Ryan, welcome to the beautiful world of #ExperienceDesign. If I could do it all over again, this is what I would do differently.
I ventured into #UX because I didn't see myself write millions of lines of code without understanding how someone would use my product. I taught myself UX and back then we didn't have any school to teach us these skills. I simply had to rely on work people put out in the world.
Which is why the first skill you need to develop for yourself is your ability to judge who you need to learn from and who you need to stay away from. We have plenty of hacks frolicking around as "Design Leaders" and #DesignTwitter is full of them.
These are folks who fill VP positions but couldn't rub two Figma files together and build a prototype. The craft has evolved significantly and it's no longer important to just be talking heads. Which sadly is the state of most Design Leadership today.
Advice #1 - Find craftsmen and craftswomen who are leaders through not just voice, but also real work they put out in the world. And it doesn't have to be people in Dir+ positions. There are some stellar Manager-level designers rocking the world of Design.
The craft of UX is evolved so much. And you'll have a big portion of Design Twitter tell you that Designers don't need to code. Let me tell you a simple fact. If there are two equally talented designers the one who can code will steal the job.
Design Leaders who claim it isn't important to code to do design are only protecting themselves and their own lack of skills. In a world dominated by Machine Learning and Deep Learning the craft of a Designer needs to go beyond pretty little layouts.
You can't design for Natural Language if you don't know how the Semantics and Ontology work in Knowledge Graphs. You can't design for AR if you don't understand how Spatial Coordinate Systems work. You can't design unbiased feeds if you don't understand Recommender Systems.
But even beyond the levels, the foundational craft of UX is evolving. Take #SwiftUI for example and how simple it's making the life of Designers to create complex layouts with ease in iOS. You'll be a much-advanced designer if you can find your way around these platforms.
Advice #2 - Learn to code. Now is a good time than any other. Start with @elirousso 's @primitiveschool , go onto @MengTo 's @designcodeio , and then to @twostraws 's 100 days of Swift. You won't regret it. Make a plan. Build a goal. And get code-ready.
The other big problem about Designers today and has been for a while is lack of Product Thinking. All the CX frameworks, and business model designs, and service designs isn't going to compensate the basic need of getting product-user/market/zeitgeist fit.
Being a master in the craft of Design is fundamental. But time and time again I see Designers waste resources like nobody's business. Think like a founder, act like a product manager, build like an engineer, and craft like a designer.
If you follow the news around why so many CEOs can't tell what their Design team does for them it's primarily because of this. Design has lost its way in continuing to prove value to Business. The world recognized the difference great Design can bring to Business thanks to Apple.
But Designers didn't do a good job to hold onto that attention. Eventually, the Product Managers took over because they knew how to cut through the noise between Engineering, Business, and Design. Now who run the big tech co's - Product!
Advice #3 - Get close to how great startups founders bring businesses to life. Pay close attention to how Designer-led startups create a competitive advantage. Figma, Notion, Airbnb are all great examples here.
Irrespective of where in your career you are, you should constantly be building something on the side and for yourself. You've got to constantly blend different crafts together. As an Editor yourself, telling great stories is highly valuable to what we do.
It's a great way to get noticed. Read the story of Andrew Kim news.microsoft.com/stories/people… and the impact he had in a 3-day project he did for himself.
Advice #4 - Build something for yourself every quarter. It doesn't have to be big. Something small is just fine. Look at what @abduzeedo recently built with his simple but elegant and gorgeous meditation app. You find your craft when you build something for yourself.
The last bit of advice is never stop creating. Managing people is exciting and all, but the moment you hit a certain threshold that takes over your life and gets in the way of your craft. This is the worst thing anyone can do to their craft.
Advice #5 - Don't ever let go of your ability to create, make, build. Because the day you do, it's safe to assume the asteroids are headed for the dinosaur you. Your ability to make things will dictate longevity in your career.
And finally, life is bloody short, so remember to have fun! :)
