Beyond Technical Experience: 6 Essential Ideas to Elevate Your Design Skills

In my experience as a design director and professor, I've advised many designers on their professional growth. Paradoxically, the most valuable lessons are never about tools or techniques because it's not about how to do it better, but how to think better. Normally, you don't learn these things in a "UX Bootcamp" or a "Skillshare Course". These are lessons you acquire with experience, through working with talented colleagues, dealing with difficult stakeholders, and facing your own failures.

Now, if you're a junior designer, you're likely obsessed with technique, and that's fine. You need to learn the basics if you want to create digital products, but being an expert in Figma will only take you so far. So let me share with you 6 keys that have nothing to do with tools but will help you become a better designer.

3. Design is a team sport

The stereotype of the solitary genius is a narrative straight out of a Hollywood script. You know how it goes: a lone designer secluded in a dim room, pulling a rabbit out of their hat and revealing the perfect solution to the world's problems. In the world of digital product design, this solo act doesn't work so well.

Designing involves exploring complexity. No one, and I mean no one, has a monopoly on all the answers. The trick lies in the diversity of minds. If you're working in solitary confinement, the best you could achieve is a half-baked solution.

More heads mean more contributions, more ideas, and more viewpoints clashing with each other. If creativity is a maze, the more people there are, the faster you'll find the right path.

''In Stranger Things, everyone has special talents, but it's by working together that they manage to defeat the Demogorgon.''

But working together isn't just about generating ideas together; it's also about critiquing those ideas together. Feedback is an essential part of the design process as it's a great tool for overcoming your blind spots.

Sometimes we're so immersed in the problem that everything starts to look blurry. That's when an external perspective is vital to help us identify mistakes or find different paths to solutions. You want the opinions of designers, the input of developers, the viewpoint of managers, and most importantly, the opinion of the people who will use your product.

Asking for feedback can be intimidating. But remember, you are not your design. The critique is directed at the design, not you. The design prototype is simply a part of the creation process, and this process is a team effort.

2. You improve by doing things, not by reading about how to do them

I'm obsessed with knowledge. It's my favorite drug. It floods my brain with dopamine every time I find a new nugget of wisdom. But like any drug, it has its downsides. I've come to realize that, at times, I'm basically hoarding mental candy instead of enjoying it.

My early years were like a misguided love affair with learning. I spent hours reading design articles and watching tutorials. But you know what? Most of it ended up fading into thin air. I told myself I was learning when I was actually procrastinating. I skimmed articles, watched videos, and thought, "I've got it." I was pretending to learn instead of applying knowledge.

The tricky thing about learning is that it gives you a false sense of knowledge, but the real world doesn't care at all about your parade of knowledge. It's not about the act of learning; it's about gathering the courage to dive into the chaos and apply that wisdom.

You don't improve by absorbing knowledge like a sponge; you improve by doing things, diving into the trenches, and facing challenges. If you've watched an online course but skipped the exercises, you've basically thrown your time into a black hole.

''Daniel LaRusso didn't learn karate by reading books; he did it by waxing on and off.''

People often spend 90% of their time absorbing information and barely 10% applying it. What if I told you to reverse that ratio? Read something and then go straight into action. Try it, experiment, and get your hands dirty.

Moving beyond tools and techniques

I still love discovering new features in Figma and still crave to improve my technical expertise. But after years of designing digital products, I know that being a designer is much more than just knowing how to use a tool.

Junior designers rush to enroll in bootcamps and courses, thinking that mastering Figma and learning to conduct workshops will make them Product Design Experts.

However, the true essence of design grows quietly, away from the spotlight. You'll find it by doing the work. You'll find it with experience, where the lessons learned through effort and stumbles become etched in you.

*You can read the original article published on Jorge Valencia's blog on Bootcamp.

6. Mastering tools won't make you a senior designer

''Throughout my career, I've been obsessed with mastering design tools.''

