Am I A Designer Others Would Choose?

That realization stayed with you longer than you expected.

You had been so excited about working with another designer—someone in your niche whose work you genuinely admired. You imagined an equal partnership, a flow of ideas, a chance to learn from someone more experienced. But the reality wore you down. Instead of the dialogue and shared effort you hoped for, you found yourself taking on the tasks no one else wanted. Your ideas were dismissed before they were even considered. The project itself aligned with your skills, but the experience left you drained, frustrated, and far from what you had envisioned.

As you reflect on it now, one question keeps resurfacing:

Are you the kind of designer others would choose to work with?

The answer isn’t obvious. You realize now that, even though you're new, showing that you take your work seriously and contribute thoughtfully is what makes others want to collaborate with you. During that project, you didn’t assert yourself when things felt unclear. You let situations unfold rather than engaging directly with the work and the team. You hoped your effort would speak for itself—that if you kept your head down and completed your tasks, people would notice your value.

Instead, the opposite happened.
You walked away feeling unappreciated, unsure of yourself, and questioning whether collaborative work was something you were even ready for.

Maybe the other designer wasn’t the easiest person to work with. Maybe the dynamic would have shifted if you had spoken up or set clearer expectations. You’ll never know for sure. But you do know that being too quiet and deferential left the experience feeling imbalanced. Taking a more active role might not have fixed everything, but it could have made the project feel more manageable—and made you feel more like a participant instead of an outsider.

That project became a turning point.
You start paying closer attention to the areas where you feel uncertain or underprepared.

Communication rises to the top—not just sending messages, but clearly explaining your decisions, guiding your collaborator through your thought process, and making sure your work is understood. You also spot technical and design gaps. The other designer built frames and flows quickly, and their screens looked polished and cohesive. In contrast, you noticed places in your own UI where spacing, alignment, or consistency could be stronger.

You want your designs to hold their own next to someone more senior, so you begin intentionally polishing your work. You practice refining layouts, tightening spacing, and making sure every frame feels deliberate. You improve your workflow for handoff—clear naming, organized layers, thoughtful documentation—so anyone opening your files knows exactly where to start. It’s uncomfortable at first, but empowering too.

You turn small personal projects into a playground for growth. You test interaction patterns, refine visual details, and practice file organization until it becomes second nature. You read articles, watch tutorials, and follow conversations in UX communities to stay current with industry expectations and evolving best practices. Every small improvement builds both skill and confidence.

As you continue freelancing, you start to feel the shift.
Each new project becomes a chance to apply what you’ve learned. You present ideas more clearly. Your files are easier to navigate. Your designs feel more polished and intentional. Bit by bit, you become a more confident contributor—someone who not only completes tasks but elevates the collaboration.

So when the next project lands in your inbox, you feel ready in a way you weren’t before.
You approach the work with more clarity, more intention, and a habit of staying up-to-date as the industry evolves.

That difficult project still lingers in your memory—not as a failure, but as a signal. It showed you exactly where you needed to grow. It taught you what it means to show up as a collaborator, to communicate openly, to take ownership of your craft, and to keep improving your skills so you can meet the expectations of the people you work with.

So when you ask yourself, “Am I someone others would want to work with?” the answer is honest.
Not perfectly yet—but you're actively striving to be that designer. You're learning from past experiences, refining your skills, and showing up thoughtfully in every project.

And that self-awareness, paired with your dedication to growth, is exactly what lays the foundation for the kind of collaborator—and the kind of UX professional—you’re becoming.

How do you reflect on your growth as a designer? Which skills are you actively developing to become the kind of collaborator others want on their team? Share your experiences, ask questions, and connect with fellow early UX designers in the UX Gaps Substack community. Join the conversation and see how others are learning, improving, and growing alongside you.

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