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Startups count as some of the most fast-paced and exciting places to work while doubling as some of the most competitive workplaces to get into. Over the past few months, I have spoken to designers about various topics, and several questions are recurring in these conversations. Some of these questions concern issues such as the relevance of one’s work experience while job hunting, building a portfolio, things to look out for at any startup you’re applying to, as well as navigating a design career within an organization.
\n\n\n\nLike these people, you might also be considering working in a startup where you hope to see the impact of your work in real-time. Or you already work at one and need a guide to help you deal with expectations, and navigate design at startups. Regardless of where you stand, I have taken time to draw from my experience working at four different startups to write this article tailored to help you.
\n\n\n\nMy name is Leke. I’m a Product Designer with over seven years of experience; five of those years have been spent working closely with startup founders. I recently became a founder at Jobgap, where I utilize AI to help techies land interviews and job offers.
\n\n\n\nLet us dive into some of my tips on helping you build a successful career in Product Design.
\n\n\n\nNegotiate on behalf of the people you represent
\n\n\n\nRemember that as a designer, you are the user’s biggest advocate. This is a critical responsibility. From my experience, there’s always the danger that if you work with core engineering teams it is often a common occurrence for usability concerns to be waved aside. It is your job to take a stand here in “speaking up for users”. Negotiate on their behalf by backing up your claims with statistics and studies. Take it upon yourself to educate your team on best UX practices that can help inform design decisions.
\n\n\n\nAdapt, do not get too attached
\n\n\n\nMost ideas are often not fully formed, but you must be able to create meaningful work out of them. It would be best if you dug deeper sometimes to get more info or context about what you’re asked to do (some things are more complex than the initial description given to you). A lot can change in a week, and that might render your work from the previous week redundant. This is where your ability to adapt comes in. Pick up the pieces and get moving. Making mistakes is also okay; owning up to them and fixing them is the remedy. A well-grounded team would understand that’s a sign of growth. Over time, this adaptation tactic will give you the experience needed to avoid pitfalls.
\n\n\n\nActively participate in the product-building process
\n\n\n\nBecause of the uncertain climate that startups operate in, there are brainstorming sessions from time to time to clarify how best to move forward. This is the time to ask intelligent questions and contribute meaningfully to the development of the product. Although sometimes, you only need to listen and absorb the information being passed around. Take time outside work hours to study the industry in which your startup operates. What are the patterns of doing things? Are there regulations and policies you should know about? Is there a niche that no one is paying attention to etc.? This helps to show that you also care about the company’s bottom line. Another added advantage is that you learn things outside design, from business to technical terminologies.
\n\n\n\nSelecting a team
\n\n\n\nThis is a make-or-break decision. We spend a huge chunk of our lives with the people we work with, so it is crucial to work with the right set of people. First, determine if the company’s mission is ambitious enough for you to dedicate your time and effort. The second thing you need to consider is if you will enjoy working alongside these people. Do their values align with yours? Is it an environment where you can grow? Do they inspire you to become a better version of yourself? Understanding how best you work and the conditions you need to thrive will help you see if a startup will be a great fit. Also, make sure to evaluate their compensation package to see if it is fair & competitive. Endeavor to tick those three boxes before you finally commit.
\n\n\n\nBuild your taste
\n\n\n\nOne of the best pieces of advice I have received from my mentor is
\n\n\n\n“If you see a bad design, in the same second, look at ten good designs to wash the bad one off your subconscious.”
\n\n\n\nIt might sound funny or bizarre, but it works. Dedicate a few minutes of your day daily to feeding your mind. Spend time curating design resources. It could be anything from courses to articles to even case studies. Your team relies on you to give the users the best experience possible and you cannot pour out of an empty cup. Your subconscious works uniquely and depends on you to feed it with the best ideas out there. The most significant disadvantage you can do to yourself is to stop improving. Audit yourself regularly and take action on any aspect of your career you would like to improve.
\n\n\n\nIterate, Iterate, Iterate
\n\n\n\nThe improvement never stops. Constantly think about how you can make the product more usable. Ask yourself questions like;
\n\n\n\nCan I redesign the flow to allow users to achieve their tasks faster?
\n\n\n\nCan I rewrite this copy to communicate the action better and more clearly?
\n\n\n\nCan I introduce some “aha moments” into the product to delight users and visitors etc
\n\n\n\nSpend time with people in customer support and understand what the current user pain points are. Draw from these insights to know how best to solve these problems with your design. As the product gains adoption, more features will be introduced; this will test your abilities how to introduce this new piece into the product.
\n\n\n\nTake time to rest and have fun
\n\n\n\nNo one tells you how stressful working in a startup can be (More so if they’re still in the middle of finding a product-market fit). You will be stretched and often stressed because of this. Keep your mind sane while trying to save the day. I like to tell myself that an unfit body/mind cannot perform at its best. That’s why it’s essential to take time off, spend time with people that matter in your life, go on holidays, and travel without feeling guilty about it.
\n\n\n\nLeave UX protocols at the door
\n\n\n\nNow I might get crucified for this, but you must leave some “UX protocol” at the door. Startups are one of the most fast-paced places to work, time is its most expensive currency, and its default mode is survival. Things change fast, and you can only rely on a flexible foundation for your work. This often means you’d have to jump straight to high-fidelity prototypes and skip processes like wire-framing, in-depth user research, etc. You often need to churn out work for quick customer validation, a sales demo, or investor validation; this does not mean you should churn out mediocre work. That would be unacceptable! Bring the highest quality to the smallest detail. Having a simple set of flexible guidelines will help you speed up deliverables.
\n\n\n\nLanding a job in the first place
\n\n\n\nIt can be pretty competitive to land a job in a startup, but depending on how large the startup is, hiring is done by the founder or a hiring manager. I will tell you a secret; founders hire for attitude first, then skill second. You have less control over the first, so I’ll focus on the second. Here’s a little checklist you should keep in mind. Focus your job hunt on the industries you intend to work in, write great case studies from a business perspective, design your portfolio to meet industry standards, tailor your resume for each role, and write a cover letter that aligns your story with the company. Use tools like jobgap. xyz to help you automate your job search. Remember, you don’t have to meet all the requirements before you apply!
\n\n\n\nNetwork with people in other startups
\n\n\n\nAttend conferences and meetups, and learn how others work within their startups. You can even get a mentor in a startup more prominent than yours to understand their workflow. Have them critique your work and give tips on being a better designer. Learn how to ask intriguing questions and demonstrate a willingness to grow. It will pay off in the long run.
\n\n\n\nCopy but think differently
\n\n\n\nYes, users have strong mental models about how things should work. Leverage that and build on it to differentiate your product. Startups exist to disrupt. Reverse engineer user experiences, experiment with new ideas, and watch how impactful you become. You also need to understand that you’re not just there to make things shiny, so here’s your chance to make an impact! Always strive to exceed user expectations; you know by now that user experience is a competitive edge, and that’s your superpower.
\n\n\n\nParting notes.
\n\n\n\nI cannot write exhaustively about what you need to thrive or succeed in startups in just one article (I am also evolving as I write this), but I hope these thoughts and guidelines provide a bit of clarity as you navigate your way amidst the stormy waters in startups. I acknowledge the intensity of work and innovation needed, but I can promise you it is a worthwhile experience. If you’re ambitious, I am sure you will have a fascinating ride.
