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2020 has been an impacting year for all of us. A small virus wreaked havoc upon the world and every sector was affected. With the necessity of observing lockdowns and social distancing; there were a large number of job shutdowns, and many people started working remotely. All this is sure to make you question what 2022 holds in store?

Especially those of you who are at the beginning of your career, or rethinking your career options; you may have arrived at a decision – ‘to Become A UX Designer’. So, are you final with your decision? Or are you still a bit confused? No worries! Today, we’ll clear all the things for you so that you embark upon your journey to becoming a UX designer. So, let's begin. First things first,

What Is A UX Design?

UX Design stands for User Experience or User Interface Experience Design. User Experience describes the interaction between the user and the product/service and what the user experiences during this experience. A good user experience can be achieved through good designs. And that is what UX Designers do. They design the user interface for websites, applications, and other such digital products. They will even do designing for physical products such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.

So, What Does A UX Designer Do?

A UX designer is required to do market research to be able to understand the interaction between the product/service and the end-users. Based on the research then they strategize and create a rather flawless user experience design for products/services/processes. For designing user experience it is tantamount to have technical and coding knowledge, have software-related skills, understanding of computer knowledge, etc. Thus, A UX designer helps the product/service owner or the company to better fulfill the needs of their customers, bridging the gap between the owner and customer.

Now that you understand what you’ll be doing as a UX Designer, Let’s see how you can go about developing your UX Design Career. Below is a step-by-step guide of how you can become a UX designer, even if you don’t hold a degree. 

How To Become A UX Designer?

Read It Up: Once you have decided to pursue a career as a UX Designer, the first thing you need to do is read everything about UX designing. Explore and understand the various aspects and disciplines of UX Design; and which particular area or discipline of UX Designing you want to hone your skills in. There are some great books, blogs, and YouTube channels such as Design of Everyday Things, Emotional Design, InsideDesign, UXPlanet, UX Collective, etc. which provide all UX Design knowledge.

Do A UX Designing Course Or Bootcamp: UX designing does not require a degree. Instead, you have easy, affordable, and time-saving options available for you in the form of certified courses and boot camps. It’s not only about knowledge but hands-on training, practical experiences, exposure to industry experts, help in creating a network, a certificate, and sometimes even help with placements within a UX Design Company. Courses by Design Lab, Udemy, Coursera, Interaction Design Foundation, etc are some options.

Develop Designing Skills: Learning and understanding is simply the first stage which should be followed by learning some skills which you need to develop as a UX Designer. Work on your observation, communication, and empathy. These skills are important to understand your end-user. You need to find out what are your users' problems, what do they feel, what needs do they have, what are their desires, what is their motivation, etc. Only from understanding all these will you be able to ultimately design a product that can give them a great user experience. 

Learn Basic Designing Principles, Tools, Methods, And Processes: Learn designing basics such as color, contrast, balance, etc. Develop your sense of design slowly by understanding, exploring, and experimenting. There are several guidelines and laws and principles relating to UX such as consistency, user control, accessibility, etc. Understand all of them well. And Once you understand the basics familiarize yourselves with all the UX Design tools. There are several digital tools and software apps including Sketch Flinto, Adobe XD, UXPin, etc which you can learn to use. The various design methods and techniques that you can use as a UX Designer include Prototyping, Wireframing, Usability, etc. that you need to learn.

Practice And Develop Pseudo Projects: UX Design can be best learned with hands-on practice. Now that you have complete knowledge, practical experience is your only way forward. Thus, you can try and designing some pseudo projects or prototypes. This way you’ll understand if you can design an individual project on your own.

Practice, Mentorship, And Networking: Finding yourself a mentor is a   good way for gaining hands-on experience. Mentors are experienced people and can help you in increasing your knowledge and skills. You should also do networking with other designers. Working with other designers will give you insights into their approach towards designing and may help you to develop yours.

Build A Great Portfolio: Along with mentorship and networking, get your-self hired and work with industries. Develop your designing skills, communication skills, work with end-users and stakeholders, and add through this learning curve you’ll keep on adding completed designs, projects, prototypes, and thus build up your portfolio.

Following the above steps, you can develop for yourselves a great UX Design Career. You can understand that this is a gradual process and will take time to develop your skills and establish yourself as a sought after UX Designer. Patience, practice, and perseverance will see you through this whole process.

And yes! You may have a small nagging in your mind if with all the changing dynamics and redundant jobs; if UX Designers are still in much demand and what is the scope in this career. Well, be rest assured. With the opening of lockdown and the advent of vaccines coming out, the COVID-19 plagued world is slowly moving forward. And guess what, the tech jobs opening are on a rise as compared to any others. Not only that, businesses are increasingly going online, developing their new websites, applications, software, etc. which is increasing demand for UX Designers. So, go ahead, be your best UX Designer, and get hired by your dream UX Design Company – The future awaits you!