What great designers have in common
Experience and day to day shows who is really good in the profession.
They own a solid process
Every great designer owns their work process, and is able to confidently pitch it to a potential client or employer. You never really find your process. With time, you will refine your approaches and activities in a way that suits your projects and work style.
They design for business success
Being a designer is not just about making things easy to use and delightful. The best designers bridge user needs and business goals through a well orchestrated experience. Designers that understand business objectives and design for them, have a seat on a table.
Never stop learning.
Part of being really good at what you do is embracing new learning opportunities. Really great designers know that, and are inherently curious and adaptative people. From books, articles, podcasts and presentations, a great designer is always striving to become better.
They make data-driven decisions
When it comes to making decisions, a versed designer might rely on their past experiences and sometimes on the so-called gut feeling. Although useful at times, a really great designer is able to understand metrics and data, and make confident design decisions.
They have a strong sense of empathy
Great designers and amazing listeners. They don´t listen to reply, they listen to understand. They diagnose carefully and are extremely empathic with the end user. On top of that, great designers are amazing at communicating with stakeholders.
They often challenge the rules
When you´re just starting off your design career, playing by the rules and following guidelines is the best way to go. But skilled and experiences designers will look to innovate and push the limits of their work (not at the expense of creating a bad UX, of course).
They love honest feedback
Junior designers tend to fall in love with their ideas and work, and sometimes find it hard to receive honest feedback and get defensive. A great designer will embrace feedback, and look at it as opportunity to make the experience even better and more complete.
Summary
They are curious.
They question old patterns.
They break rules.
They are open to trying new ideas.
They are hungry to learn.
They quickly get better over time.
The are flexible.
