Ask HN: Happy path to a product designer role (no experience)
Quick background:
I'm a software engineer with a few years XP. I have a very design-focused friend that's looking to move into a product designer role. They've expressed major interest in this area after a few days watching me work from home on frontend tasks (seeing me jump out of Figma and convert the designs into components/code).
The question:
My mate is really interested in becoming a product designer. How would you move into a product designer role from 0?
A bit more info:
My friend works in a completely unrelated trades-based field (heavy machinery). He did spend a few years shadowing tattoo artists in his late teens (he's currently late twenties) and has a pretty decent understanding for composition and colour theory. He doesn't have a degree (went the trades path).
I'm currently looking at online MOOC courses focused on product design. I'm not sure if there's anything "high quality" available.
I'm a software engineer with a few years XP. I have a very design-focused friend that's looking to move into a product designer role. They've expressed major interest in this area after a few days watching me work from home on frontend tasks (seeing me jump out of Figma and convert the designs into components/code).
The question:
My mate is really interested in becoming a product designer. How would you move into a product designer role from 0?
A bit more info:
My friend works in a completely unrelated trades-based field (heavy machinery). He did spend a few years shadowing tattoo artists in his late teens (he's currently late twenties) and has a pretty decent understanding for composition and colour theory. He doesn't have a degree (went the trades path).
I'm currently looking at online MOOC courses focused on product design. I'm not sure if there's anything "high quality" available.
Any advice/input is appreciated!