How do I become more successful in product design?

by S J
(United Kingdom)

Last year I finished my degree in Product Design which I really enjoyed doing. My current job has a bid to do with design but not to a large extent. My future plan is to actually work much more in design and enjoy every day of my working life which at the moment that is not the case. I kept saying I need to do this, I should start doing this…etc. but I never started. At the moment I work full time for a company and do some freelance graphic design work as well but that is not fulfilling me completely. I want to be more successful in my working live.

Thanks to your articles I'm starting to see the bigger picture but I still have a long way to go until I reach my goal. Do you have any more suggestions for me how to fulfill my dream to one day actually become a product designer?

Also, have to tell you that I love your web page and read most of your articles in it. I did struggle with my self confidence for a long time and still do. Thanks to your site I start to see the good things in me and stop searching for approval from others.

I look forward to your comment

Kind regards

S

Comments for How do I become more successful in product design?

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Jun 28, 2012
 odesk
by: roger

Besides your current job, you can do freelance product design , there are many websites such as odesk.com or freelancer.com that ask product design work! In that case you come into contact with business and might get a LOT OF EXPERIENCE AND full time job as-well. gOOD LUCK

http://www.industrialdesignasia.com
May 13, 2011
 become more skilled
by: Anonymous

I think the becoming successful in any field is to turn the talent into skill. Sometimes, we can't be successful in just showing our talent. We have to practice more and train hard.

R. Kyle
product design company
Jul 13, 2010
 which college and what courses?
by: hanif

please email me the detail at javalane @ hotmail.com
Apr 16, 2010
 i want to learn
by: Anonymous

what did you have to study in college to become a product designer and what courses did you take?

e-mail me plz:
beabeashay @ yahoo.com
Jun 08, 2009
 Break it down into pieces
by: Catherine, www.Life-With-Confidence.com

Hi SJ,

You originally sent me this question as an email but you didn't provide an email address for me to respond to you so I hope you find your question here and don't think I'm just ignoring you. Also, if you don't want it posted here just let me know and I'll remove it.

Anyway, Congratulations on finishing your Product Design degree. That's awesome.

It sounds like you're on the right track in that you have a job where you do get some experience with product design.

For you to do product design full time, what would you have to do? Would you have to get a job with a different company, do you need more experience first before they'll put you on more jobs at your current company, do you need to continue with company specific training, etc.? What steps do you need to take in order to become a full time designer?

If you can figure out what you need to do then just break it down into smaller steps. Stay focused on the end goal (full time design work) but think about what needs to be done to move you from where you are currently to where you want to be.

If it seems overwhelming or just not clear enough in what you need to do, then break it down into much smaller steps. Maybe the first one is to get more design work where you're currently employed. So, maybe you could talk to your manager, let your manager know your career goal and see what he suggests.

Think about all your possible options to get you to your final goal. Keep moving towards that final goal.

For the ideas you have of, "I should do this" what gets in the way of you doing them? Maybe you need to break those into smaller steps or think about how much time it would require to do it. Sometimes, just writing down how long you think it would take is enough to get you to actually do it. When it's a vague thought in your head of "I should update my resume" for example, you never do it just because it feels like a lot of work. But, if you think about it as, "It would take me an hour to do" then you schedule an hour to do it and then the next thing you know, it's done and you're on to the next step.

That's a couple of ideas for right now anyway. Hope they help.

A book you might find useful as well is
Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life by Robert Fritz.

He provides some really good ideas on how to set up what he calls "structural tension" which is a way of keeping you focused on what you want to achieve and always continuing to move towards that goal. It's quite a good book and it might give you some additional ideas on how to achieve your product design career goal.

Thank you for the nice comments about my site.

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