When I started creating websites in 2006, before smartphones and apps were a thing, my tool of choice was Photoshop. At that time, the alternatives were CorelDRAW and Microsoft Paint, so it was an obvious choice. I felt quite comfortable designing sites in Photoshop, but then Fireworks came on the scene, which was a sort of hybrid between Photoshop and Illustrator. It had some interesting features, but it was very unstable. However, I became an expert in Fireworks.

After Fireworks, Sketch burst onto the industry as the first tool created specifically for designing digital products. I instantly became a fan of Sketch and learned each of its features. I was sure this would be the tool I'd use until the end of time. But it wasn't so.

I met Figma, which with its collaboration features took the product design process to another level. So I left Sketch and now have a stable relationship with Figma. However, I'm aware that in a couple of years, a new and daring design tool will appear to take the throne, and all the knowledge I've acquired about Figma will be useless.

The point is that developing expertise in tools can be useful in specific contexts, but it's not the way to grow as a designer. What if you change companies and they use Adobe XD instead of Figma? What if Penpot turns out to be the Figma killer? What if artificial intelligence makes design tools obsolete? What you need to grow as a designer is to develop skills that are context-agnostic. Skills that transcend tools, companies, and projects.

4. Design without purpose is mere decoration

I'm a big fan of Simon Sinek's TED talk "Start with Why" (if you haven't seen it, you should). He talks about how communicating from a place of purpose leads to success. I use this concept not only for design but for practically any challenge that comes my way. Before taking any step, I ask myself: "Why is this important?"

''Sam and Frodo walked 1300 miles on their way to Mordor, facing brutal challenges because they had a clear purpose.''

It's easy to get seduced by the flashy and pretty visual elements of a design prototype: the colors, typography, and animations. But that's just decoration. What truly matters is the content itself, the essence, and the purpose behind it.

Ask yourself, who is going to have a better, easier, or happier life with your solution? You can have the most amazing color palette and the trendiest typography in the universe, but if the purpose behind it isn't meaningful, you've basically wasted your time.

Purpose generally arises from understanding the problem you're trying to solve. Getting to the bottom of the users' needs and the company's goals. You should spend more time understanding the problem than designing the solution. If you truly understand the problem, the solution should emerge easily.

And how do you understand the problem? Well, it's not by asking chatGPT. It's by talking to real people: users, stakeholders, colleagues, experts, and anyone with valuable insights.

Before you start weaving your artistic magic, be clear about the problem you're solving. The "why" is what will guide you through the creative process. Purpose is not just a side dish; it's the main course.

5. Don't explain your idea, tell a story

In the past, I used to think that being a good designer was solely about creating eye-catching visuals and perfecting execution. How naive I was! The best designers are not only skilled in aesthetics but are also excellent communicators.

Humans are drawn to stories because they connect us through shared emotions and experiences. That's why great designers not only create beautiful solutions but also tell stories.

Imagine your audience on the other side, listening to your ideas, think about what hooks will keep them engaged. What do you need to tell from the start and what valuable knowledge can be delivered as the story unfolds? It's about painting a vivid narrative using words and images.

In his famous speech, Martin Luther King didn't say "I have a plan...", instead, he said "I have a dream". He didn't list facts and figures, but shared a vision everyone could feel a part of.

''Martin Luther King didn't say "I have a plan...", instead, he said "I have a dream".''

Don't refer to the user as a blank avatar; talk about 'Mark, the college student', using your product. Don't talk about the goal abstractly; illustrate what success looks like. Use images, wireframes, storyboards, or even doodles. The goal is to create a compelling story your audience can relate to.

But please, please, stay away from design language and jargon, aim for simplicity and clarity. Too often, I've seen designers fall into a pit of complexity, leaving their audience bored or confused. If your brilliant idea seems not to work, you have a choice: you can blame your colleagues or you can look inward. If you're convinced your idea is good, maybe it's not the idea that's the problem, but how you're explaining it.

Not being able to communicate good ideas is like having a magic wand but not knowing how to cast spells. Master the art of wrapping your design in a story as compelling as a gripping novel. Remember: every pixel, every stroke, every line has a story to tell.