How to become a product designer and start making 100-200 thousand per month

Unlike other design activities, it doesn t take much skill to become a product designer.

You don t need to be able to draw, you don t need to have trained eyes and delicate taste. You don t need to be original and be able to do funny things. It is enough to know the basics, be persuasive, and have previous work experience.

1. Mobile design

The easiest way to get into product design is through mobile app design. Since it is in demand, and Apple and Google have already come up with everything for everyone.

Moreover, thanks to the trend of recent years not to make different versions of the design for different mobile platforms, everything becomes even easier – we collect the design for iOS, and then slightly adapt it to the features of Android.

Apple. Human Interface Guidelines

Android. Material Design

32 differences in mobile app design for iOS and Android

2. Web and design systems

Of course, everything is rarely limited to mobile design, so we go further and study examples of web service design systems:

Awesome Design Systems

Design Systems Club – Catalog of domestic design systems

You can start learning from, for example, Outline Guides.

3. Tool

Next, let s get acquainted with the most important product design tool – Figma (sorry Vlad, but Miro is still in second place).

Figma: quick start, Evgeny UPROCK

4. Design principles

And when we understand that something is not very beautiful and neat, we go to get acquainted with what the visual part is based on.

Readymag design almanac – R / m Design Almanac

Eight most useful tips from Gorbunov

Just four good practice rules when working with layouts

The persuasiveness of a product designer lies in the ability to justify their decision. It can be justified by referring either to the example of competitors, or to metrics or research.

And in order to make a reference, a convincing product designer needs to understand what he is doing and why. Therefore, even before proceeding to the layouts, we, first of all, ask the most important question: “What, in fact, do we want to improve the metrics for?”

To become a convincing product designer, you just need to understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative research:

1. Qualitative research (for example, UX research) – this is when there is a small group of people, about 10 people, to whom you show a new design and watch how they use it. In parallel, with all sorts of roundabout questions, you try to draw out as many useful thoughts as possible from them.

2. Quantitative research (for example, A / B testing) – when you take a part of your audience, divide it in half and for two weeks (conditionally) show one half of the old design, and the other – the new one. Then you compare the results and by the numbers you understand which design option won.

Well, and it will not be superfluous, of course, to know what it is: JTBD, CJM, MVP and Value Proposition.

But most importantly, a convincing product designer should be able to answer the question: “Why did the new design turn out to be so unattractive?” – coldly answer: “Well, this is taste. There were different options, but we decided that consistency is more important. “

The tool of a persuasive product designer – Miro. There he collects a board with all the justifications.

Getting started with miro

At the same time, the most important and most difficult point. Which, at first glance, creates an impossible loop: to get a job, you need experience, to get experience, you need a job.

But experience is most important – more important than the books and articles you ve read, more important than the courses and schools you ve taken. And if there is a choice between those who have studied in Britain for three years and those who have already worked for a year in a similar position, the choice will always be in favor of the second.

And the trick is that the experience does not have to be a grocery one (even if it says so in the vacancy). It is enough to work as an interface designer (or ux / ui) in some small startup for six months to start looking at more serious options.

And if by this time you pump convincingly well, then the chances of success will be higher.

Of course, with such baggage, it will be difficult to get to Avito or, say, Miro, but there are enough other companies on the market that are ready to offer good conditions and a patch to promising guys, even with little experience.

And to get a job as an interface designer:

1. Learn the basics.

2. Trying to collect a portfolio of fictional projects (at least five works).

Portfolio projects can be designed according to the principle: “Redesign concept (any application or website)” or, even easier, you can go to Yandex vacancies, for example, take the first test task you like and try to complete it so that you can put it in your portfolio.

That s all. Easy skating rink. Subscribe to my Telegram channel. I will be glad to answer your questions and help.

Seryozha Plashchinsky, Avito Lead Designer