New to UX design? Save your money; the internet is full of free resources!
UX design is a very large field with a lot of moving parts. When you’re new to the trade, it’s hard to know where to spend your time and money.
Should you start building your portfolio website from scratch? Do you need to learn to code and design all of your icons, illustrations, and layouts and spend a lot of money, or is there a better way?
Luckily, you’ve joined an industry that has an amazing community that creates resources, tips, and tricks for exactly what you need, and most of these resources are FREE! Of course, it’s always appreciated to show your gratitude by giving a small donation, so they can continue to release more resources if you have the means.
When I started, I thought Adobe’s Creative Suite was my only option for design tools. I was lucky enough to purchase it at a student’s price for a year, but it was still too much for my budget, at the time. Now, I use almost ALL free tools for everything I design.
Adobe is the leader, and I love its suite of incredible tools and resources, but with a host of other options available, I have not had to return to purchasing tools. Usually, I use Figma for all my design needs, Pixlr, Canva, and Photopea, occasionally.
To replace:
- Photoshop, try Photopea or Gimp
- Illustrator, try Gimp, Pixlr, or Inkscape
- InDesign, try Figma, Canva, or Marq (formerly Lucidpress)
- XD, try Figma (for now)
We’ll see what happens shortly with Figma, as Adobe recently bought it, but right now they have a massive arsenal of assets you can use for free. The community provides templates, clonable files, widgets, custom code, and integrations to improve your designs and level up your work.
And, to get started on the right foot, it’s a good idea to use a design system. You could create your own and spend hours fiddling with padding, spacing, and designing elements that work well with one another, or you could download a design system that leading brands are using and get to the important stuff right away. There are many design systems to choose from, and after going through several, you’ll have an idea of the style you like, and which one is for you. A fan of Google, I use their Material Design system and a lot of their resources found at Material.io. But, as I said, there are many. You might like Apple’s Human Interface Design, or Microsoft Design, The Designership Figma Design System, etc.
Of the many icon sets available to download, I like Basicons, Flaticons, and Feather icons. The design system you choose will have a set of icons that come with it. These are great when you need a little more.
Google is dedicated to helping you succeed in your job search with loads of free resources through Grow with Google. After practicing with Interview Warmup several times, you’ll be comfortable answering the most common questions you’ll face in an interview, and feel more confident. And, if you’re making a career change into UX design, check out their YouTube mini-series Answer In Progress which dives into the main questions people have while on this journey.
If you need to work on your digital skills, sign up for their Applied Digital Skills program and start learning the basic skills employers expect. You can also join their virtual workshops to create a resume, write a cover letter, get recruiter insights and tips, and learn how to network. And, YouTube is one of the best places to learn the latest trends and get tips from seasoned designers. Mizko will get you excited about design with his positive energy and knowledge.
Some of the best tools available to you are the different communities you will encounter. Use them! Read about what others are asking and what ideas are being shared. There are a lot of great designers and developers sharing insights and tips to help you become a better designer.
Don’t forget about LinkedIn. They have a huge community of UX designers, recruiters, and hiring managers that you have an opportunity to connect with. If you find the recruiter for the company at which you want to work, read their posts and comment if you have something to say. You may strike up a conversation that puts you in their sights. Networking is the best way to get hired.
I suggest spending time each day reading about the industry and keeping up with current trends.
Along with the many UX-based newsletters you can find online, these three books offer a lot of good advice for the new UXer, and can be found at your library:
- The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
- Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People by Susan Weinschenk
The world of UX is vast and there are a lot of different ways to go about learning new skills. I hope these options give you some ideas of how to go about getting into your new career as cheaply as possible. There is a lot of help available when you do a little research.
Good luck on your journey. You can do it!
Thanks for reading.
