Introduction
This week’s article was inspired by a list of questions that I received from one of my students at Springboard.com. I am asked these questions often so I decided to collect my thoughts in one spot. Hopefully, this article will provide you with some insight into what life is like as a Product Designer. Let’s begin our Q&A…
Questions & Answers
What does your day to day look like?
My day always starts off with a cup of coffee. During this time, I read my notes from the prior day and write down my agenda for the current day. Then, I’ll transfer notes from my sketchbook into a project management tool (e.g. Jira, Rally, VersionOne).
After my daily preparation is complete, I am ready to meet with my team (or client) for a daily briefing. If I am missing any assets or requirements, this is the time to make that known. Emails, direct messages, phone messages, smoke signals, etc. often get lost in the noise. After working over 15 years in the industry I have learned that face-to-face communication is the best way to get things done.
After my briefing, I’ll go heads-down and focus on my work for about 2-3 hours. I pull my work requests from a prioritized backlog and try to only work on one request at a time. I do leave two hours open for meetings and/or requests that are outside of the scope of my daily commitments. I divide that time in two so that I am available for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.
This approach seems to work well as an embedded designer as well as a shared service. After a quick bite to eat, I’ll dive right back into my heads-down work for another 2-3 hours. Rinse and repeat! I should also mention that not everyday is the same… I have scheduled planning sessions on a bi-weekly and quarterly basis. I’ll spend about a day preparing for my bi-weekly planning and four days for quarterly planning.
What kind of tools do you use for work?
Design Tools
For the first ten years of my career, I used Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator exclusively. Then when I started working as an independent consultant, I shifted to using UXPin to save money. I’ve also used Adobe XD, Figma, and Axure, before finding Sketch.
Now, I design in Sketch, prototype in InVision, and keep my personas and journey maps in UXPressia. In addition, I use a whiteboard daily -all of my ideas start on a whiteboard! Finally, I use my Design Thinking Toolkit to conduct my design thinking exercises.
Discovery Tools
To aggregate feedback from users I use a combination of several tools. For heat mapping, I like to use Crazy Egg but I should mention that I follow Neil Patel so I’m biased. Ha!
For engagement, adoption, retention, and time-on-task metrics, I use Google Analytics. To measure happiness, I have used HotJar in the past but now I’m currently into using SurveyMonkey.
To conduct remote user testing sessions, I use the Google Suite for my templates, recruits/participants lists, and to conduct the actual interviews themselves (via Meet). However, I just started using UserTesting.com and I look forward to enhancing my research strategies through their software.
Do you have a stronger preference for UX vs UI?
While I feel UX is equally (if not more) important as UI, I prefer to work on the interface. I am right-brain dominant and have a strong background in traditional and digital art. In addition, I worked for many years as a Front End Developer and developed an expertise working with CSS and HTML.
Having a very fine understanding of how an interface design (and it’s interactions) will translate to code is like having a super-power. That said, you must still base your design decisions on data and/or testable assumptions.
I believe form and function should be treated equally as users often perceive aesthetically pleasing design as design that’s more usable, aka, The Aesthetic Usability Effect.
In my ideal scenario, these two roles are split and require some crossover knowledge (80/20) and a healthy working relationship. To me, it feels like two detectives working side-by-side on solving the same case. Think Sherlock and Watson or Dexter and Deborah Morgan, if that’s more your thing.
Do you work on non-work related projects for fun?
All. The. Time. I’d consider myself an “idea guy” above all else. I’m constantly white-boarding new ideas and asking friends for their feedback. Every once in a while, I’ll commit to developing one of my ideas just for fun and to see how far I can take it.
For example, in 2015, I hired a small team of designers, developers, and copywriters to help bring Time Roundup to life. Note: this product was sunset in 2018 due to lack of resources. Check out my Whiteboard page (removed) to see what ideas I may bring to life next ;o)
Have you ever done contract/freelance work?
In 2013, I started my own product design consultancy, Antfarm Collaborative. For over four years, I worked with startups to Fortune enterprises on enhancing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty by designing digital products end-to-end. I enjoyed working on freelance gigs as I could pick and choose my projects and switch clients (and subject matter) more often -all while working from my home office.
However, working freelance jobs comes with it’s fair share of disadvantages. For example, getting paid on time was a constant battle. Further, when the market is less-demanding, there’s less work available and sometimes you have to work on something you’re really not passionate about just to pay the bills.
I would never rule-out having my own consultancy again but for now, I enjoy the stability of a full-time job, and that I have an amazing manager to help mentor me. Finally, I do still create and manage WordPress websites for several small businesses. It’s more or less a “rubber stamp” process that feels like passive income. It pays my coffee expenses!
Conclusion
In conclusion, a day in the life of a Product Designer is always evolving -from tools, to process, to people. My final piece of advice is to use what you think are the best tools for you, for your specific scenario, and be open to change. Some clients will require specific tools and you must learn to adapt quickly.
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” – Charles Darwin
Have an idea I could help with? Let’s chat! While I’m currently on assignment, I’m excited to hear about the next big thing. Email me.
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