The best designers I know...

1. Leave their egos at the door (easy to say). Learning to separate your personal preferences and think objectively about your work and how it creates positive customer experiences and impactful business outcomes is a powerful mindset shift.

2. They think beyond screens, hi-fidelity mockups, and slick interactions (there's plenty of time for that)—they think about systems. They explore the underlying factors influencing user behaviour, which, among other things, involves understanding how businesses operate and how real people behave.

3. Lead with questions and actively listen to understand—not just respond. They think like children and use "why?" as their secret weapon–operating with curiosity, happy to challenge convention.

4. Focus on outcomes, not outputs. They think beyond fixating on deliverables and focus on impact. They also know that perfection is the enemy of done.

5. Think like a product owner. They don't wait for instructions and requests. They proactively identify opportunities and work to co-create the roadmap.

6. They get that it's not all about them. They skillfully advocate for their ideas but possess a mindset that's open to change and will actively invite opposing views (see point 1).

7. Are great communicators and influencers—communication is the often overlooked turbocharger of a designer's ability.

8. Know there's more to being a designer than cobbling components together in Figma.