If you are wondering how to become a UX Designer, this article is for you! I am going to show you what it means to be a UX Designer and 3 fundamental steps to start in UX Design. I'm also going to provide you with helpful resources to get you started.
Picture by Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 in Unsplash
You have probably noticed that the demand for UX designers has increased in recent years and perhaps that is even one of the reasons for your interest.
This demand is due to the change in focus of companies in recent decades towards the development of products centered on people. Surely you have heard the term user-friendly websites or applications, since that is one of the objectives of companies to describe when their products are designed to provide a good experience to people.
User experience design is the discipline of creating intuitive experiences for people. It is not only about creating attractive interfaces, but about thinking about the complete experience that people live when interacting with a product.
Luckily for those who want to start, it is not necessary to go to university to be a UX Designer, so it turns out to be a very accessible career.
However, choosing the self-taught path can be difficult without having a clear guide on how to learn independently.
Choosing the way you want to learn UX Design will depend on your goals, skills, personality, the way you prefer to learn and the budget you have. You can opt for traditional education at a University to obtain a Master's degree, pass a Bootcamp or even study on your own.
The main differences lie in cost, duration, and whether you get a degree that will validate you to future employers.
However, in all cases, the most important thing is your dedication to learning because you will require a lot of autonomy and curiosity to grow on your own in this profession.
If you want to know more about these 3 ways to learn UX Design, I will summarize them in this article.
There are some platforms where you can find free or paid mentors. This point is important because the mentors are going to guide you in a specific way according to your needs and abilities, but they are also going to inspire and motivate you so that you continue learning and improving yourself.
However, these platforms can be a bit cold and in many cases, it will be difficult to establish a mentoring relationship with which you feel that you have a guide to achieve your growth goals as a UX Designer.
Another way to get mentorship is by networking and learning from people you interact with regularly, either at work or at events and communities. These relationships tend to be more fluid and it is more comfortable to ask for advice, help, or guidance from people we know.
In case you want to try you can start in Apdlist.
It is completely free, you just register and you will be able to schedule calls according to your interests with mentors from all over the world. They also have group mentors in case you don't dare to start directly with private calls, because I know that can be uncomfortable.
The truth is that this title is very similar to the title of this site and obviously it is not by chance, this point is super important and more so when you are starting out because your portfolio is going to be the best tool you have to show what you know how to do.
And despite the great discussions that take place in the industry and UX specifically, we do agree on something and it is that experience and practice in solving problems are needed to grow as a UX Designer. That is why one of the most important resources on this site is the challenges that help you start practicing and generating your case studies.
On the other hand, a good way to continue learning is to create habits in your routine according to the ways you prefer to consume information.
For example, I spend an hour before starting work reading articles that interest me and browsing design and technology news sites. It is something that I enjoy doing and that motivates me to start the day with the desire to create.
Some of the things you can include in your routine are:
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Becoming a UX Designer is not an easy task but it is not impossible. It takes dedication, determination and hard work. The most important thing is that you stay motivated and that you develop both the technical skills and the soft skills necessary to work as a UX Designer.
If you need help, have questions, or want to leave me comments about the article or the site, you can write to me in the form below and I will answer you in the next 48 hours. 😀
