Being a Product Designer for a tech or an IT company might sound like a glamorous job. We are after all, *proudly*, designers. But truthfully, there is more to us than just arranging pixels, reshaping vectors and matching colors. In this article, I’ll take you through the work that I do, some creative processes, and my day-to-day as a product designer in a small company.

My actual role as a Product Designer

• Daydreamer – Designers need to own a vision

  “Dare to dream” – that will be the motto I live by. It takes a lot of “daydreaming” to come up with a compelling product vision. Some people hold brainstorming sessions, design thinking workshops, or other creative exercises to conceive ideas. At the heart of all this is the ability to dream, or essentially, ideate. As product designers, we need to dream big and ideate well, or our products might fall short.

  
  

  
  - Sample of our product brainstorming and marketing research exercise. Session conducted internally on Figma -

  
  

  Always document your dreams or visions, even the most ridiculous sounding ones. We live in a fast-paced tech era - you’ll never know when your absurd ideas might become the next big thing.

  
  

  
  

• Marketer – Designers need to sell their vision
  ‍To bring our dreams to life, we must market our product vision effectively. Having an idea is not enough - you must be able to sell it. This involves convincing stakeholders and getting everyone on board. This step is most important so that not only stakeholders are convinced to start the ball rolling, but also to get your team members’ buy-in. These are the people you will work closely with to realise all those ideas, so you must be able to share the same vision and dream.

  
  

  
  - Marketing collaterals developed to present product ideas to potential clients /stakeholders. This includes social media posts, brochures, presentation, website graphics/animations and many more -

  
  

  Brush up on your presentation skills. Improve your creative writing, enhance your branding efforts, create neat and effective visuals (diagrams, wireframes, etc.), and rehearse your verbal presentation.

  
  

  
  

• Firestarter – Designers need to start work
  Beyond dreaming, we need to get our hands dirty and start working. There's no magical spark or eureka moment that suddenly produces an idea. It's the daily grind and the first blot of ink on a sketchbook that usually helps. Even when you have yet to come up with the right inspiration - just start with the simplest of sketch.

  
  

  
  - Compilation of design sketches -
  
  - Design iterations from multiple concept sketch to final prototype for one of our website's animated banner -

  
  

  Use a simple sketchbook to start sketching your ideas. Thinking with your hands can unlock your creative potential like nothing else.

  
  

  
  

• Firefighter – Designers need to solve problems, continuously
  Once we start working and hand over designs, be prepared to revisit and refine them based on feedback. And problem-solving goes beyond just addressing feedback. It involves anticipating potential issues, staying updated with industry trends, and constantly learning new tools and techniques.

  
  

  
  - Our design working file where we collaborate directly with the development team/stakeholders - all comments and feedbacks are communicated here so that iterations and revisions can be made faster and better -

  
  

  Teamwork and communication is key. Working collaboratively with the technical team can give you insights on feasibility or any constraints at the early stage of design.

  
  

  
  

• Repeat
  Always remember, design is an iterative process. Likewise, so is the work of a product designer. I am constantly switching hats between dreaming, selling, starting work, and solving problems everyday. This is the cycle that I have learned to embrace and love.

  
  

  
  - The never-ending cycle of a product designer. The steps are not necessarily sequential, but you get the idea -

My daily routine summed up
(honestly, it’s never the same)

8:30 - 9:00
First things first, breakfast and coffee in the AM. If you don’t stoke up on fuel, your battery will run low for the rest of the day.

9:00 - 10:30
Catch up on emails, sort yesterday’s piled up to-do list, read up on products and business news, and quickly glance over any tender or project opportunities (I am, after all, placed under the marketing department).

10:30 - 12:30
Focus time - this is where I jump straight into design work to check off all the prioritised to-do lists. I don’t usually do meetings in the AM (unless scheduled by client/stakeholders) because the morning brain is reserved specifically for heavy-weight design/writing/thinking work.

13:00 - 14:30
Lunch break and prayer time.

14:30 - 16:30
Team discussions and meetings, or if not, another round of focus time.

16:30 - 17:00
Review the day’s work, browse for inspiration for the next project, and document any ideas on a moodboard (usually on Figma).

17:00 - ?
In all honesty, most design work stretches beyond office hours. While I strive to complete most tasks during the workday, there are times when I need to pull an all-nighter to ensure a design project gets delivered on time.

Things that keep me going

As a beginner myself, I have yet to know what are the pro tips and tricks to becoming a good product designer. So instead, I’ll just share the things that keep me going – and how they’ve helped make my design work so much more fun.

• Coffee, and lots of em
  Coffee provides that burst of energy and a sense of purpose to start my day. There’s nothing like sipping coffee while brainstorming on moodboards and inspirations.

• Cool, beautiful design books
  ‍Stacks of design books with amazing covers adorn my workspace. They add to the ambiance and serve as a constant source of inspiration.

• The "Designer Glow" (no, really)
  Being a designer is actually fun - designing stuffs is fun. Creating cool and beautiful things with your hands and from your imagination is immensely satisfying.

• A strong team
  ‍Behind every budding designers, there is a wholesome team supporting them. No design work can be done alone - we almost always require some form of feedback, bouncing off ideas, and validation from those around us.