Before starting your first project
You need to make sure that you're setting yourself up for success.
Keep the focus on user problems, not visuals.
This is the biggest pitfall that I see in personal projects from new designers.
Be aware of when you might be tunnel visioning on visuals.
Don't get hung up on how ugly the interface looks, or the inconsistent branding throughout (although you can definitely call this out later on!).
Focus on how easy it is to execute the user flows for the feature that you're looking at.
How many clicks does it take to go from A to B?
Is it obvious how to get there?
Is it easy to get from A to B?
Is there missing information, or too much information?
Limit your scope.
The second biggest problem is underestimating how much you need to do.
If your project is too large in scope, it can be difficult to prioritise what you need to do. It's much easier to burn out given the sheer scale of work.
How do I know if my idea is too big in scope?
Think about the scale of the problem you're trying to solve.
Is it something that touches other areas of the product, or is it limited to one specific feature?
Is it an abstract concept that you're trying to address, or something that's more concrete?
You want to aim for something that's limited to a specific feature & trying to solve a concrete problem. The more ambiguous it gets, the more likely you'll notice scope creep starting to set in.
An example of potentially overscoping might be trying to redesign the returning player experience for a live-service MMO.
It's a fascinating challenge and definitely something that's worth thinking about, but not one I'd recommend for a first-try project.
Add constraints for yourself.
To start, see if you can and try and complete it within 2 weeks or a month.
Treat it like a project brief on a real job.
Setting time limits and creating a roadmap will keep you on track; it'll also help you understand what product managers and producers have to deal with.
Here's an example of a roadmap:
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