\n\n\n\nPlease feel free to reach out to me @AyodeleAdeleke_ on Twitter if you have any recommendations or gripes.
\n\n\n\nCiao.
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\n\n\n\nRight from the moment we developed the ability to think deeply, we’ve been told that we need to think things through and plan every step as meticulously as we can. We’re taught to be prepared for the unexpected, which may or may not happen, and are constantly reminded that “prevention is better than the cure!”
\n\n\n\nLater in life, as some of us begin to pursue our passion for UX Design, we are once again educated about the importance of planning and fine tuning our designs before handover. The recommendations are to ask the right questions, think about each and every touchpoint, and reflect on the possible pros and cons of the many different opinions that we get from users and stakeholders. And then repeat this entire process to ensure that we haven’t missed out on anything.
\n\n\n\nAnd truthfully, these best practices do help us create fantastic initial designs. However, as it turns out, reality does not have the patience to wait for us to go through all these steps. Most of the time, the business asks us to deliver earlier than expected or skip steps, since we simply cannot wait for months and months to provide perfect designs.
\n\n\n\nThe bad news is that our job is built for overthinking. It can generate many ideas, but it can also generate a lot of possibilities, which get entangled in an endless cycle of thought and simulation instead of being implemented. We consider every step of the user experience in a product or service: situations that can go well, and in particular, situations that can go bad, which are considerably more numerous than the former. It’s a blessing for users that can become a curse for UX Designers as you can start to doubt your abilities.
\n\n\n\nThe good news is that this is not the end of the story and we can find solutions. But how can we deal with something we want to escape from that seems to be an inherent part of us?
\n\n\n\nHere are a few practices that you should consider inculcating in every design project to ensure timely and quality delivery.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDecision-making is one of the biggest struggles that overthinking causes, whether it be as minor as deciding your choice of font, or picking between two flows that solve the same problem. To make progress sometimes, a quick decision needs to be taken. Sometimes we can’t get ourselves to make these quick decisions because we’re in our own heads.
\n\n\n\nGetting an informed perspective on the options available from others can help in making a decision and at the very least reduce your options. A decision you’re trying to make could be solved by finding out about the nuances of a technical difficulty from a developer. Talking to people, especially those with some experience, helps you to make better products. A good start would be designers that you know, team members, stakeholders and even users.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProblem statements are constantly evolving during the product life cycle. It could be from the ever changing business demands or the disapproval of initial design/product assumptions. When you come across an unclear problem that you’re trying to solve, you can become so overwhelmed that you don’t really know where to start or how to proceed, Charles F. Kettering, an American inventor once said,
\n\n\n\n“A problem well stated is half solved”.
\n\n\n\nConstantly carry out inquisitions toward finding out if the context of the problem you’re solving has changed. Also get clarity about the nature of the problem and let this clarity guide how you structure your solutions. Don’t stray out of focus and always stay within scope.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI think this has been over-flogged by a host of people but I’ll repeat it again. “There is no such thing as a perfect design”. If there is one piece of advice you should stick with, it is to get it done, send out those screens, wait for the feedback, and then work from there.
\n\n\n\nStop being fixated on things that quite frankly don’t matter. Don’t overthink it to the point that you believe your design will be terrible because you’re not good enough. Anything that works well should be shipped. Additionally, you might take the time you would have otherwise spent working on correcting an icon to test, do more research, or essentially anything else that can have a more significant effect on the product itself.
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\n\n\n\nMy name is Catherine and I’m a tech recruiter. We call it “talent specialist” at Toptal but it’s pretty much tech recruiting.
\n\n\n\nI hold a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. I always knew I wanted to be in HR but I also found it very boring and monotonous because it was the same thing they were doing every day and I was largely interested in tech. However, tech was not something I wanted to do, I was just very curious about it.
\n\n\n\nI started my career originally at Ernst and Young, one of the big four firms. I was in the people advisory service and that was my first exposure to industry full-time work. My previous experiences had been in NYSC and internship roles. From there, I started to learn how to interface with clients, and how to help organizations with recruitment. I worked with enterprise organisations primarily in Nigeria and Africa where I helped recruit for C-Level executives and middle-level roles.
\n\n\n\nDuring the lockdown period in 2020, I got bored with my job and started learning to code just out of the blue, I think this was in July 2020. I was really into it for like a year. I liked CSS and I spent almost 100% of my time on CSS. I started Javascript but I didn’t like it, so I went back to CSS. I eventually realized that coding is not a skill I would enjoy as a full-time job because I’m someone who prefers interactions with people.
\n\n\n\nSo I did a lot of research and people recommended developer advocate roles but I thought that I still needed to be a developer. Someone told me I could venture into technical writing, But I’m not the best at expressing my words in writing.
\n\n\n\nOne day, I stumbled on tech recruiting, read it well and found that I had something most tech recruiters do not have which was a very good knowledge of coding and knew very intricate details that only people who are involved in the technical side of the ecosystem would know, and I also have HR experience.
\n\n\n\nSo I started applying for tech recruiting jobs. I got so many rejections because I didn’t have any tech recruiting experience. It was just that I had tech knowledge and recruiting experience but no experience combined them.
\n\n\n\nToptal was the only company that gave me a chance to fly. When I finished the process, my manager told me they were sold on my ability to converse in technical terms with my superior manager, as he was also a developer before he became the VP of talent. They felt that I would be able to converse with candidates more and get more details from them. So I joined Toptal in July 2021.
\n\n\n\nDo you work with Toptal or do you freelance for Toptal?
\n\n\n\nI work with Toptal, I’m part of the core team. The only freelance work we do is for technical talents. If you’re not a developer, a designer, or someone in tech generally, you can’t exactly freelance at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nToptal is your first full-time role, that’s huge! What part of your background influenced or prepared you for this role?
\n\n\n\nI just think I’m a great people person. I like to interface and speak with people and I know how to make people feel comfortable. I chose human resources because that’s the only job I know that fits this trait. My aunt suggested human resources to me because she felt it would be a great fit for my personality and interests.
\n\n\n\nWhat other talents do you work with apart from designers and developers?
\n\n\n\nWe have five verticals at Toptal; developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts. As a talent specialist, you do not focus on one vertical, If one client says they want a product manager today and tomorrow another client needs a developer, you’ll have to work on everything.
\n\n\n\nDoing that has helped me broaden my expertise because I have had to work on all five verticals.
\n\n\n\nIn detail, what does your work entail from start to finish?
\n\n\n\nFirst, LinkedIn is pretty much my home. We have clients we are assigned to, especially people we call enterprise clients and these clients are huge like Shopify, Duolingo, or HP. These clients may be in dire need of people and because they are larger companies, we tend to prioritize them.
\n\n\n\nWe set up calls with the client and their team where we ask a lot of questions about the skills, experience level and any other specifics they need. Sometimes, they have peculiar conditions, I simply ensure to get these specifics.
\n\n\n\nThen next, I make my research on LinkedIn and any other platform I can, to find a general number of people that fit the needed requirements and that are open to work.
\n\n\n\nSo you start with people who are open to work first?
\n\n\n\nYes, I do. This is because most times, these are the people most receptive to your messages. On LinkedIn, you can make yourself “open to work” for only people using recruiter profiles. It makes it easy for me to get information on people that are only open to work.
