Anyone have advice/experience on transitioning from a graphic design role to product designer role? Specifically, what new skills do you think you’d need to switch over? is this a role I can basically jump into and learn on the job since I already have a design background, or is going back to school a must? inb4 yes I have googled this - it would just be lovely to hear directly from someone
Can you move into a product role where you will be working with more experienced designers? Also by product design do you mean UX work on software UX or physical product design? Once I understand more I can better advise.
Right now I’m a content designer so we are already working closely with the product design team. By product design I mean more in the UX/UI design aspect.
For UX there are a few distinct disciplines - e.g. visual design, user research, interaction design (I work on the latter). Background and training is different for each. I do see content strategy folks in UX teams too. If you have a graphic design background I think you should be able to move into visual UX design without a lot of challenges, it will require learning new technical platforms and tools. Then if you are interested you can try working with other UX practitioners to get exposure to the other areas of the UX discipline. Maybe help out on user research sessions or work with experienced interaction designers. Like any craft discipline it takes time and practice but well worth it in my experience. DM me if you need more. Good luck!
I’ve watched a lot of people do this. There is a ton to learn. But if you spend a year or so at a company working on a product, you generally have a lot to add as a budding product designer, at least for entry-level work.