The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer

A study of skills and traits for new industrial designers

Michael Roller http://michaelroller.com/

Background
Over the past few years, Ive written about the integration of skills and traits essential to being a great industrial designer. In that same period of time, Ive taught Design Communication to students at the University of Cincinnati and hired many co-ops and interns at Kaleidoscope. Over time, Ive developed a passion for helping students understand, navigate, and cope with the diverse range of qualities needed to achieve success. This study aims to clarify the balance needed by young industrial designers with two years of experience or less. It does not aspire to lofty denitions of contemporary industrial design, nor will it provide specic approaches for how to improve certain skills. The survey focuses on understanding and organizing what is most important to the senior designers and hiring managers who hire young talent. Finally, it is important to remember that this study is largely qualitative and open to interpretation. I welcome a rich discussion of this document on my blog.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

100 Respondents

79%

North America

54%

Consultant

24% 10%
Europe

Corporate

6%
Asia

4%

No Response

1%

22%
Other
Academia, Anonymous, Unknown

South America

Based on the backgrounds of the studys participants, the perspectives in this survey are widely informed and best applied to junior industrial design opportunities with consultancies in North America.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Please rank the importance of the following skills and traits when considering a junior industrial designer for your team.
Low Importance Medium Importance High Importance Very High Importance

1 2 3 4

Design Solutions (3.20)

Personality (3.11)

Problem Identication & Framing (3.06)

Presentation & Execution (2.98)

Designers Weigh In
The survey began by asking respondents to rank four aspects of the designer using a likert scale. Design Solutions, Personality, and Problem Identication all scored as having high importance, while Presentation & Execution barely missed the cut. All skills and traits were relatively important to respondents, but Design Solutions had the highest score, at least in part because it received the most scores in the very high category.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Which presentation and execution skills are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?

Ideation Sketching

89% 38% 30% 26% 23% 21%

CAD Modeling

Verbal Presentation Skills

Graphic Design/Visual Communication

Sketch Rendering

Other

CAD Rendering

15%

Presentation
Other names for presentation skills, in this situation, could be process skills, or even communication skills. These are the hard skills that industrial designers use to communicate to peers, managers, and clients. Overwhelmingly, the survey conrms that ideation sketching is the most important of these skills at which a junior industrial design should excel.

Responses from Other include: insightfulness, illustrating design strategy, physical modeling, following directions, teamwork, Illustrator/Photoshop, positive attitude, and fast acquisition of beer.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Which aspects of the a design solution are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?

Quality of Ideas

69% 52% 38% 28% 24% 14%

Aesthetic Sensitivity

Attention to Detail

Quantity of Ideas

Blue Sky Thinking

Materials & Processes

Other

6%

Design Solutions
This question aims to remove all presentation aspects of the solution out of the equation and focus on the concepts and ideas at the core of a solution. While not as denitively important as ideation sketching, more than half of the respondents reported that both the quality of the idea and the ideas aesthetic were the most important.

Responses from Other include: systems thinking, variety of product/industry sensitivities, global design awareness, and offering a fresh perspective.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Which problem identication or project framing skills are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?
Ergonomics & Human Factors

55% 32% 32% 28% 24%

Ethnographic Research

Opportunity Mapping

Marketing Knowledge

Other Business Knowledge

Other

15%

Problem Identication
Not only does an industrial designer need to know how to solve problems, she also needs to know how to identify the right problems to solve. This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on the project. Compared to the other sections, this question proved to have the least obvious answer, with Ergonomics and Human Factors scoring the highest. Four other choices varied by only 8%.
Responses from Other include: consideration of interaction design, idea generation and brainstorming, observation & analysis, work ethic, and exposure to other methodologies.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Which personality traits are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?

Positive Attitude

61% 52% 51% 43% 9%

Passion for Career

Cultural t with brand/ company

Professionalism

Relevant interests outside of work

Other

8% 3%

Dress/Personal Style

Personality
Hard skills matter, but personality traits are important too, since many industrial designers work in teams where these traits can have an impact on its success. Although respondents considered a positive attitude the most important, three other traits (passion for career, cultural t, and professionalism) also combine for the ideal junior ID personality.