\n\n\n\nThen I start to reach out to people, I just formulate a very catchy message that sells Toptal and that also sells the opportunity.
\n\n\n\nSo, we simply reach out to candidates to tell them a brief overview of the project and then allow them to schedule a call with me to hear more about it. During the call, I may mention the client’s name, although we do have some clients that ask us not to mention their names until the screening process is over due to confidentiality issues.
\n\n\n\nMost of my day is spent just having calls and sourcing for talents. Every day, I have dedicated 3-4 hours solely to Linkedin, sourcing for people. I do have a strong tech community around me, so I sometimes tell my community about these opportunities and they’re always open to help.
\n\n\n\nInteresting. So, does it mean that everybody goes through the Toptal screening process?
\n\n\n\nYes. You can’t work with Toptal if you don’t pass that process. We even have people who have passed Toptal’s hackathons, and still, come back and do the screening process. Just because you passed the hackathon doesn’t mean you’re proficient enough. So, you still have to participate in the screening process.
\n\n\n\nYou’ve worked with developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts. What’s the percentage of designers you cover?
\n\n\n\nI work hand in hand with developers and designers, it’s difficult to choose which one I cover most. I rarely ever work with project managers and product managers, I think I’ve done them two or three times. But developers and designers are possibly above 15 times.
\n\n\n\nSo you mentioned you’re a senior recruiter at Toptal. How did you get to be a senior in less than a year?
\n\n\n\nThe day my manager told me ‘Oh, we’ve promoted you,’ I was shocked.
\n\n\n\nI’m Nigerian and I came from an environment where I had to work extremely hard for my work to be noticed.. So my default setting has always been to work overtime. So I did the same at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nI was always going over and beyond to surpass my KPIs. I started with 3 rolesand we have to bring in a certain amount of talents every month. From my first month, I brought in double the amount e of talents who completed the screening process and joined Toptal. I spoke to probably more than 10 people per day.
\n\n\n\nI was the only core team full-time employed Nigerian living in Nigeria at that time. So I was just scared that they’d taken a chance on me and I didn’t want to disappoint. Every month, I consistently surpassed my KPIs. I was also always helping with other development projects at the same time.
\n\n\n\nWithin 6 months, I looked like I had been there for 1 year because my presence was noticed. So I got promoted from Talent Specialist 1 to Senior Talent Specialist, skipping the Talent Specialists 2 and 3 positions.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think about Design in Nigeria currently?
\n\n\n\nBased on my experience interacting with designers all over the world, I think Nigerian designers are incredible! But they can be a bit more intentional about the way they document their processes. People in US, Europe or even Indians are so meticulous in their documentation, that every single thing you need is detailed out, there’s barely any question that isn’t already answered in the case study. In Toptal’s process, a portfolio review is the first major stage—your research, case study, and even details on why you chose a particular approach.
\n\n\n\nBut some Nigerian designers don’t do that, they just put the design there and put one summary and one tiny case study which doesn’t explain every thought process. I think Nigerians need to put more effort into articulating their design process and showing what steps they took and why they took those steps.
\n\n\n\nThe Nigerian designers that have gotten into Toptal are nothing short of amazing. I look at their portfolios and I’m in awe because it’s just so good. And they can testify to the many questions they are being asked about their past projects
\n\n\n\nWhy does Toptal ask for a PDF Document?
\n\n\n\nI don’t think it’s 100% important because I’ve had experiences where people don’t have PDFs but they have a detailed portfolio. I have had many non – nigerian designers send me portfolios in both pdf and an actual website.
\n\n\n\nI’m not so sure why it’s that important but I think it doesn’t hurt to have it and take these extra steps to be very meticulous in your process.
\n\n\n\nSo If you apply for a job on Toptal, what determines who is called in for an interview?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing we look out for is that you have at least a minimum of 2 years of experience in digital design and a minimum number of professional digital design projects in your portfolio.
\n\n\n\nWe factor in freelance projects as well. This is why I mentioned the importance of your design process because if you put a design that looks like it was for a professional company, but it was something you did to enhance your skills, nobody will know. We just want to see a certain number of digital design projects, the way you manoeuvre your case study, your user research, and your thought process behind your designs.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing we also look out for is English competency. You need to be able to communicate in English.
\n\n\n\nWe also look out for designers with extensive experience with cross-platform products. If you have a product that was used for the web, for android, iOS, etc. It shows versatility in your portfolio which goes a long way for you.
\n\n\n\nSo, those are the things we look out for before we start assessing your actual skill, and what you know. Each designer type has specific skills that they require.
\n\n\n\nSo, can you differentiate each role based on Toptal standards? Tell us what each person does.
\n\n\n\nI’ll start with UX designers. A UX designer could be someone who has a deep understanding of both user and business goals and they should be able to design to solve these business goals. So a UX designer is more research-driven.. This is why when you’re presenting your portfolio or pdf and you say you are a UX designer, they need to see a lot of data-led decisions. As a UX designer, your job must include a lot of research to understand why a project needs to look the way it looks.
\n\n\n\nFor UI designers, we understand that some people do both UX and UI. It’s fine if you do both, as long as you can show that you can do both. But we have people who specifically focus on just UI. They use the software and the data that the UX designer has derived to solve problems visually.. They are more focused on doing the actual design than the UX designer, that’s why they have similar skills.
\n\n\n\nFor example, a UI designer also has wireframing and prototyping skills, just like the UX designer. However, an extra part is that you should have mockups and an actual responsive design because you have used software and technology to implement the data that the UX designer brought in to build something for us to see. An additional thing is that if you have HTML, CSS, and Javascript experience as a UI designer, it’s a plus for you because you need to be more software and technology-driven than a UX designer.
\n\n\n\nThen, there’s the visual designer. They work closely with the UX and UI designers to translate insights and design into finished artwork. This is where some branding comes in. This may fall under the brand designer role because their skills are often wider and broader. They are potentially working on branding, print design, and mobile design. Everything here includes brand design, but you have to at least have some technical knowledge.
\n\n\n\nFor example, if you are working fully remote, you can’t exactly be doing only brand design all the time. Those brand design jobs come hand-in-hand with UX or UI design jobs. Some skills that visual designers have are product digital branding, design, finished artworks, Adobe creative skills, sketching, and also HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This is where most designers from Nigeria end up having issues because we need you to have some additional skills so you can easily adapt to any other design roles if necessary.
\n\n\n\nWe also have Interaction designers. These also work closely with the other three I mentioned above. They design specific points of interaction, using an already designed system. So if a UI designer has already designed an entire website but there’s one part of the design that involves the user interacting, this person will focus on just that aspect of the design to ensure that users are having the best interaction experience. Some key skills for this are interaction design and interactive prototyping.
\n\n\n\nThe last one is the motion designer. These are the people that build games, 2D and 3D animation, app interfaces and interactions. Motion designers come in for clients that like to build websites that look like a movie. I think it’s an in demand skill currently. Most of them usually work with marketing, photography and filmmaking organizations because that is where their expertise is needed more.
\n\n\n\nSo that’s the design tree that we have at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nThanks for that detailed answer. What are the recurring pitfalls for designers during the recruitment process at Toptal?
\n\n\n\nFirst, it’s communication skills.
