015 - Design in the Automobile Industry, 3-Month Sabbatical, and Finding Your Why with Michael Dimaano of Ford

Today, I’m talking to Michael Dimaano.-Michael now works at Ford Motor as the Product Design Lead. And before Ford, he worked at Hertz as the Product Design Lead as well.-During our conversation, what really stood out to me was Michael’s emphasis on the importance of finding your "why" - what truly matters to you. At one point, he felt so much imposter syndrome as a product manager that he eventually resigned and took a 3-month sabbatical. And that was the turning point for Michael’s career, which we delved deep into in this episode. We also talked about his transition from web design to product design, human-centered philosophy, work in the automobile industry, and so much more. This was definitely one of the first conversations where I seriously didn’t know where it was going, but there were so many golden snippets from this. So, without further ado, here’s my chat with Michael Dimaano.===Highlights⭐ Web design to product design⭐ Imposter syndrome from being a PM⭐ Takeaways from a 3-month sabbatical⭐ Working as a designer in the automobile industry⭐ Personal life vs work life===Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.===Have a great day! :)