You have just set foot at your first design job. There, you begin realizing that designing on the job requires a lot more skills than just in typography and HTML/CSS. How do you effectively communicate your work to non-design colleagues? What steps must you take to grow internally? Most of all, how do you even get noticed in your company? After three and a half years of working at TED as my first job out of college, I’m here to share with you hard-learned career lessons that we all wish someone would have told us earlier. This talk will hopefully prevent you from flailing around aimlessly for too long like I once did as a young designer. Speaker: Lil Chen Conference: Beyond Tellerrand 2016 Video: https://vimeo.com/165950912

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Advice from a young designer
to younger designers
BEYOND TELLERRAND
LILIAN CHEN

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A bit about me
Formerly at TED Talks for 3.5 years
First design job at 21 years old
Currently 26 years old
Interaction Designer at YouTube

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Disclaimer
The concepts I discuss are higher level.
Mold them into what is applicable to
your job. Make what you will of it.

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Learn how to talk about
design to non-designers.
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It is not only a designer’s job to
create good design, it’s also our
responsibility to try and ensure that
good design gets implemented.

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Talk to your friends.

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A W E S O M E R E S T A U R A N T
M E N U
Chicken Caesar Salad . . . . . . . . . $14.30
(Lettuce, tomato, grilled chicken, croutons, parmesan, topped with caesar
dressing)
Vegetarian Burger . . . . . . . . . $23.30
(Tofu based patty, lettuce, tomato, blue cheese, other things that are not
meat)

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Hold yourself accountable
for ensuring that your skill
set is known to others.
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Nobody is going to know
every quirk about you at the
start of a new job. It’s your job to
inform them.

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Find ways to show your skills
Seek opportunities
Help others out
Be proactive in creating opportunities
Kickstart your own side projects

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Avoid being soft-spoken
when you start your job.
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If you fail to speak up, people will
do the only logical thing remaining
and assume that you don’t have
any opinions to contribute.

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Find the sweet spot.

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Define the future of your
role through your actions.
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Every design job listing ever
Must have strong design sense
Good eye for detail, typography, layouts
Able to take project from beginning to end
Collaborate with neighboring teams
Communicate ideas well

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Communicate
Short/long term personal goals
Career goals + growth path
Weekly check-ins
Align with manager

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Speak your needs otherwise
you will not be heard.

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Celebrate and highlight
your design process.
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Explaining your thinking
process to others cultivates
trust and understanding for
your methodologies.

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Kill the idea of pixel-
perfection when exploring.
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Five roughly designed, unique
directions is better than one
perfectly designed idea.

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Do your part in understanding
your colleagues’ processes.
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Align your workflow with those
of your coworkers’.

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Advocate for your designs.
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Getting people invested in your
work promotes collaboration.

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Spice your design life up
with personal projects!
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With personal projects, you are
your own boss. You have total
creative control.

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Be receptive of feedback,
but also stand your ground.
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So in conclusion…

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Learn how to talk about design to non-designers.1
Hold yourself accountable for ensuring that your skill set is known to others.
Avoid being soft-spoken when you start your job.
Define the future of your role through your actions.
Celebrate and highlight your design process.
Kill the idea of pixel-perfection when exploring.
Do your part in understanding your colleagues’ processes.
Advocate for your designs.
Spice your design life up with personal projects!
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Be receptive of feedback, but also stand your ground.10

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Just kidding. Don’t do that.

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Produce good work.
+
Use your voice.

45. Thanks for listening. :)
@_lilchen lilchen.com
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