\n\n\n\nThe second major pitfall is the lack of enough information on their portfolio. You’re supposed to include a short description of your project, your direct contributions, and things that made you choose that approach. Not using this information shows you didn’t do any research for that product.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing is to also understand how to estimate project completion time and deliverables. It’s important to show in your portfolio the initial estimation period and if you surpassed the estimation period and your reasons.
\n\n\n\nSo, how do you reject people as a Recruiter?
\n\n\n\nIt’s one of the hardest things about the job. Usually, for those who might have stopped at a technical interview stage, I try to get feedback from their interviewers so I can highlight the things that you did well so you can know it wasn’t all bad and the low points so that you can do better for the next interview.
\n\n\n\nIf it’s someone that the call pretty much ended with me, I would try to tell them the things they felt were not a good fit for them. Most times, It’s usually their communication style. I usually don’t reject people during my calls a lot because if I reject you, It means your spoken English was probably so bad that I couldn’t comprehend what you were saying. I would tell you I rejected you because of your communication skills, and I would even suggest site links that you can go to better improve your English and tell you to feel free to apply in three months.
\n\n\n\nIt’s best to tell candidates so they don’t apply again without any change. You want them to come back with some improvement and while it may cost them at that point, It’s good to tell them.
\n\n\n\nIt’s the same thing for technical skills if we feel like your technical skills are not up to par. We can give you a month or more and tell you these are specific skills we think you can improve on before proceeding with your application.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you have to say about the ‘technical on the call’ test vs Design ‘Take-home’ test?
\n\n\n\nI’m of the school of thought that sometimes a small test project is important. At Toptal, everyone must complete a sample design project at the final stage. It’s usually a random case study. This is just proof to show that you can do what you are being hired for. Toptal frowns at copied projects—it will get the candidate banned permanently.
\n\n\n\nI think it only becomes very foul when the test project is based on the company’s product and it’s not paid for.
\n\n\n\nHow do you think people should take rejections from jobs?
\n\n\n\nI just feel like some people need to be more open-minded with rejection. Firstly, thank them for the experience and then you may ask for them to be more specific as to the reasons why you weren’t a great fit for the role, so it would better help you prepare yourself for the future. I even suggest calls, if you want to know more details please tell me and I will schedule a call and tell you more details on what I think you need to do better.
\n\n\n\nI won’t lie, even I still get a bit hurt when I get rejected but I know it’s not something I can avoid in my career.
\n\n\n\nWhat is next for you and what is your dream role?
\n\n\n\nI want to diversify my industry experience. I’ve also not abandoned coding. I’ve also been delving toward Web3 lately, I’ve been doing some freelancing and contract roles with some Web3 startups. I think I want to work at a startup at some point in my career, probably to help them start their recruitment and manage their recruiting team.
\n\n\n\nWith Toptal, we have so many processes. It’s so marvelling to see that everything has a system, process, and platform. So working in a company where I get to contribute this knowledge I’ve gathered at Toptal in terms of how to formulate processes, procedures, and systems and to put it to work in a growing startup is my next career goal, which is in about 3-4 years from now.
\n\n\n\nSo, what do you do for fun?
\n\n\n\nI like to eat. Food is very important in my life. I like to be around my friends, and also travel when I can.
\n\n\n\nAre you leaving Nigeria any time soon?
\n\n\n\nThere is a chance that I may leave the country soon, but for now, I’m just trying to gather experience to become an “OG” in the tech recruiting space before thinking of relocation. But then again, if the opportunity comes to relocate, I’ll definitely take it. Asides from the insecurity happening in the country, I’m quite comfortable. If I feel like I want to move, I may decide to move to Ghana because I have family there.
\n\n\n\nFinally, how do you think people can get into your profession?
\n\n\n\nI won’t lie, I’ve been very lucky in my career. I’ve had rejections and tough times but overall, I’ve been very lucky in terms of the companies I’ve worked with. I’ve worked with big companies that have pushed my career.
\n\n\n\nAlso, with recruiting, you can’t learn the skill without actually practising it. It’s not like coding that you can’t just practice on your own. So it can be hard to get in because you need to have some experience, and you need to get in to get that experience.
\n\n\n\nHowever, for anyone who has recruiting experience and is looking to go into tech recruiting, just follow the same path. Try to get some tech knowledge. It can be in design or coding or product management. It’ll set you miles ahead.
\n\n\n\nIf you don’t have any recruiting experience, I know it may be hard but just get a little recruiting experience with internships or volunteer roles. Without the experience, it’s going to be hard to convince someone you can do the job.
\n\n\n\nIt’s important to note that this interview was documented while Catherine worked at Toptal, however she switched roles and now works with the team at Booking.com.
\n","date":"16 August 2022","categories":{"nodes":[{"name":"Outside Design"}]},"extraPostDetails":{"author":"Jesimiel Williams","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DearDesigner_Icon-01.png"}},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/1ab38988611f4b9c1e41588a4e410d27/b1a2c/DD-Catherine-scaled-e1660740710896.webp","srcSet":"/static/1ab38988611f4b9c1e41588a4e410d27/1dd48/DD-Catherine-scaled-e1660740710896.webp 480w,\n/static/1ab38988611f4b9c1e41588a4e410d27/3e0ac/DD-Catherine-scaled-e1660740710896.webp 960w,\n/static/1ab38988611f4b9c1e41588a4e410d27/b1a2c/DD-Catherine-scaled-e1660740710896.webp 1920w","sizes":"(min-width: 1920px) 1920px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1920,"height":1132}}}}}}},{"node":{"title":"Transcending Agency, Embracing Tech—A Peek Into Acumen’s Processes","uri":"/a-peek-into-acumen/","content":"\nLet’s meet you all, including what you do at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: My name is Melissa Okeibuno and I’m the People and Operations Manager at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nTaiwo: I’m Taiwo Farawe and I’m the Mobile Development Lead at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: Hi, I’m Precious, Lead Product Designer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nAyo: I’m Ayo Onasanya. Founder, Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nElvis: Hey guys, I’m Elvis, Lead Engineer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nLanre: Hi everyone, my name is Lanre. I’m a Product Designer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nNice, we have a full house. So, what is Acumen Digital?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We are a software and product development/design company based in Lagos, Nigeria. We also have a substantial presence in South Africa and have been hyper-focused over the last one year on building internal tools and products that we are releasing to the market.
\n\n\n\nOn one side, we have Acumen agency, the company that supports several of our clients. Our clientele includes the likes of Republic. As a multinational (by some definition), we also work with several companies in the US, Europe, Africa and even Asia. Basically, we are everywhere.
\n\n\n\nBeyond just working with these clients, we also bring all the experience we’ve gathered from these companies home to create something meaningful. Not just for the sake of profitability, but to also solve immediate needs that we find within our environment, as well as pressing needs that we come across as we try to tackle challenges that come up or as we develop products or solutions for our clients. This is why we took the step of setting up a studio.
\n\n\n\nThis change in our direction does not necessarily preclude the fact that we are still a product design company, we just changed how we approach work with several of our clients. That’s just the summary of what we used to be, where we are now and where we’re going.
\n\n\n\nBased on this description, we can say that there’s the part of Acumen working on a product that will soon be released to the market. How does this dynamic work? How do different departments function on each Acumen product?
\n\n\n\nAyo: Right now, we are about 50 people at Acumen and all of us are involved in everything we do from the labs to the agency side. We try to make sure that for each product being built, there are teams. Consequently, every team has its product manager, designers, developers; frontend and backend, people who make sure that we are testing as properly as we should, and that we are releasing these products into the market.
