Evolving from junior designer to mentor: A personal reflection

An intimate look at the learnings of the transition

Intro

Following the origin story of Design Buddies, I’ve been through a rollercoaster throughout 1,5 years of navigating the mentor role as a junior designer. I will share my top learnings that have significantly impacted my growth and mindset.

1. Uncovering the Value of Mentorship

My initial perspective of a mentor was someone who could teach step by step and offer specific solutions to problems. However, this expectation has caused me to feel worried and unsure since I’m not an expert in technical areas such as Figma and Visual design in my current career state.

My design lead at the time, Tobie, attempted to understand my perspective by asking me about the types of mentorship paths I wanted to take before I publicly started Design Buddies. After the discussion, I continued to engage in Design Buddies, and one day, I made a valuable discovery about mentorship through my Twitter account.

From Adityo Pramono, Product Manager — 4+ years in Experience

The purpose of mentoring is to open the mind. Therefore, as a mentor, you don’t need to tell them a solution. Instead, give your mentee two option, following your advice or they decide in their way. But either of them must contain a strong reason and needs to be executed.

This Twitter discussion also helped me to understand that there is a distinction between a mentor and a tutor, which led me to realize that my original understanding of mentorship was more like the role of a tutor.

The learnings

After over 100 sessions and incorporating the insights from Tobie and Didit, I realized that mentorship is more than just instructing someone step by step and giving them solutions. Instead, it involves helping someone feel safe to share their obstacles and assisting them in finding solutions by guiding their thought process through reflection and a multi-level understanding of different perspectives.

P.S. I finally understand what Tobie did to me back then. It’s a real-life example of what mentoring is all about.

2. The impact of navigating the mentor role as a Junior

When the topic of a junior serving as a mentor is brought up in the community, it often leads to interesting discussions. There are a few key issues that are commonly raised:

1. With less work experience, junior designers may have had fewer opportunities to tackle diverse and complex situations in the real world. This could impact the quality of mentoring discussions in areas beyond just theory.
2. Having a limited number of case studies to reference could lead to bias in the junior designers thinking and potentially compromise the quality of knowledge we pass on to junior colleagues.

This could impact the quality of talent in the market and make it difficult for organizations to find the right talent to meet their needs.

This was a solid concern for many people; they care about the mentoring quality deliverables to the juniors, which generally have a good impact on the design community. But, there is a unique perspective if we can see this topic from another angle.

The Junior Angle.

I immerse myself in their perspective by chit-chat with a few juniors and learners and a self-reflection session. I find this approach helps to find their pain points:

The Blockers

Source image Google + Simple Tweak

Blockers can present themselves in many different ways. But these two often came across in my journey:

1. Many people find it intimidating to approach experts and seniors, especially if they’re not sure how to go about it or if they’re worried that their question will be seen as bothersome or that they’ll be judged.
2. Having a buddy on a similar level or not too far ahead can be beneficial. A buddy can provide a safe space for discussion, be a partner for brainstorming and learning, and help people grow and develop.

Keeping this concern in my pocket helps me understand how I can fill the gap in the design community by being…

The Leverage

Source image Google + Simple Tweak

I’m trying to be a gap connecter by leveraging the junior so they feel safe when getting into their first mentorship session and having a buddy to grow with within the middle of their learning process.

I’m trying to ask my few mentees about the impact I made as a junior mentor; this is their core message:

It’s a pleasure to have you as a mentor, as it can be daunting to reach out to more experienced individuals on social media. And having a friend like you to talk to and discuss things with when we’re feeling unsure or anxious is invaluable.

Design Buddies Highlights

The Learnings

I learned that there’s another way to look at traditional mentorship from the mentee’s point of view. During this 1.5-year initiative, I identified obstacles and supported junior designers by being friends and providing a safe space for vulnerability.

Though this initiative may not be as structured as an expert mentorship session, it is a great starting point for building confidence, understanding mentorship, and helping individuals reflect and develop.

3. Expectation Settings

I want to revisit the topic of juniors stepping into a mentorship role, as I recognize there may be some limitations on my end that require addressing. However, I am taking steps to overcome these limitations by…

Be honest; I understand my limited knowledge of practical design applications (As you may know, I am from a non-design background).

I run my sessions by tying in the mentee’s real-life scenarios with my knowledge, which I’ve picked up from my own experiences, insights from experts on social media, and my mentoring sessions with experts. And if there’s anything that I’m not quite an expert in, I’ll let the mentee know.

The Learnings

Having a clear understanding of expectations is crucial for Junior mentors to guide their mentees effectively and avoid any potential biases or misconceptions. This principle also applies to team projects, as setting expectations can enhance the quality of the deliverables.

Junior Mentors on the Expert Perspectives

There is an interesting Twitter Discussion about these specific topics that can act as valuable insight. I quote responses from two Design Leaders in Indonesia:

From Bayu Amus, Design Leader — 10+ years in Experience

The activities are beneficial for helping aspiring designers navigate the career landscape since even 1 yr experience is still much more than 0 yr. As a result, the “mentoring” mindset should be more relaxed.

From Rizki Ridha, Design Leader — 5+ years in Experience

I’m a bit confused by those who question this; mentoring can be the same regardless of level — and it’s true; the important thing is that it can just equate to the learning outcome expectations.

From Fahmy Habibullah, Design Leader — 4+ years in Experience

1. All mentors & senior designers have been in that phase, 2. Junior designers need media & space to learn sharing sessions & develop speaking skills, 3. If there is a topic we don’t know, there will be an urgency to find out more. In the end, it’s just about the learning process 🙂

For a productive mentoring session, it is essential to establish clear goals and maintain a relaxed, buddy-like relationship between mentor and mentee. Allowing the mentee to take on a mentor role can also benefit their learning process.

TL;DR

1. The actual value of mentorship involves helping someone feel safe to share their obstacles and assisting them in finding solutions by guiding their thought process through reflection and a multi-level understanding of different perspectives.
2. Junior mentorship is about being friends and providing a safe space for vulnerability. Also, this is a great starting point for building confidence, understanding mentorship, and helping individuals reflect and develop.
3. Having a clear understanding of expectations is crucial for Junior mentors to guide their mentees effectively and avoid any potential biases or misconceptions.
4. Expert tips: Establishing clear goals and maintaining a relaxed, buddy-like relationship between mentor and mentee is essential. Allowing the mentee to take on a mentor role can also benefit their learning process.

That’s a wrap!

Things might end for my Design Buddies Initiative, but it’s also a fresh start on my voluntary mentorship through the ADPList platform.

Thank you to everyone who followed and supported my design Buddies initiative journey. This might not happen without your presence.

See you!

Related Post:

1. The untold story of Design Buddies