Product Design Portfolio

Illustration for an article about designers being realistic about the impact they can have

Where the Buck Actually Stops

Designers are often too willing to take responsibility for things they have no responsibility for. We care about the impact of our work, and so we’re susceptible to believing narratives that cast us as the heroes who will solve all the world’s problems with The Magic of Design Thinking™. It’s an inspiring thought that pushes us to work harder, and for many of us is the reason we got into the career in the first place. The problem is that it’s a pretty lie.

Receiving Feedback Without Fear

Receiving feedback can be a very scary thing. As social creatures, when we are called out, it can activate deep wiring in our brains that makes us feel unsafe. It would feel more comfortable to avoid feedback altogether. The only problem is feedback is the main source of growth for designers.

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How to Find a Good Mentor

Long-term mentorship is an incredibly valuable tool to help you grow as a designer. Designers grow through feedback, and a mentor has the ability to give you the highest quality feedback available. They get to know your strengths, growth opportunities, goals, and history, which gives them a unique ability to provide effective guidance.

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Maintaining Strong Relationships with Mentors

Keeping a mentorship relationship healthy is an extension of finding and keeping any human relationship healthy. Don’t look at the relationship as strictly transactional. Even if a mentorship relationship is transactional, it’s icky to be too forward about it. Treat your mentor as a human being who is also dealing with their own challenges rather than some kind of one-dimensional advice dispenser.