Finding your niche as a product designer
Designers need to find better ways to position themselves to stand out from their endless copies. Finding a specific niche is the best strategy for doing this.
There are already far too many of us. Hundreds of thousands of designers currently compete for a piece of the market cake.
It should come as no surprise that designers constantly need to develop and branch out into new fields to stay competitive, given the potential rewards of their work.
Designers need to find better ways to position themselves to stand out from their endless copies. Finding a specific niche is the best strategy for doing this (hint: you can have more than one).
I craft user-centered apps that people love to use.
You have probably seen descriptions like this on the profiles of other designers. But in the real world, clients don't give a damn about you or your work.
No one cares about what you can do. Everyone cares about what you can do for them. — Jack Butcher
There are a few ways to position yourself in the market that will make you stand out. However, most people get this wrong and believe they can only choose one specialty.
You can be less specific when sharing a general profile of yourself. But when it comes to how you present yourself to the client — this is where you can narrow your focus.
But hey, what is a niche?
A niche is essentially a segment of the market — one that already exists or that you create — that pays you for your strengths.
Say you have a lot of talent for developing design systems. That has a niche. Good at typography? Definitely a niche for that.
The list goes on, but you get the point.
How to identify or create your niche
Finding or developing your niche requires first identifying the areas in which you are already competent.
After that, you want to double or triple your efforts in developing those strengths within yourself. For instance, improving from being a good to a great UI designer is much simpler than improving from being weak to being a reasonably good UI designer.
You will add more value when you fill an existing niche because the niche rewards your strengths. Creating a niche involves focusing on your areas of strength and adding so much value in those areas that the market rewards you with your own niche.
The secret sauce
You can do one more thing to make yourself stand out from the crowd and really step it up. That is making powerful visual representations of your distinct competitive advantages.
This might be the most crucial aspect of becoming a successful designer. You must clearly show that you can do something that most people can't and do it exceptionally well.
If your skills are your sword, your niche is the blade, and the quality of the edge is your competitive advantage.
How to craft a positioning statement
From my experience, I have found that you can position yourself in five ways. If you know more – feel free to share those by replying to this email.
Horizontal positioning
No matter the industry - we solve one type of problem. Most of us do this. And we do it poorly.
Example of such positioning:
I do product design.
To be successful with this type of positioning, you must demonstrate your ability to produce specific, measurable results that set you apart from the competition.
A person who provides CRO (conversion rate optimization) is a good illustration of this. The client uses analytics to measure the outcomes, and they can compare the before-and-after pictures.
It is simple to write in your positioning statement, "I will increase website signups by 5%," in this situation. When a prospective customer reads this, his eyes widen and turn to dollar signs.
However, the cons of this approach are that most people can't tell the difference between you and all the others. Additionally, it's difficult to charge a higher price since the price is your main differentiator.
Platform positioning
You design for only one platform. It's a great way to show yourself as an expert because your brand is as strong as the brand of the platform.
Example of such positioning:
I design Squarespace stores.
Being early is key to this kind of positioning success. And if things don't work out, have a fallback strategy.
If you time it right, you could make a ton of money from this. If you find this concept exciting, pay attention to what follows. You can establish yourself as the expert in UI/UX for AR or VR.
On the other side of the coin, there are a few downsides to positioning this way:
If the platform dies — you die with it
When the platform reaches mass adoption – the market gets flooded with people like you
Vertical positioning
You design for one industry. You need extensive industry knowledge and marketing communication skills to succeed with this type of positioning. When someone decides to change careers and become a designer after working in another industry for at least five years, they may be in an excellent position.
Example of such positioning:
I design digital healthcare products.
Similarly to platform positioning, people will see you as an expert in what you are doing. It's also super easy to market yourself because you know to whom you're talking.
But gaining deep expertise in an industry takes time and effort. You also might get bored doing the same thing over and over again.
Demographic positioning
You design for people based on demographic factors like age, gender, race, religion, and location.
Example of such positioning:
I design digital products for kids.
It's best if you fit into the target demographic or have a lot of prior experience with it to succeed with this type of positioning.
However, one of the downsides of this approach might be that demographic needs constantly change, and you might spend a lot of time and effort accumulating new insights.
Psychographic positioning
You design with similar values in mind. Possibly some sort of subculture.
Example of such positioning:
I do product design for environmental organizations.
You must be committed to that culture and values to succeed with this type of positioning. If your only motivation is financial gain, you won't be able to maintain it.
The downside of this approach is that standard marketing tactics don't work. You need to build authentic human conditions. Also, if you lose the community's trust, it's challenging to return.
Conclusion
Finding your niche is much more challenging when you're running your own business. It's connected to who you are. And I'm not sure that tried-and-true business strategies work.
So invest time to discover your strengths and work from there to build your unique niche as a product designer.