Oftentimes, it’s good to hear from someone who is doing the grind, before deciding if product design is a career you’d like to pursue.

What it’s like to be a product designer? I’ll be as transparent as I can be hoping that you’ll appreciate the honesty.

Being a product designer requires thick skin, and at times, humility.

It’s important to understand that a product designer is not designing to please his own tastes or any of our “bosses” tastes, for that matter. We’re in it for the end-users. Sure, we might find ourselves compromising the UX to better serve current business goals. But, even in such scenarios, the least we can do is to put up a fight for, you guessed it — end-users.

As you gain experience, you’ll be gaining confidence. You’re gonna need that confidence to stand up for your UX and design choices. Eventually, most likely you’ll find yourself going from doing what people tell you to, to doing the complete opposite.

We’re the ones thinking from the user’s perspective, first and foremost. We represent our users proudly. We stand up for their needs.

I believe that this is our “true” portfolio. It’s how many times we’ve fought for the users and won. How many times we’ve successfully defended their voices in front of our colleagues. An experienced product designer has fought tough battles, lost some, and hopefully, won many.

Digital product design is more than the design itself.

Your communication and collaboration skills matter. Whether you’re able to defend your design choices, matters. Most importantly, just how far you’re willing to go to represent the end-user — matters.

It’s a passionate field, where a fighting spirit is expected. It’s expected that you’re not taking things personally. That you’re self-critical because sometimes you will end up being in the wrong.

There’s not much room for ego if you’d like to pursue a product design career. The room for growth, however, is of infinite size. In product design, there’s plenty of room for hard skills, but also as equally important — your soft skills.

The ability to listen and having the courage to speak your mind in different situations should be welcomed and appreciated.

Once you believe you tick the above, try asking yourself the following. Are you finding yourself obsessed with details? UX holes in applications annoy you? To you, they’re easily noticeable? You’re questioning their UX, and coming up with better alternatives?

If this sounds like you, you just might’ve found yourself a career. If it doesn’t, worry not. You can still work on and improve all of the above.

Try to remember that the best solutions are the ones that get out of the user’s way. Remember that your intention will matter more than your pure talent in the long run.

If you’re in it for the end-users, chances are, you’ll end up absolutely loving it.

First seen in my weekly newsletter UX Things