14 key learnings for designers from Priyanka Kodikal (CDO, Dream11)

Priyanka Kodikal (CDO, Dream11 ) with experience at top companies like Facebook and WhatsApp, sheds light on everything from navigating design careers to balancing intuition with research—offering practical advice that resonated with everyone, no matter how seasoned they were.

Here are the key takeaways from her session:

??Hiring and careers

1. 3 phases of a design career: Learn, Apply, Dictate

Start by soaking up knowledge, then apply what you've learned. As you grow, move into roles where you can influence and shape the future of your field.

2. Have an Individual Contributor (IC) track and a management track in teams

Design teams should have both—an IC growth track and a management track. Not every designer wants to be a manager. They should be encouraged to keep levelling up in their craft and be equally incentivized to do so.

3. Growth isn’t the same as a promotion

Promotions will come, but your real focus should be on growth—learning new skills, expanding your knowledge, and getting better at what you do. Set goals for yourself and take control of your development. Promotions will follow naturally when you're constantly improving.

4. Luck favors the prepared

Opportunities are often just around the corner. By continually upskilling and staying curious, you'll be ready to seize that next big chance when it comes. The key to success is doing the groundwork now so you’re prepared when opportunity knocks.

5. Push designers to communicate visually instead of textually

Visualizing helps ensure everyone has the same understanding and showcases their ability to turn ideas into clear visuals. Additionally, being able to visualize your solutions is core to being a designer.

??Craft:

1. Craft is all you need

Always be in touch with craft irrespective of your career stage. Learn to make decisions without needing validation from data. Often, insight from your years of experience is what’s needed of you.

2. Learn high-fidelity prototyping

Figma’s great for most things, but sometimes you need more detail to really understand how a design will behave. For more complex interactions or animations, try using higher-fidelity tools like Origami Studio, or even build prototypes in Swift.

3. Imposter syndrome is normal, use it to grow

It's okay to doubt yourself. Happens at all stages of your career. The trick is to recognise it and use it as motivation. Seek feedback, learn from others, and push yourself to embrace the discomfort. It’s a sign you’re growing, and that’s what really matters.

4. Nail the visuals—first impressions matter

Visual design might seem secondary to functionality, but don’t underestimate its impact. When someone sees your work for the first time, it’s the visuals that hit them first. Make sure your visual design is solid before diving into things like user flows or interactions. Great visuals can instantly elevate your design and set it apart.

5. Craft a case study that demonstrates your thought process

When it comes to presenting your work, it's not just about showing what you did—it's about telling the story behind it. It’s about walking them through the ‘why’ behind your decisions.

Here’s how to structure it:

• What’s the problem you're solving?
• How do you know it’s a real problem?
• How did you validate it?
• What solutions did you explore?
• What was the final outcome?
• Why did you choose that solution?
• What was the impact?

??User research:

1. Know what you want before you research-

Effective research isn't just about gathering data. It's about knowing what you want and asking the right questions before you go about looking for answers.

2. Start with intuition, but back it up with testing

Design instinct improves with experience. You’ll start to rely on research less, but that doesn’t mean you should skip research & testing altogether—especially when it comes to comprehension. Testing helps you fine-tune your ideas.

Use intuition it to guide your ideas, then test to see how well they stick.

3. Immerse yourself in real-life experiences

Numbers and data are helpful, but there’s something powerful about actually seeing how users behave in their own environments. Immersion trips—spending time with users in their daily lives—bring insights that no survey can offer.

Invest in immersion studies, go and meet your users, observe and understand their experience, first-hand.

4. Use research to find opportunities

Don’t just do usability tests on things you’ve built, invest in finding opportunities in the market ahead of time.

Priyanka wisdom from the Fireside chat provides a rich source of inspiration and practical advice for every designer. Keep refining your approach, stay connected to your work, and always be ready to adapt and grow. Your next big breakthrough could be just around the corner.

In case, you want to watch the whole video, check it out here:

Found this event insightful? Come, join us at our next!

We regularly host such events in Mumbai, for design, engineering, and product folks. ?