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How I Dealt With Imposter Syndrome as a Junior Designer
My main takeaways from dealing with imposter syndrome and building self-confidence
Feeling like a fraud
When I first started working as a junior designer, I had major imposter syndrome. Even though I had managed to secure a full-time position at one of the largest software companies in the world, I felt like a total fraud that had tricked them into thinking I was some kind of impressive designer.
During the first few months of the job, I feared that my skills weren’t living up to the expectations of the senior designers and managers that interviewed me. I was unfamiliar with how designers collaborated with stakeholders as I hadn’t learned it in school.
On top of all that, my team worked on business analytics products that required a deep understanding of managing and visualizing complex data. I felt so lost as I sat quietly in meetings, trying to wrap my head around what was going on.
Takeaway #1: Gain more exposure
Imposter syndrome affects most early-career designers simply due to lack of experience. By gaining exposure to different scenarios and different outcomes, you will start to learn how things will play out.
For example, if you don’t feel confident conducting user interviews, work with your research team to participate in more of them. Learn how to introduce yourself and the testing scenario to the user, how to ask follow up questions and how to facilitate the conversation to keep the user focused.
The more scenarios you are exposed to, the more comfortable they will feel the next time they happen. Practice makes perfect, repetition builds confidence.
Lacking self-confidence
I worked with a senior designer on a daily basis who assigned me tasks. Not wanting to make a bad decision or bad impression on my colleagues, I asked a lot of questions. Every time I felt like a kid asking my parents for permission to do something. I…
