Campfire #38: How to survive as the first designer in a company?
When it comes to being the only designer on the team, it’s essential to remember three core pillars that will help you do your best work and bring value.
It finally happened! You’re now paid for the work you do as a designer! All the late-night hours practicing, learning, and talking to strangers was not a waste of time.
You’re proud. You made it! You can’t feel more ready for the first day. No more hypothetical scenarios; this is real work.
And then you face reality:
“Welcome! This is what our design looks like. And we want you to make it… better! Just give us some options and inspire us! Can you have a few drafts ready for next week? Thanks.”
Not what you expected? Good.
Because being a company’s first designer is challenging.
when you’re the only designer on the team pic.twitter.com/vJuRjK0x15
— daryl ginn (@darylginn) February 21, 2023
How to survive as a first designer in a company?
When it comes to being the only designer on the team, it’s essential to remember three core pillars that will help you do your best work and bring value. Here they are:
Being proactive
Being inclusive
Being decisive
Let’s talk about each one in a bit more detail.
Being proactive
Consider the future and focus entirely on the things you can control rather than those you cannot. You should be able to access and initiate things independently when no one asks.
For example, pick 1-2 significant weekly priorities and work on those with total commitment.
Make sure you’re able to deliver on things you’ve picked. Carve out immovable time for deep work and get things done.
Being inclusive
When you educate those around you, you create a support structure for your ideas.
Managers want to be able to manage their risk, which can create hesitation around new concepts and technologies. You can make a massive difference by educating people.
For example, use design show-and-tells to share your design process frequently and describe the design impact you’re doing with your work.
Being decisive
As designers, we always find ways to improve what’s there. It’s good and bad at the same time. Good, because we innovate and come up with new ideas. Bad because we can iterate indefinitely and not deliver the final result.
Develop a process for making design decisions quickly. Ideate, ship, validate, and iterate.
Working as a solo designer in a company can be challenging, but it’s tremendously rewarding. Wearing many hats will help you diversify your perspective and see the design from other angles.