Responses from Other include: cross-functional team t, pro-active attitude, independent, selfmotivated, good time management skills, and willingness to take direction from managers.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Of all traits covered in this survey, which are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?
Ideation Sketching Quality of Ideas Positive Attitude Passion for Career Aesthetic Sensitivity Cultural t with brand Professionalism Attention to Detail CAD Modeling Quantity of Ideas Graphic Design Other Materials & Processes Verbal Presentation Ergonomics Blue Sky Thinking Marketing Knowledge Business Knowledge Sketch Rendering CAD Rendering Opportunity Mapping Ethnographic Research Personal Style Interests outside of work Presentation Skills Design Solution Skills Problem Framing Skills Personality Traits

Putting it all together

Its a relatively simple task ranking skills with a single category, but rarely do designers compartmentalize these aspects in real time. To simulate a real scenario like an interview or portfolio review, respondents were asked to select their top choices when everything was on the table. With all skills and traits on the table, ideation sketching remained the top scorer. Presentation skills and Design Solution skills distributed fairly evenly across the entire range, while the majority of Personality traits scored near the top. Problem framing skills scored closer to the bottom.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

Which skills or traits quickly disqualify a candidate for a junior industrial design position with your team?
Negative Attitude Low Quality of Ideas Unprofessional Poor Ideation Sketching Low Passion for Career Weak Aesthetic Sensitivity Poor Attention to Detail Weak Cultural Fit Weak Verbal Presentation Poor CAD Modeling Low Quantity of Ideas Poor Personal Style Poor Matls & Processes Poor CAD Rendering Poor Sketch Rendering Weak Graphic Design Weak Blue Sky Thinking Low Biz. Knowledge Weak Ergonomics Weak Ethnography Low Mktg. Knowledge Weak Opp. Mapping Interests outside of work Presentation Skills Design Solution Skills Problem Framing Skills Personality Traits

Dealbreakers
Often a skill or trait is more important when it is noticeably weak rather than when it is strong. To gain insights around this framing, respondents were asked which skills were the biggest turn-offs when evaluating a junior industrial designer. Junior industrial designers who showed a negative attitude were considered the worst. Personality traits in general jumped up the rankings across the board.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

10

Analysis and Recommendations

After studying and interpreting the feedback, ve key recommendations can be made to junior industrial designers to help them better understand what senior designers and hiring managers are looking for in an ideal candidate.

_Sketching is (still) Tablestakes _A Problem with Framing _Attitude Adjustment _Staying on Top _One Final Look

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

11

Analysis Whats the most important skill for a junior industrial designer?

considered sketching the most important executional skill

89%

Ideation Sketching

CAD Modeling

Sketching is (still) Tablestakes

Its not surprising that participants of the survey considered ideation sketching to be very important. However, what was surprising was the extent to which they found it important. Eighty-nine percent felt it was the most important of all presentation and execution skills, the largest gap between any two skills throughout the entire survey. Even though presentation skills overall were considered the least important category (p.4), sketching scored at the top when ranked among all options. Poor ideation sketching was the fourth most popular reason that one may be disqualied from a potential job opportunity. Despite all of the changes happening in the design world that may indicate otherwise, ideation sketching remains an important gauge to which experienced designers evaluate junior talent.
The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller http://michaelroller.com/ 12

Analysis Is problem identication the least important type of skill set?

Overall, problem identication & framing scored in the middle, but when specic skills within the category were listed, participants struggled to nd their importance relative to other traits.

Design Solutions

3.20 3.11 3.06 2.98

Personality

Problem Identication & Framing

Presentation & Execution

A Problem with Framing

Conceptually, problem identication and framing were considered to be of high importance, but respondents found it difcult to identify the specic skills that were key to its importance. It is possible that these traits are of low importance because senior designers or managers in other functions usually set strategies through the application of these skills. These results may also indicate industrial designs challenge of better dening the more strategic arm of its function. It would seem risky for young designers to ignore the development of these skills altogether, especially given the recent popularity of design thinking and design research. The feedback on this category leaves the most questions unanswered, suggesting that more research should be done to better understand it.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

13

Analysis How do preferences change when the framing of the question changes?

