Event Reflection: Finding Your Voice with Jack Morgan

Jack Morgan joined IxDA NYC for a roundtable discussion, “Finding Your Voice as a Designer," geared towards young designers just entering their careers. Jack shared his insights on becoming a self-starter, speaking up for human-centered approaches to problem solving, advancing within your organization, and honing the persistence and grit it takes to stand out. When Jack spoke at IxDA’s Seattle conference, he shared research and design that his Duolingo team has conducted in remote corners of the planet, where language learning isn’t a hobby — it’s an opportunity to a better life. He shared stories about his own career path from Google to Duolingo and strategies for finding your designer voice.

Hosted by Brian Hochhalter

Marlo Spieth shares the three things she learned from Finding Your Voice as a guest contribution to the IxDA NYC blog.

1. Assume that you’re the one to make something better. In other words, give yourself permission to solve problems that you see in the workplace around you. If you don’t see them, start asking your colleagues what keeps them up at night. You’ll find unexpected yet glaring opportunities— that could end up comprising some of your best work. 

2. Storytelling is one of your greatest assets. If you’re sharing work that you’re proud of, but it’s getting negative feedback, the problem may lie in your relationship with the audience. In order to fix it, you have to invite them in: tell them your thought process, show them the work-in-progress, contextualize your arrival here. More generally, have anecdotes that help illustrate who you are and your approach to work. 

3. Make your passion a core part of your vocational identity. This is something senior designers tend to do, so it’s extremely valuable for junior designers to implement. To find it, consider the intersection of what you believe in & what you enjoy doing.  Don’t overthink; it could be as simple as, “I’m a product designer and I focus on distilling complex ideas so that they’re easy to understand”.