A Young Designers Guide to Navigating a New-Work Environment.

Nothing could have prepared me for the experiences I’ve had every time I start a new role as a designer, from 2023 to date.

Taking on a new role is similar to enrolling in a new class in the middle of the semester. You’re incredibly excited about the opportunity to be in that environment, despite having no idea about the systems and structures there.

While this may not be the case for some designers, it’s been my experience when starting new roles, most especially in my first two full-time roles, and it could also be the case for other young designers.

This article is for you if you’re a junior designer who hasn’t yet landed your ideal job, are likely making the switch from freelancing to a full-time job, have experienced this once, and would mind having that experience again.

I’ll talk about the three major challenges I’ve encountered while working as a full-time designer in various companies and how I’ve overcome them to create a positive work environment for myself.

Challenge 1: Adapting to new work structures and systems.

When I landed my dream job at a FinTech brand in 2023, it was my second full-time role, but in a more structured work environment, so everything felt new again. It was difficult for me to understand the work systems and effectively relate to my team members, and it cost me a lot.

In a new role, there are higher expectations of you than just your exceptional design skills and outstanding work. Your communication style, how you interact with your team, and how quickly you learn about the brand and adapt to the work culture are all important.

Until you find yourself in a situation where you’re supposed to be a team player and an excellent communicator, we all claim to be fantastic communicators and team players. At that point, you’ll be able to assess your true abilities as a communicator or team player.

How do you overcome the challenge of adapting to a new work culture?

1. Pay attention to your team members and how they interact and communicate with one another, and strive to do the same or better. 2. Befriend a colleague. Yes, even in a job that is remote, you still need to establish a relationship with someone in your new organization who will make it easy for you to get around. 3. Acquaint yourself with the company’s hierarchy and your leads so that you will know who to report to in the event of a crisis. 4. Pay close attention when you listen and communicate. As an outspoken person, I had to learn how to listen more in an unfamiliar environment and learn to shut up more. Hence, practice listening. 5. Ask questions you don’t understand and be willing to learn more about the brand. 6. Learn how to properly and timely communicate your unavailability or setbacks to teammates and team leaders. 7. Learn about the tools used by the company for planning, meeting, designing etc and be flexible

To be honest, it is not as easy as it seems, especially for those who have dealt with this difficulty in the past. However, it’s crucial to learn and apply.

The unfortunate news is that I discovered these solutions shortly before I was laid off — not because I could not adjust, but for other reasons — but I suppose it was a relief for both myself and my coworkers.

Challenge 2: Time management and design systems.

As a newly hired designer, you will need to familiarize yourself with the brand’s visual identity, design systems, and guidelines in order to create designs that complement the brand. However, one thing I do know is that understanding a design system requires more than just reading guidelines. It takes paying close attention to the design of the brand’s visuals, products and the personalities that the designs portray.

As a designer, I’ve always preferred relatively simple layouts, subtle colors, and minimalist designs; textures and design effects weren’t really my thing. When I eventually got my first job in January 2023 as a visual designer, I discovered that I knew very little about certain design styles. I wished I had studied more about the use of textures, design effects, and some design styles.

N/B: When learning about design styles, try not to be picky. This will help you work with any design system that you’re given with ease.

What then did I do? I dedicated time to practising design more, and I asked questions. To be honest, not every design or team lead would be gracious enough to answer all of your questions about the brand’s design or to follow you until your designs complement the brand’s visual identity; however, I was fortunate. I had the best design lead yet, who was open to answering my questions and patient with me.

Perhaps praying, and hoping for kind and accepting team leads or teammates when you start a new role is another way to go about things. Here’s an additional solution, though: ask for assistance from your network of design friends or a community, and don’t stop researching and learning about the brand’s visual style until you get it just right. In this manner, you’ll develop your skills in addition to learning about the brand’s design style.

Regarding time management, I would only add that each workplace has a unique schedule, so in order to deliver designs prior to deadlines, you must learn to be quick and efficient.

Challenge 3: Effectively managing feedback during design reviews.

Now let’s tackle the most pressing issue. I don’t know about you, but when I’m at work, I’m most afraid of how my superiors will give me feedback. It can be daunting, particularly if you overthink things like I do or if you have a very high opinion of your creative abilities.

While your clients might only have a limited number of reviews if you work as a freelancer, but your team lead, when working as a full-time designer, can provide as many reviews and feedback as they want. And you’re expected to deliver the corrections to those reviews on time.

To share my experience, I’ve always heard that receiving destructive feedback can occasionally cause anxiety in your design process. I did experience it, and to be honest, there were moments when I felt like a bad designer because of the way my lead gave me the feedback. This was when I was working as a full-time designer in my second role.

If you have encountered this kind of situation previously, keep in mind: when you receive unwelcome and destructive feedback, take a moment to consider the details of the feedback instead of dwelling on the manner in which it was presented. This will help you come up with the most effective redesign possible.

Though I discovered this much later, I now always say “Okay, thank you” in response to a feedback that seems harmful. I’ll consider it for a few minutes before making the necessary corrections on the design or, if needed, I’ll ask more questions.

Understanding feedback and promptly making the necessary changes to your design are the most crucial things you can do with it.

As a young designer, you will receive constructive and destructive feedback all the time. Make sure you gradually learn how to control it, and talk to someone or raise a concern to your lead if you ever experience anxiety in response to feedback. By doing that, I was able to get past this challenge.

Along with these three challenges, beginning a new role as a young designer will present many challenges. However, rather than wallow in the negative effects these challenges may have on you, it’s critical that you learn from them and work to overcome them.

I’ve worked in more new roles, I’m now facing new challenges and progressively learning how to overcome them. Yes, the challenges never stop — even senior designers encounter them. My advice is to never stop learning, and I wish you luck in all of your future endeavors.

N/B: Success in each design role hinges on your growth, learning, and impact on the company. Always prioritize this over the challenge.

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