Underrated and undervalued skills for designers
After looking through probably about 100 different job descriptions for UX/UI/Product/Experience designer roles, it’s clear that they all require essentially the same grouping of skills — conducting user research, building out wireframes, communicating design decisions clearly, prototyping, etc. Pretty standard requirements of a designer.
There’s no doubt that these are the major qualifications a hiring manager would be looking for in a designer. But in working as both a designer and product manager, I found that there are several skills that go beyond what is expected. They make a designer stand out from the pack. These 4 skills take a person from “satisfactory” to “exceeds expectations”, even if they aren’t necessarily called out in the job description.
1. Designers need to know how to really listen.
I’ve seen it heavily marketed in job postings that designers need to be able to communicate their designs and back them up with research. They need to work between disciples and be able to present to everyone from team members to c-level executives if necessary. So basically, the job descriptions sometimes sound like a designer needs to a) design some stuff, and b) talk about the stuff they design.
And that is super fair! We need to be exemplary communicators. But I believe that even more than talkers, designers need to be listeners. But I don’t just mean listen to what the client needs, listen to some users talk about it, and churn something out. I mean designers need to learn how to become truly active listeners — people who can challenge what they hear, listen to the subtext of what someone says, take in information without judgment, be patient and not try to fill the silence with more questions, and accept the truth of what they hear instead of falling prey to confirmation bias.
2. Designers need to be able to take critique.
One of the most difficult parts about working in a creative field is opening yourself up to criticism constantly. You’re building and building and you think you’re creating something strong, only to have it reviewed by stakeholders or peers and be torn apart. To some designers, this can be devastating. You’ve poured hours into creating something that you think is both beautiful and effective, only to be told it isn’t good enough.
I believe strong designers can separate themselves from their vision, take in all critique, and apply it where they see fit. They are able to work apart from their ego, and they understand that objective opinions can be helpful because they aren’t so deep in the details that they can’t see the bigger picture.
But also…
3. Designers also need to know when the critique isn’t helpful.
No, I don’t recommend literally plugging your ears when receiving critique. What I mean is that designers need to know how and when to trust their own knowledge and intuition. I know of several times that I’ve changed a piece of my design (or scrapped the whole thing) because I didn’t trust what I had already built. I’d see someone else solve a similar problem in a different way and question why I had taken the approach I did.
I don’t know about you, but if I were hiring a designer, I would choose someone who knows when to trust their gut over someone who blindly makes changes based on other peoples’ opinions. Yes, flexibility is absolutely critical, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with questioning yourself or finding inspiration from other designers, but when it causes you to lose faith in your own abilities then that feels really out of balance.
4. Designers should be able to conduct a thorough self-assessment.
Too often, especially after a project that has been particularly tough, it can be really easy to want to wash your hands clean of the work and move on to the next thing. But as designers, we are constantly learning and improving our craft as we learn more about the field. It would do a major disservice to move on from something without taking inventory of what went wrong, what went right, and what you would change in the future. I believe a designer that proves their growth mentality by performing this sort of self-assessment is priceless and will only continue to grow and provide value within that team/company.
These are just a few traits that I think should be called out more explicitly in job descriptions, or valued even more by designers themselves. What do you think are some other skills that are underrated?
