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Web5 is here. Goodbye Web3? TBD.

<p>Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/beyond-empathy-your-personal-toolkit-for-creating-human-connections-cc614263264d?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Francesca Sciandra </p>
<h4>Top soft skills for designers of the future</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*fgaswu6tIqkEax_5FS-9rg.jpeg">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/G_SEPf2s320?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Alia Wilhelm</a></p>
<p>No matter the discipline, designing is often an activity focused on building <em>something for someone who is not you</em>. This is especially the case in emerging fields such as user experience design, service design, and product design, where user needs are paramount.</p>
<p>Creating meaningful human connections can be essential to success. Nurturing your soft skills can help you build a strong personal foundation from which to imagine and create effective design solutions.</p>
<p>Over the years, I’ve noticed empathy come up frequently as a must-have for designers. I’ve seen its value in action, and remain open to <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-downsides-of-empathy-1/">the debate surrounding it’s ability to scale effectivel</a>y. In addition to empathy, I believe there’s a range of other skills that can benefit designers at all stages of their careers.</p>
<h3>Top soft skills for designers</h3>
<p>I’ve pulled together this list from my personal experience as a designer, design lead, and instructor. As I tell my students, <em>evaluate your strengths and weakneses, and consider ways to build your personal foundation</em>.</p>
<h4>Communication</h4>
<p>Listen to hear, not to speak. Using techniques such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening">active</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_listening">reflective listening</a> can help you give space to other voices and take in different perspectives. Gathering valuable input and feedback from users and colleagues is essential during key moments of the design process.</p>
<h4>Emotional intelligence</h4>
<p>Do you have the ‘capability to recognise your own and other people’s emotions, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately’? Can you ‘use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments’? Then, you’ve got some <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_Dictionary_of_Psychology.html?id=XxGbsjKjPZsC">emotional intelligence</a>. Check out Daniel Goleman’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Than/dp/0747528306">Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ</a>.</p>
<h4>Coordinating well with others</h4>
<p>There’s nothing like a bad attitude or a disrespectful act to shut down a team’s performance. Cross-functional teams are common, and user experience designers are often the caretakers of the process that visually strings requirements, user needs, and development together. Working well with others is essential to implementing good ideas effectively.</p>
<h4>Giving and receiving meaningful feedback</h4>
<p>I often talk about the <em>yin and yang of feedback</em> with my students. Balanced feedback can ensure areas for improvement are identified, and the good parts don’t get lost along the way. Practicing respectful feedback techniques can help you maintain a healthy distance from your work. Remember, <em>honesty without tact is cruelty</em>.</p>
<h4>Complex problem solving</h4>
<p>Research by The World Economic Forum forecasts that complex problem solving will sit safely within <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/">the 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution</a>. Designers working within technology likely already understand just how important this skill can be in order to think into the future.</p>
<h4>Creative thinking</h4>
<p>By 2020, creativity is projected by the World Economic Forum to be the third most valuable skill to thrive, just below complex problem solving. After spending my life surrounded by highly-creative thinkers, <a href="https://magazine.vunela.com/28-ways-to-fire-up-a-creative-mindset-cd19f52936a4">I’ve realised creativity is a mindset, not just a process of exploring and making</a>. If you are intrested in improving your creative thinking skills, check out <a href="https://magazine.vunela.com/28-ways-to-fire-up-a-creative-mindset-cd19f52936a4">28 Ways to Fire-up a Creative Mindset</a>.</p>
<h4>Presenting with clarity</h4>
<p>Even the most complex ideas can be communicated clearly. In fact, some might say <a href="http://kottke.org/17/06/if-you-cant-explain-something-in-simple-terms-you-dont-understand-it">if you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it</a>. When preparing for an informal chat or a more structured presentation, consider the key takeaway you’d like to give to your audience. If you are using a presentation deck, use the <a href="https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/how-googles-ceo-creates-brain-friendly-presentations.html">glance test</a> to evaluate if each slide can be understood by viewers in under 3 seconds. More complicated visuals and diagrams can be provided as supporting material following a presentation.</p>
<h3>Bonus: nice to haves</h3>
<p>Maybe you have the top soft skills covered, or you’re still building your foundation. Either way, here are a few additional things to consider when building a meaningful design practice.</p>
<h4>Open-mindedness</h4>
<p>Although I’ve classed this as a nice to have, I personally consider it an essential in my work and my life. Staying receptive to the ideas and thinking of others has been invaluable to my growth and development in and out of the studio.</p>
<h4>Sense of purpose</h4>
<p>When the going gets tough, remembering the reason I started this whole damn thing in the first place can give me the push I need to keep exploring and making. Set intentions individually and as a team early on, and remember to check-in on them at regular intervals.</p>
<h4>Vulnerability</h4>
<p>In order to make things for humans, it can be helpful to understand what can harm us physically or emotionally. Be kind to those that make themselves vulnerable to you, and be cautious of people who want to take advantage of you. Check out Brené Brown’s well-watched TED Talk, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o">The Power of Vulnerability</a>.</p>
<h4>Time management</h4>
<p>I don’t have to tell you time is valuable. I’m a big fan of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique">Pomodoro Technique</a>, a time boxing technique developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. Use the <a href="https://tomato-timer.com">Tomato Timer</a> to break your work into intervals separated by long and short breaks.</p>
<h4>Informed optimism</h4>
<p>In my experience with designers, we’re an optimistic bunch. Anyone who gets up every morning and attempts to put something new into the world probably carries with them at least a small bit of hopefulness and confidence about a kind and good future.</p>
<h4>Sense of right and wrong</h4>
<p>Today’s designers are responsible for the interface between humans and technology. What could possibly go wrong? Check out Mike Monteiro’s <a href="https://deardesignstudent.com/a-designers-code-of-ethics-f4a88aca9e95">A Designer’s Code of Ethics</a>.</p>
<p><strong><em>Have thoughts on what it takes to be a designer? </em></strong><em>Send me a tweet: </em><a href="https://twitter.com/trulyfrancesca"><em>https://twitter.com/trulyfrancesca</em></a></p>
<p><em>Feeling inspired? Read the first post in this series, </em><a href="https://medium.com/@trulyfrancesca/creativity-grows-up-1a0899fbfd4b"><em>Creativity Grows Up</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@trulyfrancesca/creativity-grows-up-1a0899fbfd4b">Creativity Grows Up</a></p>
<p><em>Looking for a good book? Take a peek at my </em><a href="https://medium.com/@trulyfrancesca/creativity-reading-list-3727cfc53e6c"><em>Creativity Reading List</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://medium.muz.li/creativity-reading-list-3727cfc53e6c">Creativity Reading List</a></p>
<p>Check out my previous post, <a href="https://magazine.vunela.com/28-ways-to-fire-up-a-creative-mindset-cd19f52936a4"><em>28 Ways to Fire-up a Creative Mindset</em></a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://magazine.vunela.com/28-ways-to-fire-up-a-creative-mindset-cd19f52936a4">28 Ways to Fire-up a Creative Mindset</a></p>
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<p><a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/beyond-empathy-your-personal-toolkit-for-creating-human-connections-cc614263264d">Beyond Empathy: Your Personal Toolkit for Designing Human Connections</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>


Beyond Empathy: Your Personal Toolkit for Designing Human Connections

Beyond Empathy: Your Personal Toolkit for Designing Human Connections

Top soft skills for designers of the future

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