How I got confident enough to call myself a UX designer
I have been doing UX for sometime, but I never felt good about my designs. There was something wrong with them. They didn’t look neat. They looked amateurish and I was not confident enough to call myself a UX designer.
However, a few things I did got me back on track, and today I thought of sharing them with you.
- I began to use an actual UX Design software
I had so many reasons to stick to Photoshop for ALL of my design needs. I was comfortable using it, and I couldn’t afford anything else. Also, Adobe XD is relatively new and Sketch is only for Macs, so I barely had any choice. However, the moment I started using Sketch, I realized what a difference it could make! It really makes sense to use an app such as Sketch or Adobe XD to do UX designs and I kid you not, you’ll see instant improvement!
2. I began to be in touch with the world of UX
The last time I got formal education in designing User Interfaces, skeuomorphic design was still the hip thing to do, and we were told to make pages which require minimum scrolling. Talk about how things change! UX designers, much like Fashion designers should stay relevant and up to date with the latest trends and news. The best way to do this? Keep reading articles on the internet!! I had to give up some of my manga reading time for this, but it was really worth it.
3. I practiced really hard.
My dad always said “Practice makes perfect”. I used to whine about it at that time, but right now, I realize how relevant this is. When I started, I had no real projects to work on. When that happened, I decided to come up with imaginary projects and problems. By the time I was getting real contracts, I was a lot better at what I was doing.
4. I decided to fall in love with UX.
After doing all of the above and seeing some improvement in me, I realized that I’m spending more and more time making mockups, drawing wireframes and reading UX articles. I’ve finally gotten some confidence and fallen in love with UX. This meant that the time I spend working on UX-related problems was not “things I need to do for my career” or “work stuff” but just, sheer enjoyment.
By the end of this period, I was actually happy with what I did. So, if you’re a noob just like me and feel like you’re nowhere near the people with beautiful designs on Behance, remember, you can do it!
