Becoming UX/UI Designer with No Experience
Learn UX UI Design from Scratch at Designerrs
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There’s this intern in our studio.
She said that she had always been interested in UX Design but missed her opportunity to break into the field since she’s pursuing a triple major degree in Arts and doesn’t have the financial resources to shift to a Design school.
But this is not the case as there are many living proofs who have been able to learn UX Design without any formal training!
The role of a UX UI Designer has been gaining prominence in recent times. Students and professionals from all walks of life have been changing tracks to get into one of the fastest-growing careers.
Making a career in the field of Design does not necessarily require formal education (although it can help build a solid foundation). But there are other ways to get ahead of the curve.
So to break the false belief that it is “too late” to learn Design, here’s a comprehensive for getting started:
1. BUILD
a. Core Skills
- research techniques
- ethnography and discovery — user goals, motivations, and work patterns
- user modeling — persona and scenario creation; role-playing
- product design — product-level interaction principles and concepts
- interaction design — function-level interaction principles and concepts
- interface design — component-level interaction principles and concepts
- information architecture and information design — content structure and presentation principles
b. Business Skills
- project management
- time management
- stakeholder or client management
- basic business writing — letters, email messages, meeting notes, and summaries
c. Communications Skills
- rhetoric and persuasive writing
- expository writing and composition
- technical writing
- public speaking and presenting
- visual communication
d. Interpersonal Skills
- mediation and facilitation
- active listening
- interviewing and observation
- team-building
- collaboration
e. Usability Skills
- knowledge of usability testing principles and methods
- knowledge of principles of cognitive psychology
f. Media Skills
- understanding of bit-depth, pixel-density, and resolution issues
- managing color palettes
- icon design and pixel-level design
- graphic user interface (GUI) screen layout and composition
- page layout and composition
- animation
- sound design
- prototyping — paper, Visual Basic, HTML/CSS, Director, Flash, or other methods
- knowledge of file formats and tradeoffs
g. Technical Skills
- understanding of basic computer programming principles, tools, and technologies
- GUI development principles, tools, and technologies
- database principles, tools, and technologies
- understanding of software and hardware development processes — specification, coding, and testing
- knowledge of existing and new technologies and constraints
- knowledge of mechanical engineering and manufacturing — for hardware devices
h. Tools Skills
- PowerPoint or Keynote
- Visio or OmniGraffle
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Figma UX UI Design Tool
i. Personal Attributes
- empathy
- passion
- humor
- skepticism
- analytical thinking
- ability to synthesize information and identify salient points
- ability to visualize solutions — before they are built
2. READ
- Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability — Steve Krug
- The Design of Everyday Things — Don Norman
- Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences — Stephen P. Anderson
- Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things — Don Norman
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People — Susan Weinschenk
- Universal Principles of Design: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal — William Lidwell
- Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products — Nir Eyal
- About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design — Alan Cooper
- Information Architecture for the World Wide Web — Morville & Rosenfeld
- A Project Guide to UX Design — Unger & Chandler
- Communicating Design — Brown
- Observing the User Experience — Goodman, Kuniavsky, Moed
- Prototyping — Zaki Warfel
- Designing Interfaces — Tidwell
- Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
- Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience — Jeff Gothelf with Josh Seiden
- The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less — Barry Schwartz
- Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques — Kevin Mullet
- Sprint — Jake Knapp
- Rework — Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- Creative Confidence — Tom Kelley and David Kelley
- Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers — Tim Ferriss
- The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles — Steven Pressfield
3. WATCH
- Eames: The Architect and the Painter
- Design is One: Lella & Massimo Vignelli
- Typeface
- Objectified
- Helvetica
- Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
4. GET INSPIRED
- Site Inspire: siteinspire.com
- Design Made In Germany: Sites we like
- Little Big Details: littlebigdetails.com
- Designs With Context: explanatic.com
- Hover States: hoverstat.es
- Dribbble: dribbble.com
- Awwwards: awwwards.com
- Design Shack: Critique Article Archive | Design Shack
- Ecogex Delectable: Delectable — Contemporary web design database
- The Fox Is Black: thefoxisblack.com
- But Does It Float: butdoesitfloat.com
- Lovely Package: lovelypackage.com
- Form Fifty Five: formfiftyfive.com
- One Page Love: onepagelove.com
- Web Creme: webcreme.com
- Web Designer Pad — webdesignerpad.com
- Smashing Magazine: smashingmagazine.com
- Synaptic Stimuli: synapticstimuli.com
- Design Hash: designhash.com
- Behance: behance.net
- Very Nice Sites: verynicesites.com
In addition to the above hacks, Designerrs Lab offers a great curriculum to get you up to speed across all fronts. If you’re itching to establish yourself in UX Design sooner rather than later, check the Full Stack UX Design Course today!
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How to Become a UX/UI Designer With No Experience was originally published in DETAUX (Designers Talks) on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.