Skills a Designer Must Have when Working for a Startup

http://blog.stylej.am/5-skills-a-designer-must-have-when-working-in

by stylejam • 15 years ago

64 33 15 years ago

blog.stylej.am

mikx• 15 years ago

The skills are critical for any front-end designer, not just the ones in startups. Companies that embrace skilled designers as their culture compete much better than others.

niekmaas• 15 years ago

The word "startup" has almost reached the status of buzzword. "Cloud based startup" would have been even better..

ssharp2• 15 years ago

The use of "startup" along Amazon Associate links with very little value-add makes this page seem spammy.

stylejam5• 15 years ago

One of the topics I cover the most there is the difference between startups and agencies/freelancing.

While startups tend to look at results (the ones that survive), agencies tend to look at the customer, at least most of them.

I actually believe that most designers coming from an agency would be eaten alive in a startup, along with their "photoshop skills". This people don't even know what UX means, never conducted a usability test (usability = I look at the website and say what I think), and definitely don't read HN.

stylejam5• 15 years ago

Should be critical, yes. But if you know the market, you know that things like usability or ux are used 90% of times as buzzwords from sellers. I'm afraid I can't disclose some of my experiences with top design agencies in both the US and Italy, but trust me, I've got a truckload of horror stories :)

rvavruch• 15 years ago

I found "Designing Interfaces" disappointing. It is a list of interface widgets - for example an accordion menu - and some information about how to use it.

A far better book on usability is "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug.

DavidChouinard• 15 years ago

+1 for Don't Make Me Think. Old, but highly recommended.

alabut7• 15 years ago

Completely leaves out visual design. Maybe because polish is harder to encapsulate with a single book or because it's so easy to pick up by cruising Dribbble for inspiration, but it's still worth mentioning.

Otherwise you get the average startup designer that's more of a developer in disguise.

blankenship• 15 years ago

"because [visual design is] so easy to pick up by cruising Dribbble for inspiration"

It is?

rglover• 15 years ago

I think what's being said here is that it's easy to pick up the ideas of visual design, not the actual skill (I hope). As a budding designer, Dribbble is definitely helpful in allowing you to see "the bar" and improve how you approach certain projects. However, it is most definitely NOT easy to "pick up [visual design] by cruising Dribbble."

alabut7• 15 years ago

Yeah, it is. See my response to rglover below and feel free to ping me offline if you need more tips.

stylejam5• 15 years ago

I leave out visual design because lots of startups that meet every goal you can eventually imagine (ginzametrics, bingocardcreator) don't even go close at having a decent visual design (no offence intended).

I believe visuals are also a very subjective matter, and belong much more to the "talent" side of things, than to the "knowledge" one.

rgrieselhuber• 15 years ago

Just saw this (Google Alerts could use some work).

I'm genuinely curious to get your feedback / more explanation of what you mean when you say we (Ginzametrics) "don't even go close to having decent visual design."

We're always working to improve our design so if you are willing to share specific feedback, I'd love to hear it. Drop me a line at hello@ginzametrics.com. Thanks!

antidaily4• 15 years ago

I hate this list. Want to be good? Look at sites/apps you admire and learn to emulate them. Don't read a 300 page book on User Experience or ugh, UX... unless you're doing for enjoyment.

rimantas• 15 years ago

Sounds like a good plan for cargo-cult web design. A good book on UX (which stands for the same User Experience, btw) will teach you why you admire particular web sites.

antidaily4• 15 years ago

That has nothing to do with producing a good design, fast - which is the #1 qualification I'm looking for in a designer at a startup.

alabut7• 15 years ago

False dichotomy - good designers would read these books and put the concepts into practice by examining existing well-designed sites.

antidaily4• 15 years ago

That's true.

BradGutting• 15 years ago

Ever notice how a lot of start-up websites look pretty similar? Lots of the same typefaces, same visual approach, same graphic techniques and colors--you see Helvetica/Arial, the same set of textures, quasi-3D effects, and so on. The cumulative effect is generic. It says, "we're roughly imitating what everyone else is doing because everyone else is doing it." Bad message. Good design won't compensate for flawed business models, but it will maximize the potential of a strong one.

Independent thought and ingenuity trumps everything on this list, I'm afraid. The stuff there is price of admission; you're not even a designer without it in your toolbox.

dylanrw5• 15 years ago

I bet if I made a list like this highlighting what a programmer must have when working for a startup there'd be some serious hating going on.

While this may be a good list if you want to read up for a month, this does not cover years of art theory, learning how to choose your battles, developing a refined sense of taste, pure objectivity, and a myriad of other skills that are subtly nuanced into almost every project.

I'm sorry, a good designer's "Must Haves" cannot be encapsulated in a list.

alabut7• 15 years ago

Everyone has to start somewhere. And unfortunately a lot of design lists end up making the topic more unapproachable than it has to be, considering there are some fundamental skills that everyone can build on.

Skills a Designer Must Have when Working for a Startup

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