Rearranging the layout of my design life

Learnings and moments from my design life shared as a presentation for Salesforce's Design Days hybrid conference in Oct 2024

‘Why did you become a designer?

If you’d have asked me this question a decade back, I’d have a completely different answer than today.

Today my answer to that question is ‘It’s complicated’ and like the design process, so is my design journey. It is ‘messy and complicated’ and seems like a rollercoaster ride in many aspects. A couple of weeks back, I got a chance to share this messy journey at Salesforce’s Design Days Hybrid conference and it brought back a truckload of memories and learnings that I have absorbed along the way.?The theme of the talk was ‘Metamorphosis’ and I shared my story of how I got to become a designer, the experiences I had along the way, and how it shapes how I live, work and play today.

Side note : the storytelling and visual language of my presentation deck was heavily influenced by a popular form of storytelling - Hiphop. Of course I didn’t rap my way through the talk track (I’m not gifted like that), but I did use references, lyrics & visuals from some of my favorite artists (Cypress Hill, DMX, A$AP Rocky,? Eminem, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G to name a few).?

A few insights & learnings?which I shared from the presentation are as follows

1. Adopt a beginner’s mindset?

My design school experience post a Computer Science engineering degree plus a couple of years of corporate experience - taught me to ‘always adopt the beginner’s mindset’ when it comes to anything and everything. Over my design school days, I had to unlearn my structured & sometimes rigid way of thinking, and make room for the lateral world of design thinking - and relearn that engineering approach tapping in the right and left brain as required.

I learned the hard way, that to learn something new, you have to make room. Unlearn a bit of what you already know, let go of standard operating procedures, be curious and watch the world of learning unfold itself in front of you.?

2. Good design is good business?

Post graduation I took baby steps to learn the business of design, and then design the business.

I shared my experience as an UX Design Consultant, working with a variety of clients across multitude of domains, understanding the ROI and business and how both design and business could coexist and influence each other. My manager at that time mentioned once “I don’t care how good a designer you are unless your designs convert my $25K into $50K”. This quote still?stays with me till date - and helps me ground myself into the fundamentals of how design is perceived, implemented and appreciated in a range of industries, and that at any given point –

Design should accelerate your business, not anchor it.

It should always be the differentiator and not something that bogs down other teams and functions.?

3. Stay humble, be a team player, and always care for the customer

In 2013, the Silicon Valley called and I answered. After a couple of year, I started as one of the four designers at a startup in 2014 and soon I was doing everything from user research to UX design to front end web development — and expanding my role and value not just as a designer, but a facilitator and problem-solver across many levels. It is here that I learned not only to be scrappy but also humble, and find my way through design and product challenges by seeking feedback and support from my team members, brainstorming over ping pong duels and connecting over walks around San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood.

It was also the first time in my life that I regularly had lunch with the most important person in the company - the CEO of the startup. Those conversations changed my perspective around how a business was managed and run. I overheard Brett Caine talk to someone about his role in the company, and in his words, in the most simplest terms he mentioned “I talk to the customers and help them with their problems”. And that was a powerful lesson. This experience got me to further absorb the ethos of being a good designer, good team member and good employee? — to be humble, be a team player; and always always care for the customer.?

4. Trust the process?

In 2016, I started working with LinkedIn, and moved into design management under the able & inspiring leadership of Yingzhao Liu (who I think trusted me with the role more than I could ever trust myself). Here I was able to do amazing things with amazing people, being empowered to take chances along the way knowing that it will be alright. That if things did not work out, I’d still have my craft, my people and my optimism to see me through.

In the presentation, I shared how I found growth in discomfort by pushing myself to do things I had never done before in a professional setting. In true LinkedIn style, I was able to transform myself, my organization, and then world by a little bit.? The adventure taught me to trust the process, trust that it will be alright – and that amazing outcomes and learnings are always at the end of these chances.?

5. Grow where you’re planted?

Starting in late 2021, my experience at Google got me to learn a lot about how economies & life worked. I shared how my time at this massive company (the biggest design team I have ever worked at) was ridden with uncertainty, a fair bit of chaos, a lot of camaraderie and significant learnings —? and one of the learnings I had from that experience? was that life and your design career will pull you in all directions, test you with challenges that you can’t make sense of. But through all of this, make the best of your life – and always do the right thing, even when doing that right thing is the hardest thing you’ll ever do; and in the most resilient manner just keep growing where you’re planted, thrive and survive.?

And lastly in 2024, a learning that I have personally experienced so closely and dearly

“Your career not being linear path and it’s twisty & windy rollercoaster of ups and downs, hits and misses, swings and turns – and that success isn’t guaranteed by sticking to a tested and proven formula. It’s the mindset you adopt, the fundamentals you learn, the chances you take, the people you meet and the ethos you build over time”