\n\n\n\nWe tend to treat each product as a standalone company, and not just a piece of software. In addition, we take all we do seriously—even though we do have a lot of fun while doing it. We are methodical in how we operate and this outlook influences how the company is structured.
\n\n\n\nCan you share with us some of the tools Acumen is currently working on?
\n\n\n\nAyo: One of them is live right now — Robinapp.co. This product allows you to quickly integrate DMs and chat functionalities into any app that you are building.
\n\n\n\nSo let’s assume that DearDesigner would like to build a community of designers who can interact, find mentors and other community-focused features. You may want to integrate a messaging feature, perhaps even charge for messaging the way Linkedin does. What we have done is to build a chat/messaging feature and equip you with all you need to put it on any product. You can decide how to use it.
\n\n\n\nSo you have technology as good as Whatsapp or Slack, and you can put it on your product. It’s similar to Uber where you can chat with drivers on the app. There are a lot of products that need chat features, but it’s not the core of what they do. Hence their initial technology needs do not cater to this particular challenge. This is why we’ve built this tool; so that entrepreneurs can focus solely on what the core of their product is, and still find it easy to integrate a chat feature on their products in less than 5 minutes.
\n\n\n\nWhat was the process like working on this product? What were the key milestones, and challenges, and how did you solve them?
\n\n\n\nElvis: It was an interesting experience. One of the milestones we had was to first and foremost build a “Proof of Concept” to be sure that the idea works. When we had the proof of concept, we took the product to the design board to map out how we wanted it to work, and how we wanted the user experience to be across various points. Then we started building layers upon layers until it went live.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: We had to create some sort of design language that suits all types of users from different fields. We tried to balance the design language; from the colour to the fonts and all. We did a lot of user research and competitive analysis of different competitors in the field as well and saw how we can improve our product based on the feedback we’ve gotten from all kinds of users. I won’t be overstating it if I say that the design of this product is top-notch and world-class because we’ve outdone ourselves in the design team.
\n\n\n\nWhat were the challenges you faced in designing and engineering this project?
\n\n\n\nElvis: For engineering, we faced a lot of challenges because we were working in uncharted territory. We had to learn and unlearn a lot of things as we went along in building the product.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: On the part of the design, I’d say from the onset, it looked like designing a chat system was as simple as ABC. But I think that was one of the problems that we faced, we initially had to do a whole lot of iterations to make sure everything was balanced and up to standard. We thought it was simple, just “send and receive messages”, but we eventually did something that could stand the test of time and stand with competitors.
\n\n\n\nFrom what has been mentioned, the Acumen team works in a pod-like manner where every project or activity has its stakeholders. However, for a 50-member team with about 2-3 products, how does it work?
\n\n\n\nAyo: In terms of how we work, this is like an agency and in an agency’s usual day-to-day, everything is due yesterday. So we have had situations where one member can be across multiple pods. However, we try as much as possible to ensure that each team member is focused on one thing at a time. Unless there isn’t someone at hand or if it’s urgent, we could always sync with the project managers in-house and say “Hey, we have a high-priority task at hand and this is a show-stopper”.
\n\n\n\nA show-stopper here at Acumen means that the person or persons who have been contacted need to drop everything they are doing and focus on one thing only, even if they were not a part of the initial core team.
\n\n\n\nOne of the things I should also mention is that although we work in pods, we try to make sure that everyone across the company understands the “how” and “why” of what we’re building. Such that in cases where someone is on leave for 2 months, someone else should be able to pick up what they were doing, oversee that and make sure the work goes on.
\n\n\n\nHow did Acumen evolve into a product design and development company from the usual agency model?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We were first a “product design only” company. This was our biggest strength and we wouldn’t take up any service if we didn’t feel like we were super good at it. We had customers coming to us with questions like “Do you guys handle social media management or digital marketing?” We say no and go ahead to refer them to our sister company. We wanted to be hyper-focused on things that we are confident to offer.
\n\n\n\nWhen I moved back to Lagos, we spent the first 2 years just doing strictly product design. We had the opportunity of redesigning Trove, we worked with Ventures Platform. We worked on Rise. We designed a couple of products in the Nigerian space. After a while, we started to find that a lot of our clients kept saying things along the lines of “Your designs are great, your designs are awesome, but we need it to be coded. Can you guys make it and make it as good as you made the designs?”
\n\n\n\nWe already had a sense that this was going to happen and internally, we’d been setting up a full-scale design and development team—but we were not yet offering it as a service. We had hired a few developers at the time who we kept working on internal experiments; building small things here and there. When we felt confident in them, we decided to go all out and start building these products we had already designed for clients. That’s how we became a fusion of design and development. And now we’ve pivoted a little bit away from that and are now focusing more on building products for ourselves and not just for clients.
\n\n\n\nLanre, as a product designer at Acumen, how do you get your task done? What’s the process like for you?
\n\n\n\nLanre: I’d say, the fact is clear that I have a great team at Acumen. There are instances where we have things to deliver the following day and another client suddenly drops something you need to treat urgently. You’re confident in the knowledge that someone else can cover for you if they’re not too busy. We don’t work in isolation. So before we do certain things, there are times I’d have some calls online, we brainstorm together, and go through mood boards together. Everyone goes about their thing, and then we come back again to check together. It’s all about teamwork at Acumen, not about working alone.
\n\n\n\nSo, Melissa, let’s assume that there is a need to hire a new designer. How does that process go?
\n\n\n\nMelissa: Whenever we are scouting for new talents or when we put it out there and get CVs, we do an internal review of the candidates’ portfolio and we shortlist. Our process is pretty simple but still, it is divided into 3 phases. We first interview the candidate; I usually handle that. And then the next part is to bring Precious in. We ask a few design questions, and then give them a take-home task and a deadline for it.
\n\n\n\nWhen they turn that in, we review it again internally and shortlist it again. If we have shortlisted 3, we have to do further reviews because it means that 3 people are good enough to join Acumen. Then we do further probing, ask more questions and if we find that we can take 2 people in, we go for it. But if we only need 1 person, we go for the best.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the 3 key things you look out for when hiring design talents for Acumen?
\n\n\n\nPrecious: When hiring talents, we look out for their confidence and their ability to present and defend whatever designs they’ve done in the past. We ask them to go through their portfolio, and also highlight which would rank as the favourite project they’ve worked on. It could be live or it could be a mock project but we want to see their ability to solve problems and speak confidently about what they’ve done. That’s the key thing we look out for.
\n\n\n\nAyo: The three things that stand out for me are vibes, skills and hunger. Firstly, they must have the right vibe. We are very big on culture and we’ve been able to grow quickly because everyone is working as a team and not as individuals and everyone understands the goal in front of us. When we are hiring, we want to make sure they have the right vibe, it’s very important.
\n\n\n\nThen design skills. We look out to see if they pay attention to grid systems, and spacing, if they use the right typography, and if they can spot a font and tell us what that is. All of that also includes presentation, because what we are trying to do is to make everyone at Acumen a leader. You have to be confident and understand what you’re saying. We always look out for team members who can work in-depth. We don’t like to micromanage; that’s where the place of skills comes in.
