The 3 Key Traits Of An Exceptional Designer IN TODAY'S FIERCELY COMPETITIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CLIMATE, BEING A GOOD DESIGNER ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH. HERE'S HOW TO BE GREAT.
WRITTEN BY Jamie Myrold
As the director of countless design teams over the past 20 years, I’ve gotten pretty adept at identifying the traits that set good designers apart from exceptional designers.
Exceptional designers have strong human values such as empathy, respect, and honesty. These values not only influence a designer’s approach to developing products, but also their approach to working with colleagues. After all, building great products doesn't happen in a vacuum. When collaborating in cross-discipline teams, designers must bridge the divide between design and business. With that in mind, I’ve outlined three values that set exceptional designers apart from the rest
1. Empathetic with a twist of business-savvy
Traditionally, designers advocate for user experience, and product managers lobby for business requirements. Exceptional designers take an empathetic approach to not only understanding the person they are designing for but also the mindset and requirements coming from each stakeholder in the process. Designers who can blend the two, in my experience, are the most successful.