The job of a product designer is exciting, full of challenges and development opportunities. It does take great technical skills, lots of creativity and ambition to get to a solid level but there’s always room for improvement so you can push your career forward and be a successful designer that you’ve dreamed of.

In analysing career development paths and job specs for product designers, here are key behaviours and characteristics necessary in order to develop a successful career.

Have clearly set goals

Determination and strong vision are an integral part of any successful business plan so to build a successful career path, you need to be fully committed to the goals you set initially. Be obsessively devoted to your quarterly, weekly, and daily goals. Moreover, hold yourself accountable for achieving them. Make sure you know exactly what you are working on and why. Accept the fact that there will always be more work than time at your hands, and make conscious and rational trade-offs. Take a proactive role in planning and evaluating work, and keep your team involved in its decision-making.

Be organized

The key ingredient of success is good organisation so make sure you follow your personal productivity process and plan your week’s goals meticulously. Make your own time management a top project. Make notes, create timetables and timelines but don’t micromanage. Just make room for delays and problems along the way. It’ll help you avoid being overwhelmed and you’ll learn how to effectively balance workloads. Try to follow the principle of prioritize and execute.

Optimize for continuous progression

In building a successful career, it’s important to always strive for progress. Set it as default and don’t wait to be told what to do. Take ownership of your work, go the extra mile and cross the boundaries of your job to ensure that all the options are covered and no stone is left unturned. Be quick and independent in your work, but also know when to include others to help you resolve conflicts and obstacles.

There will always be some ambiguity in work so learn how to work through it. As a current master’s degree program in product design nicely puts it, there’s no fool-proof recipe for success. Some design projects are an instant success while others fail miserably. What matters is the talent and energy you invest and the serious approach you take to designing. It also takes a lot of understanding of the world’s complexities and the power of adaptability. Combined with tenaciousness, critical analysis and the will to learn, the success is bound to happen.

Have a broad perspective

It’s dangerous to keep a tunnel vision as it will hinder your progress. When designing a product, do it in a broader context and leave the scene a better place than you found it. Keeping this wider perspective will only aid your overall mission and company vision. Establish the high-impact design goals and get others to contribute to your roadmap.

Communicate and collaborate

Clear an open communication process is essential so ensure you present the goals and context clearly as well as the problem and possible solutions. Be aware of all the pros and cons, implications and next steps to be taken. Have a proposal ready even if it’s only a straw man proposal.

Get to the point quickly, be able to read the room and make sure your audience understands you well before you continue. Know how to simplify complexities if necessary so you deliver a compelling narrative.

Also, build strong connections with your co-workers, managers and all the PMs, engineers and designers. Understand well that trust and strong relationships don’t come easily of for free. Some healthy tension is necessary in a team but never use it as an excuse not to be kind and inclusive of the people around you. Be open-minded and positive in your intentions. Build your voice within the company and make a valuable contribution.

Embody your values

Company’s values need to be your values as well – internalize them and apply them in accordance to your own authentic self. Refer to them regularly in your discourse but strive to give them a fresh and relevant perspective. Use those principles when you make decisions, be intentional and devote yourself fully to the goal. Avoid mediocrity and set your standards high.

To be a successful and high-performing product designer, these are to several key behaviours to adopt and develop. Combined with consistency, determination and hard work, your abilities and skills will improve significantly and the promotion your dream of will follow soon.