\n\n\n\nLastly is having the hunger to learn. I’ll tell you a short story. Precious joined us as an intern at Acumen and he’s grown so fast so quickly to becoming a lead. The same goes for Elvis. Farawe also joined us as a junior developer at the time. We always look out for people who are serious, who can roll up our sleeves and get down to it. Those are the key skills I’ll talk about.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: One of the things we also look out for during the interview stage is your communication skills. Like Ayo mentioned, we are 100% remote and if a team member doesn’t know the basics of communication, it affects other team members and operation will be stalled. For instance, I mentioned that we give take-home assessments. If it’s close to the deadline and you already know you can’t turn this in at the deadline, ideally what you’re supposed to do is reach out to the hiring manager and say “Oh I won’t be able to turn this in, can I get an extension?” So little things that might not seem to matter to a candidate matter to us. And it shows that you’ll communicate as at when due and you’ll take it seriously. So that’s where the tenacity comes in.
\n\n\n\nSo, is this process the same for engineering hires?
\n\n\n\nFarawe: What is key is the ability to solve dynamic problems. As Lanre said, we work as a team and tasks are always broken down to bits and we compile them. These are problems that’ll be broken down into bits so we need to make sure the person can solve problems efficiently. We also look into their experience and how efficient the person is, based on the stack we are hiring for. Also, the last thing I’d like to mention is that communication is key for us; as Melissa also said. We look at how the person can collaborate with a team which is important and how ready they are to always learn because the technology changes so you need to keep learning, you can’t just stick to what you knew last year. These are the key things for me.
\n\n\n\nElvis: I will add that it depends on the level of the engineer we are hiring. For the most part, what I look at is the mastery of the particular stack or something similar to what we are hiring for, just a general mastery of the program concept as well. So that’s mostly it for me. Also, the willingness to learn new things and grow. I’m a growth junkie.
\n\n\n\nHow do you manage the culture of the company and keep it consistent across different people joining from different backgrounds, while running a 95% remote team?
\n\n\n\nAyo: The interesting thing about company culture is that when it is genuine and not forced, you’ll learn that culture real quick and you’ll adjust. Our culture is not one where you need to adjust to anything out of the ordinary, just be yourself, you’ll learn that in the space of 2 weeks of joining Acumen.
\n\n\n\nWe also try to meet at the office—we still have an office—every Friday. Still, there are some months when we only see each other twice in that whole month. There are some teammates I’ve never seen before. Everyone is based in different states and we even have interns outside of Nigeria. It’s a very diverse team.
\n\n\n\nSome of the things we do for culture are the way we approach work, our communication style and the occasional physical events. From time to time we also do physical events. A couple of weeks ago, for example, we went to Asa’s concert. We do a lot of activities to try and keep the energy going. In December, for example, we went all out.
\n\n\n\nWe just like to have fun as much as possible. We try to make sure that the environment is not one where people are laughing when they are supposed to be working and I walk in and then everyone is like “Urgh, the boss is here” and keep quiet. They’ll just invite me over and tell me the joke and we all continue laughing.
\n\n\n\nI’d like to know how you work with clients. I can imagine that building products for startups is not a sweet job, so how do you guys work effectively with in-house designers?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We are extremely embedded in their teams. We are not just some guys you hired in Nigeria who do some work for you. We embed ourselves into your process and your products, understand what you’re doing, the why, what needs to be prioritized and deprioritized, and even the business needs. We always pride ourselves as an extension of your team as opposed to typically just scaling your team by going through the tedious process of hiring.
\n\n\n\nYou come to Acumen and you say “We want to build the next Google and we don’t have engineers. We think you guys will do a great job and we need 10 engineers from you who can write this framework” When we look at that framework we assess it and we start to work with you based on that requirement.
\n\n\n\nThat’s an interesting way to work. So what are the tools you use internally at Acumen to ensure easy virtual work?
\n\n\n\nAyo: Jira, Slack. Interestingly, we also use the Robin app that we built, we use it internally as our communication tool, it’s also a part of our stack. We are also our evangelists, so when we see our own bugs we call them out. Also, G-suite is essential to us.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the handoff process like for design and development projects?
\n\n\n\nPrecious: For every design project, we try as much as possible to create design systems and style guides for the project. This helps us better collaborate with the designers on the project for easy development handoffs. Prototypes are made when the final and approved design is done. We also have some sort of design and development meeting after a design project. We try as much as possible to walk them through our process. Developers are also aware of our design process to make sure everything is in tandem with what the developers will be building. That’s our handoff process.
\n\n\n\nSo how do you measure the impact of your work for your clients and your own products as well?
\n\n\n\nAyo: The impact of the design is measured in two metrics. Adoption—How are the customers reacting and engaging with this design? And revenue—Is the product generating revenue? Is it driving the bottom line?
\n\n\n\nBecause we are first a product design company, we understand that good design is good business and design is very critical for business. If a product is well designed and isn’t translating into profit for a company, something is wrong somewhere. It might be the strategy or a flaw in the design flow or something. Even when a system goes live, we always critique it with questions like “How can we make it better? How can we improve the user experience?” to help scale adoption and revenue for the business.
\n\n\n\nFinally, in one word, what is working at Acumen like?
\n\n\n\nFarawe: Growth. My journey has just been about growth and I’m grateful for that. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: Fulfilment. We are happy with working on different projects across different industries and still get to eat doughnuts every Friday. That is fulfilment.
\n\n\n\nElvis: Like Taiwo said, Growth. There are a lot of avenues for you to grow in whatever path you choose and there are a lot of people to help you do that.
\n\n\n\nLanre: I’d say growth too because I remember where I started as a graphics designer in 2018 and then it’s been an interesting journey for me, I’m so happy.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: First off, I’d say fun because I get to work with these amazing individuals and there’s never a dull moment. Secondly, I’m very big on growth, because I went from knowing nothing about tech to knowing so much now. Lastly, it’d be the feeling of fulfilment, because I look forward to doing it. I wake up in the morning and I just want to work. So that’s it for me.
\n\n\n\nAyo: I’d say culture and the amazing people. I think we’ve been blessed with an amazing set of men and women from all walks of life and different backgrounds and it gives us this richness in terms of how we approach problems. One of the things I like about our culture is that I’ve seen people who are extremely shy and when they see their people, they can be “unshy”. Lanre used to be shy but he’s no longer shy; he’s our elder. And elders cannot afford to be shy. So culture and people are things I hold dear to my heart at Acumen.
\n\n\n\nGame time! Just a quick game to get to know you beyond work.
\n\n\n\nWho’s the funniest here?
\n\n\n\nElvis/Victor
\n\n\n\nWho’s the foodie?
\n\n\n\nPrecious
\n\n\n\nBest dressed?
\n\n\n\nAll of us. We always represent
\n\n\n\nWho works the most?
\n\n\n\nMelissa
\n\n\n\nWho’s the bookworm?
\n\n\n\nAyo, he’s always researching things.
\n\n\n\nWho’s the soft-life baby boy or baby girl?
\n\n\n\nAll of us, nobody here wants to suffer.
\n\n\n\nWho’s most likely to get dragged or drag someone on Twitter?
