Time to clarity is the amount of time it takes you to establish a clear/confident picture in your mind of how to go about designing the best possible solution for your users.
Author: Dave Martin
Dave is a designer at Automattic.
Don’t Pay for Design School
You don’t need a degree to become a designer.
I regularly receive pings from friends and family for advice on how to get started in a new design or front-end coding career. The emails usually read something along the lines of:
Hey Dave,
I was hoping I could hit you up for some advice. I’ve decided to switch careers to become a designer. I’m thinking of either applying to this [ENTER_NAME_OF_2_YEAR_UNIVERSITY] course. There’s also this [ENTER_NAME_OF_HIPSTER_DESIGN_TRAINING_SCHOOL/COURSE] which lasts X weeks, and costs $X000. I’m undecided. Which would you choose?
Thanks,
After a deep sigh, my answer is always the same, “I wouldn’t pay for any of that“.
I No Longer Want to Start a Startup
We all know the “Silicon Valley” siren call:
IF:
- you quit your job, and start a company, AND
- you raise money (early & often), AND
- you prioritize the growth of your company over everything else in your life, AND
- you can hang onto the reins for 5-12 years…
THEN:
- you’ll be rewarded with a Scrooge McDuck sized money vault, AND
- you’ll ultimately live a fulfilled, happy life!
I used to sip this Kool-aid…
My Origin Story
My name is Dave Martin. I’m a seasoned product designer.
It all began as a hobby
I started with HTML back in 1999.
I never expected to make money from it, let alone make a career out of it.
