4 steps to get started with UX Design
You don’t have to spend 💰💰 and it isn’t rocket science
With the increasing interest in UX Design, people often reach out to me for advice on switching careers to this field. Here are 4 things I’d recommend as you get started:
1. Learn about other roles that fall under UX design
UX design is not only about UX design. Start with reading about other roles which surround the term “UX design”. Read case studies and understand how different skills make or break a product. Medium has a huge section with posts ranging from emoji design to accessibility.
As you get familiar with the skills, enroll in a relevant online class to dive deeper. Exhaust free resources before you decide to enroll in a paid class or program.
2. Create your own projects
As you delve deeper, you will start understanding how to approach a problem like a designer. Your natural step ahead should be working on a project.
Feel free to use ideas from sites like Briefbox or come up with your own. I recommend picking up your favorite app and documenting the things that annoy you as a user. Think about why it was made this way. How would you approach the same problem that this app is trying to solve?
The list of potential improvements you just came up with is your first UX project. Get working!
Create a solid ground for your project by validating the problem you are trying to solve. Answering questions such as "Is this really a problem? Why?" can help uncover important use-cases early in the design process.3. Get involved in the community and share your work
As you start creating projects, you will need support and feedback which will help you improve and get better. There are multiple online groups to safely share/participate and get more eyes on your work. I like Designer’s Guild group on Facebook because it is well moderated and I’ve gotten great feedback from other designers in this group.
Be generous, vulnerable, and constructive. Be open to receiving feedback and invite positive conversations. 🤗4. Learn about organizational challenges
This is where it all comes together. Summing up your domain knowledge and personal work, you will be ready to jump into the industry with solid understanding of UX.
UX Design, however, is so much more. When you work in a team, it is about clarity of thought and the rationalization of your ideas. When you work with people on a daily basis, collaboration becomes key and people skills become very important.
Designers never work in a silo — a successful product is always a team effort.
There will always be multiple opinions on the table and multiple ideas of solving a problem coming from many important stakeholders. Navigating through this and getting to a solution that works for everyone requires being proactive and negotiable. I recommend finding a mentor in the industry and getting familiar with this as you start going deeper into UX.
A product is successful when it can create a win-win situation for the company and the users. Designers who understand business, growth, and teamwork become key to making this happen.Interested in chatting more? Let’s connect.
