Designer with 7 YoE at Startup and Corporate Companies, AMA
Thank you for all the great questions! I will be closing this AMA - have a great evening! ______________________________ A little bit about myself: - I have 7 years of experience in the design industry. - I have worked as a Visual Designer, Graphic Designer and now a Product Designer. - I have experience working at a start-up working with a group of 3 designers to a bigger company working with almost 300 designers. Ask me questions like: - What's it like to work at a corporate company compared to a start-up as a designer? - What are some challenges working at a corporate company vs. start-up? - What do I like most working at a corporate company vs. start-up? - What it’s like to work on a large team of designers? Small team of designers? - What is the design process and culture like? During this AMA, happy to answer any of these types of questions. (I will be answering your questions more frequently starting at 5PM today.) Note that the answers here represent my own individual experiences, and should not be interpreted as official communication on behalf of any company.
Do you ever regret becoming a designer? Any other career paths you would want to take?
Not at all! I love being a designer. If anything it would be cool to get into interior design or even architecture. I think those fields are super fascinating and I’m always asking my peers who are in those fields.
That's really cool -- is that a common trajectory for product designers?
I have a few questions! 1) What are the main differences between working for a start-up and a larger tech company? Which one do you prefer 2) What advice would you give to an entry-level visual designer looking to shift towards a product design role?
1. The main difference for me between the two is the collaboration/alignment. Working at a start-up, I found it easier to tap someone on the shoulder and ask for feedback/alignment. While working at a larger tech company it requires a lot more stakeholders before making a decision. Although it is a bit cumbersome to gather multiple people/teams together, I find it better for my professional growth! I get to learn all sides of the businesses at a bigger company and how my work could potentially affect other teams. I also found my presentation and story-telling skills have immensely grown working with a lot for stakeholders. I personally prefer working at a bigger company because I am always seeking to grow and I feel like LinkedIn is a great place to get mentorship that you need and want. Versus working at a start-up, I seeked mentorship outside of my workplace. 2. I would advise an entry-level designer to maintain that growth mindset! Learn as much as you can whether it's from your peers at work or outside of your workplace. When I pivoted to UX, I didn’t have the right tools to learn at my current company, so I took a lot of online courses to build a foundational understanding of what UX meant and its process.
Has your experience just been in tech? Would you consider a position outside of tech?
Yes I only have experience in tech. I would be open to it, but as of right now I enjoy working in tech and its innovations.
What are your top priorities when designing a product?
My top priorities when designing a product is the user. I can design for what I think is best, but it all comes down to our users and what they need. One thing I like to do is invite my cross-functional teams to the research sessions so that my whole team can build empathy for our users and to also understand the impact of their work! This helps make users everyone's top priority.
Name some designers that you respect!
Jen (Kozenski) Devins! She is now the Head of Accessibility UX at Google. I have watched her powerful/inspiring talks online. I feel as though accessibility can be overlooked but it plays a huge role in UX. We should be actively thinking about universal design and how we can apply this into our design process. Designing products that are usable for all ranges of abilities makes the experience truly meaningful.
Kim Goodwin!
I have around 3 yoe in graphic design non-tech companies, I want to move into product design within a tech company. What's the best approach? I was thinking bootcamp, is it worth it?
I would definitely try out some online courses first to get a feel and understanding of the UX process. Only because boot camps are quite an investment! They are pricey and requires dedicated time. But if you are set, I would definitely recommend it. I hear a lot of good things about the UX bootcamps.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? LOL. Are you planning to just stay at tech companies and move up the ladder? Or...
Good question... I truly do like what I do, working as a Product Designer. I am definitely interested in continuing this path but most likely in the management track. Having a great manager is key to growth and opportunities. From now until then, I’ll be continuing to strengthen my design and mentor pillars to ensure that I am well equipped to be the best mentor/manager I can be to other designers.
What are some top products that you think have great UI/UX?
It's hard to pinpoint a product to have the best/greatest experience. But I actually think Google Maps is a great app. It’s super easy to use and also very intuitive. I especially love the prediction feature to check traffic. It gives me a way to manage my time around when is the optimal time to go somewhere given my location and time. I was also impressed with the “find along route” feature, when it launched. There have been so many times where I am on a road trip and needing to stop to get gas/food along the way. They make it so seamless when you're on the road. They recently launched the new AR integration for google maps which is impressive. Using AR to enable users ability to use the camera and visually pivot to a direction. This is so helpful when you're walking and needing directions.
What is the design process and culture like at Linkedin? Pros and cons?
I think some people may have a perception that the design process at a larger company can be slow, but I actually feel the opposite at LinkedIn. We work on a lot of new initiatives all the time! And like I mentioned in the earlier comment, we do have a lot more stakeholders to collaborate and align with and at times it can be challenging. However, at LinkedIn, we have different channels for designers to share their work and get feedback from leadership and other designers on different teams. I find this super helpful because a lot of designers outside of my team can tune in and give me feedback or connect me with other designers that are working on a similar problem. This reduces double work and cross- product collaboration. A con that I have experienced is onboarding when I first started working at LinkedIn. I’m sure this is a common challenge people face with any new job. LinkedIn has so many different business lines that I had to understand. But this overwhelming feeling goes away with time, so I usually tell new hires to relax and not to feel like they need to know everything their first week. This may be biased...but the culture at LinkedIn is amazing. We have our core values of members first, relationships matter, be open, honest and constructive, demand excellence, take intelligent risks, and act like an owner. A lot of employees follow these values which then creates a great work environment for everyone. The design culture is also great at LinkedIn. As corny as this sounds, my immediate team feels more of a design family than team of coworkers.
What made you decide you wanted to be a designer? Did you study design at a school setting or did you attend a bootcamp/other program?
Designing and art has always been a part of who I am. I find myself sketching or doodling anytime, anywhere. As I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do full-time, I took a bunch of digital design classes in college. I decided to pursue this path given my passion for design/art! I have a Bachelor's degree in Visual Design. After a couple of years working as a graphic designer and visual designer, I started tinkering around product design at my work. Once I was introduced to this field, I was determined to learn more. My manager at the time became my mentor in the UX world. And I started to take online classes to learn more about UX and what it means to be a designer. The reason why I decided to pivot to UX is because I love that I get to exercise my analytical skills while utilizing my creative and visual design skills. I enjoy talking to users and hearing their point of views and pain points and being able to use those insights to inform/inspire my designs. All to say, I’m driven by creating meaningful experiences for everyone.
That's amazing! Thank you for your insight and thank you for hosting this AMA!