Learning UX: From zero to on my way to being a hero

The first time I ever heard about UX design was back in 2013 after I graduated from college. A few google searches later I realized that it was something I could see myself doing for a really long time without wanting to kill myself.

I wanted to jump on the bandwagon that was “UX Design” because I was good at graphic design and I’ve always loved art and design, so I joined a company hoping to learn more about User Experience Design.

I started to improve my coding skills and learned more about typography and color; I also picked up some jQuery. I was part of the team that was working on an ERP project for colleges and I was responsible for designing mockups and coding them, which was pretty fun at the start. But coding forms with little to no interactivity/creativity and also not being able to put any of my ideas into it made it worse. The company kept calling me a “UX Designer”, but I don’t think I ever fit into that job description.

I wanted to do more than just design mockups and code. I wanted to innovate but I was lacking in the skills that were required to realize my dreams.

I wanted guidance and I wanted to know more about the endless possibilities of UX Design and how I could someday become one. Sure, I could’ve read some books, watched some videos to learn more about it but I wanted an environment where I could collaborate with other designers/developers and use the tools that I’ve actually learned. In my home country Nepal, companies posts vacancies for “UX Designers” but they just have you do either mockups or HTML/CSS.

So, I’m here now, thousands of miles away from my home, my family and friends in a land filled with opportunity, where the onions are as big as a bowling ball and ordering a sandwich becomes a task. I’m hoping that I can make the most of my time here and learn more about UX and someday be great at it.