Positive Framing Of all traits covered in this survey, which are most important when considering a junior industrial designer for your team?

Negative Framing Which skills or traits quickly disqualify a candidate for a junior industrial design position with your team?

Attitude Adjustment
When observing the differences in results between the positvely- and negatively-framed questions, a clear difference could be noted in personality traits. While other categories remained relatively unchanged, every personality trait scored higher when framed negatively. In short, designers may not win a job solely based on their personality, but a negative attitude or signs of unprofessionalism may do the most to hurt ones chances.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

14

Analysis What traits do ideal junior industrial designers share?

High Overall Importance

Ideation Sketching

Quality of Ideas Positive Attitude Passion for Career Aesthetic Sensitivity Cultural t with brand Attention to Detail Professionalism

CAD Modeling Quantity of Ideas Graphic Design Materials & Processes Verbal Presentation Ergonomics Blue Sky Thinking Marketing Knowledge Business Knowledge Sketch Rendering CAD Rendering Opportunity Mapping

Scale = Importance within individual categories

Ethnographic Research Personal Style Interests outside of work

Staying on Top
Low Overall Importance

Based on the ranking of skill categories (p.4), the ideal junior industrial designer is some balanced combination of good personality, talented problem solver, and skilled technician. Mapping out all the skills and traits based both on multiple performance metrics, one can see that the ideal junior industrial designer sketches great but then quickly adds quality ideas, a positive and passionate attitude, a keen aesthetic sense, and a good t within the team. The list continues, but this is a good starting point for any young designer looking to capture the attention of their senior peers.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

15

Ergonomics & Human Factors Ethnography Opportunity Mapping

32% 32%

Problem Identification

Conceptually, problem identification and framing were considered to be of high importance, but respondents found it difficult to identify the specific skills that were key to its importance. It would seem risky for young designers to ignore the development of these skills altogether, especially given the recent popularity of design thinking and design research.

Ideation Sketching CAD Modeling Verbal Presentation

38% 30%

Presentation & Execution

Overall, executional skills ranked as the least important of the four categories but that ideation sketching was considered the most important of any individual skill on the survey. 89% of respondents felt sketching was very important, outscoring everything else. The second most important executional skill was CAD modeling (38%).

4 2 3 1
55%
Positive Attitude

61%

Passion for Career Cultural Fit

52%

51%

Personality

Having the right personality traits is even more important than having good technical skills. Hiring managers most often disqualify junior ID candidates for having a negative attitude, followed shortly by being unprofessional, showing a lack passion, or being a poor fit for the company culture.

89%

Quality of Ideas

69%

Aesthetic Sensitivity Attention to Detail

52%

38%

Design Solutions

Beautiful and intelligent design solutions ranked as the most important overall. More than half of respondents considered the quality of ideas and aesthetic sensitivity to be very important.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer

After surveying 100 designers from around the world, these are the most important skills and traits considered by the senior designers when hiring young industrial designers (0-2 years of experience).
The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller http://michaelroller.com/ 16

Whats Next
After conducting this study, a number of opportunities have been uncovered for further potential research to ensure the quality of this information and to explore adjacent areas of interest. Although this survey used numbers and gures to measure the responses, its still largely qualitative. Alternative research methods as well as more rigorous screening would help ensure the validity of future studies. Further exploration into a number of areas could help to identify the differences across region, business type, and experience level. Understanding preferences globally could help a broader audience understand their regions specic needs or help North American students cater their portfolios to the global audience of their choice. For similar reasons, it would also be useful to better understand the differences between corporate and consultant businesses. Its likely that the skills of junior industrial designers are not the same for designers of other experience levels. Additional studies across a variety of experience levels would help identify which skills remain essential and which shift over time to become more or less important, allowing designers to focus their personal development to be the most effective.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the study! Your insights are truly appreciated and this document could not have been created without your input.

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer Michael Roller

http://michaelroller.com/

17