\n\n\n\nElvis
\n","date":"04 August 2022","categories":{"nodes":[{"name":"Inside Teams"}]},"extraPostDetails":{"author":"Fisayo Patrick","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DearDesigner_Icon-01.png"}},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/0499636568ce403afa2dba41f280852d/5bc02/DD-Acumen-Digital-1.webp","srcSet":"/static/0499636568ce403afa2dba41f280852d/e567c/DD-Acumen-Digital-1.webp 321w,\n/static/0499636568ce403afa2dba41f280852d/aa1f8/DD-Acumen-Digital-1.webp 642w,\n/static/0499636568ce403afa2dba41f280852d/5bc02/DD-Acumen-Digital-1.webp 1284w","sizes":"(min-width: 1284px) 1284px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1284,"height":950}}}}}}},{"node":{"title":"Spotlighting Fiyin Adeniyi, A Modernist with a Vintage Soul","uri":"/spotlighting-fiyin/","content":"\nHow would you describe yourself?
\n\n\n\nI am Fiyin Adeniyi. I am a super passionate person. I always achieve anything I put my mind to and I’m super intentional with the things I do. I’m passionate about art, design, food, music and my faith.
\n\n\n\nWhat is your typical work day like?
\n\n\n\nI recently transitioned from the freelance design world to design management. My typical work day before was to wake up, skip breakfast and immediately start working on my design schedule for the day. Now, my days have shifted to waking up in the morning, having breakfast and pulling up everybody’s tasks. I check on things we need to pull out as a company, and the things I need to supervise. My days have now also moved from searching for inspiration for the design world to searching for inspiration for ideation. I now do art direction and creative direction.
\n\n\n\nThat seems like a major move. So, tell us about your journey from being a designer to becoming a design manager.
\n\n\n\nThis is the first time I’ll be speaking openly about that journey. Before I joined Check DC, I was a freelancer. I started freelancing in 2018 and I was just trying to be a part of the design community. Between then and June 2020, I gained some influence and I put out some of my works. I tweeted about wanting to work in an agency before the end of 2020 and I got the offer to work for 3 months as an associate designer and after then, proceed to be a senior designer.
\n\n\n\nThose first 3 months were tough because it was an entire culture shock for me. Working freelance and interfacing with your clients are a thousand times different from working with other people.
\n\n\n\nIn summary, my first 3 months were the worst months for me. It was really bad that at one point, my design team lead conversed with me and he was as unfiltered as possible. He said some things that got to me, but they were a fair reflection of how poor my performance had been. He gave me a chance to choose between getting better or accepting the role wasn’t for me because he didn’t want to outrightly lay me off.
\n\n\n\nI requested 3 more months to get myself together and those periods were entirely productive. One thing I have always had as a designer is a mindset. I achieve anything I put my mind to. I know I have to be good at what I do and not give anyone a reason to doubt me. I was in beast mode for those 3 months. By the end of the year, I had played active parts in 75% of the brand projects we had done. I was either designing a logo or creating a brand identity system. They were even calling me a logo legend at some point.
\n\n\n\nTalking about how things transitioned from 2020 till now, I started working with the team better. Towards the end of 2021, I was told I’d be leading more conversations and I faced more clients. In 2022, I started leading both our in-house team and contract staff. These were new experiences for me, but I had that mindset that I was going to push through.
\n\n\n\nA few months ago, I transitioned into design team lead fully and I’m not only interfacing with the brand team, but also with the UI team, motion team and even the communications team. That’s how the journey has been so far and I’m looking forward to more growth. If I can achieve all of these in two years, who knows where I’d be next year?
\n\n\n\nWhat are the 3 things you learned during this transition phase?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing I learned is collaboration. Throughout my time as a freelancer, I didn’t have the opportunity to collaborate even on personal projects. I am a perfectionist, so it was difficult for me to collaborate with people because I felt like I was mostly going to direct the work.
\n\n\n\nThe second thing I learned is to be open to learning. I was stuck in a know-it-all bubble when I joined the agency only to see that there were many things I was doing wrong. For instance, I was creating pdf in photoshop, until I learned I can do it in Indesign and Illustrator. It is imperative to be open to new experiences and more exposure.
\n\n\n\nThe third thing is knowing your worth and valuing yourself. When I got the job, I didn’t know exactly what to ask for. If I didn’t have people around me to help me, I probably would have shortchanged myself. Also, in those first three months on the job, if I didn’t recognise the value I hold and my ability to learn, I would have probably given up. That might have not only been the end of my agency dream, but also the end of my career.
\n\n\n\nWhat path do you think a new designer should take, whether as a freelancer or in an agency?
\n\n\n\nIt’s a little bit controversial, but I’d say a new designer should look out more for agency experience before they freelance. A lot of older designers started without a standardised structure, so there was a lot of uncoordinated growth and experiences.
\n\n\n\nHowever, getting into an agency would allow you to learn collaboration early, you would learn how to speak design, improve your skills, interpret your briefs, work with difficult clients, and how to also submit to leadership.
\n\n\n\nThese are many things a lot of freelancers don’t catch on easily, and when the time comes to use these skills, they are either nonexistent or unrefined. I will always advise a new designer to choose agency work over freelancing. On the flip side, the argument might be that you make a lot more money with freelancing, but the truth is, the inflow of money is not consistent. So, I believe you will learn a lot of skills that will help you as a freelancer if you start with an agency.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you look out for in new designers?
\n\n\n\nThere are three major things I look out for. The first one is their mindset.
\n\n\n\n“How do you see design? How do you talk about it? Are you looking to revolutionise things? Are you looking to be a part of the next generation of good designers or design thinkers? How driven are you as a designer?”
\n\n\n\nAll these are encompassing when I say mindset. I like to see passion and mindset in a designer.
\n\n\n\nThe second thing I look out for is your skill. There’s a way you see someone and know they have potential. I always look out for whether the person is refined or has potential.
\n\n\n\nThe third thing I look out for is their personal brand. For new designers, a lot of people have gotten it right. One good example is Tóbi Tunbosun of Bloc. When he started, he had that personal branding on lock. He had a memorable social media name and profile. I look out for how consistent you are with who you position yourself to be and how you have been able to present yourself to be noticed.
\n\n\n\nWhat is your stance on showcasing designs on Twitter?
\n\n\n\nI’m all for it. I believe in having a curated portfolio and I also believe in putting out your work, because Twitter is like a marketplace. I have gotten a lot of referrals from Twitter. I recently posted a wedding project that I did and the CEO of a decent, internationally acclaimed,
\n\n\n\nNigerian company messaged me about having his wedding soon and he wants me to work on the project. People have gotten work from Twitter, and I also got my current job there.
\n\n\n\nHow did you move from finding it difficult in the first 3 months of your job to being good at it? What did you do differently?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing I’d say is that I was aware of my weakness. Every company and agency has its process. I faced the problem of trying to adapt my process to theirs. While that might work in a growing agency, it didn’t work in Check DC because they already have their process and I had to find a balance. I had to learn their process and adapt to it.
\n\n\n\nThe other thing I mentioned earlier is collaboration. I also had to learn to collaborate. There are times I would want to work alone, but I started to realise that it was less about me, and more about the team and the company.
\n\n\n\nThe final thing is being open to feedback and being less defensive about my work. It is hard for most designers, especially if you were a successful freelancer before transitioning into an agency. The only thing I was used to getting was feedback from clients and I used to get little or no feedback from them. So, it was hard accepting constructive criticism regarding my work, and I feel this is a part of what made those times difficult. I was so attached to my ideas that feedback will prompt a negative response, so I wasn’t putting too much effort into other directions because my initial direction was rejected.
