If I Were a Junior Product Designer Again

Then I'd carefully read and implement these five tips into my career in 2025!

I’ve been talking to a lot of junior designers lately. After one of these chats, I reflected on how my career evolved. Interestingly, I couldn’t say I was much different from today’s junior designers. What’s different today compared to a decade ago is the environment. The job market has changed for the worse, and design tools have bloomed.

When we first fall in love with design, we are driven by the same things. It’s either a desire to make nice-looking things or an obsessive dream to change the world. While both incentives are super valid, we might be blind to other aspects of this job. These things enable us to actually change the world and not let others slap a pixel-pusher sticker on us. The sooner we realize there’s more than what our users see, the heavier we push the gas pedal on our career.

So, what timeless advice would I give to a 10-year-younger version of myself and all the junior product designers out there to accelerate in 2025?

1. Plan your career

If you just began your UX …