Level Up: How this Ghanaian product designer took a big risk that finally paid off👨🏾‍💻

In today’s edition of Level Up, we explore the journey of a product designer who transitioned from creating graphics to becoming a mentor in product design. He shares his story, including the bold move of leaving his company and the exciting opportunities that followed.

 🔎 In the spotlight with Derrick Tsorme

If your career journey were a movie, what would the title be and why?

The title would be “many things”

That’s because, since I started my career in 2013, I've done many things in design. I've explored graphic design, branding, editorial, books, magazines, newsletters, and t-shirt design. Right now, I'm in product design; who knows, I might transition to another type of design. I like to explore a lot of different things because I easily get bored in a routine.

How did your journey in Product Design start?

When I started graphic design in 2013, I was gifted a free copy of a cracked version of Adobe Master Suite. That was my final year of secondary school, so I started exploring and looking at Photoshop, drawing shapes and all. After a while, I started designing WhatsApp DPs for groups. There were some groups I was in that exposed me to a lot of stakeholder feedback, which contributed a bit to what I am today.

Fast-forward from WhatsApp. I started making posters, flyers, and advertisements. When I got to university, I started doing editorial work and designing magazines for organisations. I was also designing cover pages for an agency that published books. I did that for quite a while, then I got into product design, and I love it so far. Who knows, maybe I'll explore other parts of designing.

How do you balance learning new skills with your everyday work?

Learning new skills is always important, but it's not easy, especially if you have a 9 -5 like me. You are tired and mentally drained when you finish the day’s work. Yet, you’re still expected to fork out some hours out of the rest of the day to do some learning.

I don't think I balance it properly, but I take 2 hours after work or use my lunch break to watch a YouTube video while eating. Recently, I've been doing late nights, learning, or coding late nights. After a while, it takes a toll on you because there’s only so much stress your body can take, but you need to learn how to pace yourself and manage your time well. Learning will always benefit you in the long run, so there are no losses.

What’s the most common reason people fail to succeed in your field, and how do you suggest they overcome it?

People rush, especially designers who are up and coming. They've seen what is possible but are not patient enough to work towards it. This would make it seem like I'm an old man, but when I was trying to get into design, I really didn't know what to expect in the career; I didn't know how much money there was in it or what the prospects were. That helped me because I was patient with the basics and learning story since I didn't have expectations. Right now, ignorance of the possibilities is no longer there, and this can skew your thinking a bit because when you start learning design, and after three months, you're not getting a job or getting the millions that you are seeing people make, it can cause you to be disappointed with yourself.

My advice is to be patient because when you rush, you place yourself on a pedestal that you might not be able to back up, which can become embarrassing. Give yourself a longer period, at least a year or six months. All that, “become a UX designer in three weeks” is not sustainable. Yes, you would probably memorize all the terminology, but then it will be difficult to show yourself or make a good account of yourself when the time is due.

If you could redo one decision in your career, what would it be and why?

I would have learned illustration earlier. I plan to pick up that skill by the end of this year. I think people who do product design and know how to illustrate have an unfair advantage over everybody else because knowing how to illustrate is really a superpower. It's something I would love to do, and I regret pushing it back some years ago, but hopefully, I'll be able to learn that this year.

Tell us about a time when you took a significant risk in your career

Leaving my first company was a big risk because I had just been there for 10 or 11 months. Then, I was moving to a much bigger organisation, which was fully remote, and so it was a risk because I didn't know what to expect. I had not worked fully remotely before. It was a big organisation with people in multiple countries across the world, and it was overwhelming at first, but I'm glad I took that risk because I settled in after a while.

What’s a career milestone that you’re particularly proud of?

Once in a while, people call me or send me a text on social media that they watched a video of me online, joined a webinar I was hosting, or saw something I've done online that motivated them or has helped them in their career. It's something I'm always happy and proud of. Making an impact in people's lives is a huge thing and if someone sees something you do and then accepts it and then it helps that person in their career, it's a very nice thing.

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Google’s big advantage is that it can integrate Vids with many other tools in its workspace.

Poll of the week

How do you balance learning new skills and improving while working a full-time job?

• Dedicated Evening/Weekend Time
• Spontaneous learning sessions
• I  can't seem to make time for it.

The poll is currently live on our X page. Cast your vote here.

What are we looking at?

• ​How I use ChatGPT( as a reasonable person)​
• ​A video on how to get jobs through direct pitching​
• ​3 cringeworthy cover letters that lost me jobs (and a few that didn’t)​

Resources & Opportunities

• ​Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)​
• ​SEO Africa International Program 2024​
• ​Tech for Growth Programme​
• ​ALX Data Analytics Program 2024​

Startups Hiring Now

• ​Senior Software Engineer at Memgraph
• ​Cybersecurity Engineer at Prembly
• ​Wordpress Writer at Gravity Forms
• ​Technical Writing Intern at Databento
• ​Content Strategist at Reliance Health
• ​Product Marketer at VFD Microfinance Bank
• ​Senior Product Marketer at Float
• ​Product Designer at SocialPilot

Meme of the week