\n\n\n\nThese were the core things that helped me to improve in 3 months.
\n\n\n\nTell us about your background. How has it influenced who you are now?
\n\n\n\nI’m the second born of four children and I’m the first son. In a typical Yoruba household, the first son has to be something in life. Part of that influenced some of the passion and drive that I have now. My dad is a pastor and a businessman, watching him being intentional about succeeding influenced how I see life.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing that has influenced me is my faith. I have been a Christian all my life. Having the idea that there is a greater power directing my steps has influenced my self-awareness because I’m constantly in the know of where I am.
\n\n\n\nAs a kid, I watched cartoons a lot and that influenced my personality because I like to crack jokes at every given opportunity. I loved looking at visual pieces of history and a key part of what has influenced me are Greek, Roman, and Italian pieces, from their arts to their music and anthologies. This also played a subtle part in what has crafted some of my design styles. Many of my designs are minimalist, classy and elegant and they are influenced by them. I used to sketch some of their Roman numerals and black letters while growing up. All of these just infused themselves into who I am today.
\n\n\n\nGrowing up, I was petite and I got bullied for it. For a while, I was passive and not assertive enough until I went to university. I grew out of that mindset and I became more assertive and more vocal about my thoughts. This particularly has influenced my leadership, because I know how it feels to be put under. So, every chance I get to be on top, I try to lead with the mindset that no one is going to be put under and that everyone matters in a team.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the place of education in your life?
\n\n\n\nI studied Computer Technology at Babcock University, but I haven’t gotten my certificate. I doubt if I even finished my clearance. The only education that has played a good role in my life is both my primary and secondary education because I can speak good English and I know Maths. University was more about the experience than the education for me.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think has made you a better designer?
\n\n\n\nI have a good eye for inspiration. I get inspired by the littlest things. I look at things and I find designs where there’s no design.
\n\n\n\nWhat are your sources of inspiration?
\n\n\n\nOnline inspiration, first of all. I coined a phrase I was using for myself in 2020; “a modernist with a vintage soul.” I like to look at old things and look for how to modernise them. Everything around me also motivates me. I find inspiration in everything. Just looking at the brick wall in front of me is inspirational.
\n\n\n\nYou are a pastor in your church, a choir director, and a designer. How do you balance church, work, family and your relationship?
\n\n\n\nHonestly, I don’t have a formula. I just try to give things the priority they deserve. I work 9-5 and part of the contract that I signed is that the time frame is going to be used strictly for achieving the company’s goals. During that time, a lot of other things take a lesser priority. Once it’s 5 pm, I’m able to focus and give more attention to the people who matter most to me – my family and my girlfriend.
\n\n\n\nOn some other days, those things also bump down a little because I have church work to attend to. Some days, I bump everything down and decide to eat dinner with my mum. So, it’s all about prioritising certain things in the time that they deserve.
\n\n\n\nThere will always be overlap and priority might be radical in some cases. While on this day normally, I would have given it to my family, things might come up that need urgent attention and I’d have to attend to them. That means leaving my family in the loop. What I do, however, to salvage such situations is to communicate. That is where I strike the balance.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the role of design in faith?
\n\n\n\nFrom my perspective, faith is abstract and design is what can take abstract communication to something more concrete. For instance, if a church named Spirit of Life ministry requires a logo, how do you take the abstract concept of spirit and life to visuality? The level of abstraction in faith makes design even more important. Design makes these abstractions understandable to the human mind. The role of design in faith is to make complex things simpler. It is taking away abstraction and making it easy to absorb and understand.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think about design in Nigeria?
\n\n\n\nPersonally, design in Nigeria is getting to a point where I’m getting a bit scared because of how fast things are moving. Soon, it will be less about how good a design is and more about how much you can quickly make from it. Looking at countries that have infused design as a core part of their structure, and where we want to be in Nigeria, design has to move beyond just a money-making scheme, to becoming a tool for the future.
\n\n\n\nThis is not to invalidate anyone currently doing that. Of course, many of us are very intentional about creating designs that can match and even beat the world’s standard, such that designs in Nigeria have no choice but to be noticed. DearDesigner is doing that, Check DC is doing that, as well as a lot of other good platforms. It is just a community effort, it should be instilled in the mind of everyone who breathes design in Nigeria. I’m not against making your coins from design, but beyond making money, we should have the mindset of elevating the standard of design in Nigeria.
\n\n\n\nIn summary, I’m a little bit scared about where design is going in Nigeria but I am optimistic as well because there are platforms passionate about Nigeria being recognised not just for the talent, but also for the standard.
\n\n\n\nDo you think design can save us?
\n\n\n\nNo. Only Jesus can save us. Design in itself is not enough to save us in any capacity, either as a country, by preserving our culture, or just saving us as people. If we decide to use design to create systems and visuals that address our culture, it won’t still be enough because if it is not infused into other systems like education and religion, all our designs will just be in a bubble. We will be the only ones using those products.
\n\n\n\nDesign can unify more industries in fulfilling that one goal of saving us as a people, but it is not enough. It is only the hand of God that can save us.
\n\n\n\nLet’s talk a bit about your job, what is the most fulfilling part of your job?
\n\n\n\nI’ll mention 2 things. The first one is seeing the quality of work that we put out. We have an unspoken rule of putting aside works that are not our best. Seeing that everyone is working hard to push this vision of work standard that we uphold is fulfilling.
\n\n\n\nThe second most fulfilling experience is seeing the young designers grow. It is particularly very dear to me because I didn’t have anyone holding me by the hands to teach me. The younger designers have access to not just me but to an array of great designers, such that if a brand designer decides to try out product design today, there’s always someone guiding them.
\n\n\n\nAs a design lead, how do you set up your team for success?
\n\n\n\nThis will be summarised as highlighting individual uniqueness while also fostering collaborative efforts. Many people don’t find a balance between those two things. In a bid to make sure everyone has individual uniqueness, some team leads ignore the part of collaboration. Finding that good mix of collaborative efforts and the ability to highlight individual uniqueness is what makes it easy for me to set up my team for success. This means that in every project, everyone has something complementary to bring to the table.
\n\n\n\nWhere do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
\n\n\n\nI see myself with a pot of chicken wings in front of me. Jokes aside, looking at my current trajectory, I am either in one or two places. One is being at a design agency, it might be at my current job or another place, managing and supervising projects. This goes beyond leading a design team.
\n\n\n\nI also see myself with some of my albums out, because I am currently working on them. I see myself settled. 5 years from now, I should be married. I don’t have any big picture in mind, but just as I am content and happy now, I know I’ll be content and happy in 5 years.
\n","date":"27 July 2022","categories":{"nodes":[{"name":"Life of a Designer"}]},"extraPostDetails":{"author":"Hidayatullah Bamidele","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DearDesigner_Icon-01.png"}},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/12d6c/1-e1658958578364.webp","srcSet":"/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/6142d/1-e1658958578364.webp 512w,\n/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/d4e5a/1-e1658958578364.webp 1024w,\n/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/12d6c/1-e1658958578364.webp 2048w","sizes":"(min-width: 2048px) 2048px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":2048,"height":1111}}}}}}}]}}}![\"\"](\"/static/59196f0ac687175be9ee8ff2650a2901/85b06/image.png)
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