What is Proactivity?

Proactivity as a product designer means spotting opportunities, solving problems before they become blockers, and taking ownership of your growth. Top performing designers anticipate needs, drive conversations, and push ideas forward instead of waiting for direction. Whether it’s identifying a new product opportunity, running a design sprint, or initiating collaboration to align the team, proactive designers create momentum. They don’t just respond to what’s in front of them—they look ahead and create impact.

Aspects of Self-Reflection

Ways to improve in this skill

  1. Identify and fix small UX issues before they become bigger problems
    1. Don’t wait for a user complaint or a PM request; if you spot friction in the product, flag it and propose solutions. Better yet, work with an ambitious engineer to get it fixed instead of waiting to get it on the roadmap.
  2. Run design sprints
    1. On a somewhat regular basis, run design sprints where you bring in partner teams and cross-functional partners. Use them to expedite immediate projects or deadlines or to take a step back and develop a north star or vision for the product. Either way, you’ll be seen as a proactive leader on the team.
    2. Resources:
      1. https://www.gv.com/sprint/
      2. https://www.thesprintbook.com/the-design-sprint
  3. Manage your own growth
    1. Don’t wait for a manager to tell you what skills to develop—identify areas for improvement and seek out learning opportunities. After you’ve taken action, bring this development plan to your manager for feedback. They will be impressed with your proactivity.
  4. Pitch new product ideas to the team
    1. Whether it’s revamping the design of an old legacy feature or an entirely new feature or product, develop the idea, design it, work with research to root the idea in user insights, work with data science to scope the potential impact, work with engineering to scope the level of effort and finally pitch it to the team.