What I have learned from working my first 6 months as a product designer fresh out of University [Part 1]

The other day, I was thinking about when I started working at Barbican (Architectural Lighting); everything felt very overwhelming. The first few weeks were quite stressful starting a new chapter in my life after university. A new job in a completely different country (and language!) was a lot to deal with. I decided to write something about it so maybe my experience could help someone that happens to scroll by on LinkedIn and is applying for designer-jobs. Maybe it won’t help anyone, but at least I can look back on it at a later date for fun. So let’s get right into it.

• First of all, starting as a designer in a different country with a different language can be quite a leap. It is one thing to order an ice cream or cold beverage when on vacation in a different language. It is something else entirely when you need to discuss complex matters and technical specifications. I still frequently find myself at the end of my vocabulary but since it is almost unavoidable to not be close to a computer all the time, use google translate when in doubt. Your colleagues know you are not talking native [Insert Language Here], and they know it takes a while before you know all the proper terms.
• Regardless if you are working in a foreign country or not, any place that you will start at will probably throw you into their operations and learning curves can be quite steep. Just remember it is a learning CURVE and not a LINE. Things will get easier but do not be afraid to take some time to set up structure for yourself and ask people questions again if you need to. Mistakes are what make us human but asking something twice just to understand something better usually avoids mistakes. They might be slightly annoyed with you taking up their time but they will definitely appreciate you when you are solving problems instead of creating more!
• Another noticeable thing is that even for the simplest of product, there are always legal regulations and they are never the most exciting part of your job as a designer. Whether you are a mechanical engineer, product designer or architect, you are going to deal with a lot of codes and regulations. They can be frustrating at times and for 50% of these rules you will think to yourself “Who came up with this stuff?”. Just stay relaxed and make a cheat sheet to translate these often complex rules to readable language. For me the easiest cheat sheet is probably a spreadsheet. This allows me to easily filter and find the regulation I’m looking for. This way, I can focus more on actual designing and less on looking at building codes.
• But designing can, depending on your interest, also just be an aspect of your day-to-day work. This might be dependent on the company you work for but with Barbican, I feel like designers have the chance to take more responsibilities if they want to. If you see issues with something or you find a need for something to make the company run more smoothly and become more effective, try to not shy away from it. This applies to actual physical designs as well as company structures, feedback-loops and more. Instead, talk to the lead designer, your supervisor or the CEO himself/herself, chances are they will be very interested in it and will let you take charge of that element you are trying to implement. This is not only good for your reputation but it also teaches you to work with departments you would normally not directly work with too much. The only thing I personally had to stop myself from doing, is taking on too much of these projects. Try to pace not only yourself but also the others that will have to adapt to that new element. Change is good, but you need to be in control of it so things do not get out of hand.
• Finally, I wanted to address the problem of blaming others in the workplace. This behavior is probably one of the most natural tactics to do in the workplace and a lot of people do it daily, but it is always at the expense of someone else. Taking the responsibility for your mistakes is of the best interest of the company and yourself. Not only will the affected people be able to track down where the issue arose, managers also will be less stressed trying to cope with the issue, since you can directly help them. In the end, always try seeing it as a learning experience and think “How could this have been avoided?”
• As previously said, blaming people always puts somebody else in trouble. If you find that you have wrongly been blamed for something or a co-worker is being hostile to you, always stand up for yourself by talking to all parties involved (preferably all at once). This is the quickest way to get something straightened out and will get everyone on the same page or at least diffuse the situation. If you choose to take the blame, co-workers might take advantage of you and you will look unsure in the eyes of managers and the CEO.
• To wrap this post up, a bonus tip: make notes, a lot of them! Not only will you taking notes when talking to colleagues make them feel more appreciated and heard, it will also provide an important log of things you are working on and how far you have progressed on them. Chances are that several departments are going to ask you a lot of things and we all forget things; writing it down clears your memory and puts it on paper.

This is the first part of two. I decided to break up my article since it would otherwise get quite lengthy. Stay tuned for part 2 in a couple of days!