
A designer can climb the career ladder from an Associate Designer to a Principal Designer by the sweat of one’s brow. Having a growth mindset is more important than seeing if the career offers you growth. Final designs are commonly maneuvered by brainstorming ideas with multiple inputs from different people. The ability to work in a team and effective communication constitutes the growth in the product design industry. Taking responsibility for the needs of customer and company business goals also articulates a successful growth in career. A product designer plays a chief role in bridging the gap between the business sector and engineering. Evolving from a person sketching basic ideas to leading an entire team of product designers can be overwhelming but can be achieved from individual efforts.
Freelancing
Some organizations don’t hire a product designer considering it as a lavish expense while others hire one before anybody. Some outsource and hire consultants to maintain a flexible workforce. A career in product design thus lets you be self-employed since the demand for them is always high and they can take the place of multiple positions as the job descriptions are often different. The style of mixing and matching roles has been quite common in the design industry. For instance, a startup often hires just one designer and allows her to take care of multiple roles such as graphic designer, web designer, interaction designer, or visual designer while some large-scale firms categorize them with different job titles. Having sufficient knowledge in all of these can help one grow in the design industry.
A product design career can be challenging if you’re a person who often slacks off because it’s an industry that always moves and catching up to it is important. Being extremely skilled with a combination of both hard and soft skills and consistent study of the latest trends can help product designers rise in their career since companies often hire one person for multiple tasks to save money. Juggling between product managers, business analysts, engineers, and marketers to develop innovations can be unamusing but it takes one to a higher place in their career. If you’re an aspiring young designer inspired by the product design industry, start small and upskill to nurture your talents for a successful career.
