With a background in marketing and graphic design, Tiffany Yeh is eager to grow his new career in Product Design. Having recently graduated from Dribbble’s Product Design Academy, Tiffany joins us today to share her experience and offer advice to new product designers.
Tell us about your background. Do you have any previous design experience?
My design experience is all self-taught, starting off in the early days of basic HTML/CSS to customize my MySpace profile to learning graphic design through Youtube for a marketing internship.
Over time, I’ve taken on challenges like redesigning websites and apps, but learning informally has unfortunately increased my imposter syndrome as I started joining design and in-house agencies. I decided to pursue an education in Product Design through Dribbble’s Academy to help me build a secure foundation in Product Design and help me confidently transition into a Product Design career.
Why did you choose Dribbble’s Product Design Academy?
Dribbble is a staple name in the design community, and the moment I heard Jesse Showalter was leading the course content for such a well-known community like Dribbble, I knew I couldn’t miss out and had to sign up.
Did you make any meaningful connections throughout the course?
Connecting with my mentor Andrew Daniels and a few of my fellow cohort members during this course has been such a valuable experience. My mentor was patient, encouraging, and thoughtful in his design and career advice, and I credit a large part of my success in the job hunt to him.
The fellow students I was able to connect with spurred me on to find community in the design world, and by updating each other, we can lift one another higher in this competitive and growing industry.
What have you been up to since graduation? Where do you see yourself in a year?
Since graduation, I’ve been interviewing for UX/UI positions and landed a Senior Associate role at Capital One. My mentor, Andrew, helped me prep for interviews, add content to the case studies I would be showing, and helped broaden and refine my design thinking. In 12 months’ time, I hope to become a Lead Associate with the opportunity to mentor junior designers.
What advice do you have for new or aspiring product designers?
My advice to new or aspiring product designers is to never stop learning. Be open to feedback, don’t take design criticism personally, and be kind. A lot of job opportunities in tech are based on connections, so form genuine, meaningful relationships wherever you are.
Give back to the people around you, whether it’s supporting your cohort on LinkedIn by boosting their posts, or checking in with your cohort members to see how you can help increase their portfolio visibility. We’re all learning and growing, and it’s better to do it with others. ??
Want to keep up with Tiffany? Explore her work and follow Tiffany on Dribbble. ■
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