How I Got Started…

I started out as a Web Designer/Front-End Developer. Since then, things have changed. Generalists became less in demand, and the most interesting projects (and roles) were going to people who were excellent at either design or development. Not only were designers and developers separate roles, companies looked for different kinds of designers – including the role of UX designer.

I chose design.

I love design, and I’ve spent 8 years learning all I can about the subject – courses, books, conferences, even getting my MA part-time. Over the course of those years I’ve learned a lot, and I want to share what I’ve learned with others. That is what OnePixelOut is all about.

How To Become a UX Designer

While a lot of UX Designers come from traditional design backgrounds, artistic ability is not a prerequisite.  User Experience design requires knowledge of human behaviour and psychology, design techniques and principles, and an awareness of industry conventions and standards. Sounds complicated, but it’s really not that bad.

For the psychology bit there are a few books that will get you up to speed. It’s the same for design principles, and if you need to know more about conventions and standards, I’ve put a resource together on that topic.

You will need to grasp the basic understanding of design principles. If you want to know more about design principles, I have written an article about it to get you started.

For someone looking to transition over to UX, I have outlined the major topics to cover.

1. Learn the Tools : Prototyping and Design
2. Read the Books
3. Courses and Qualifications
4. Your First Design Projects
5. Think About Your Design Process
6. Create a Portfolio
7. Join the Community
8. Get Inspired

Now that I’ve outlined the topics, let’s go into each one in more detail.

The Design Tools

When I started out, Photoshop and Illustrator were the norm.

Now, more and more designers are moving to Sketch. Sketch is a perfect design tool, it isn’t bloated with unnecessary features and at $99, it’s a lot cheaper than some of the other software that designers used to use. The only issue is that Sketch requires a Mac computer.

Sketch is used to create wireframes and mock-ups.

Prototyping Tools

To be a UX Designer, you will need to carry out user testing. For that reason, I should insist that you get to know some of the prototyping apps to create a click-through prototype, and test it out with someone. User Testing should be a fundamental part of your Design Process.

You are not really a UX Designer until watched someone struggle to use your design through glass.

I’ve listed some of the most well-known prototyping tools, and most of them offer a free trial. Why not download a few, find a tutorial and try some of them out.

Invision

Marvel

Axure

Flinto

Proto

Balsamiq

Your First Design Projects

You can’t have a portfolio without projects. You need something to show. This is easily the most difficult part of the process. When I was starting out, I took any projects that came my way. I designed websites for bands I knew, for my mum’s office, and for friends who wanted their own websites for their businesses.

You’ll notice that I created projects for friends and family, but I wouldn’t say I worked for free or engaged in “Spec Work”. Spec Work means that you take part in a competition to win a contract, creating your solution for free based on the hope that your design will be selected. This video explains it very well. It dilutes the value of what we do, and no other industry would put up with this nonsense (as the video below will show you) so why should the design industry?

Another way to create projects is to redesign something that already exists. Reimagine a product that you already love, such as Netflix, Reddit or Instagram.

While reimagining existing websites is a cool exercise, ideally you need actual projects that you can put in your portfolio and talk about in an interview. You can talk about the requirements of the project, talk about the goals of the client, show them the design iterations, the challenges you faced, and present the finished product.

Courses and Qualifications

The following piece of information cost me €7,000 to learn, and I’m going to give it to you for free: You do not need a Masters Degree. There are people out there who will tell you that you can ‘only go so far without a Masters Degree’ and this may have been true 20 years ago, but is no longer the case.

Instead, take the money and spend it on small, current, relevant workshops that are only a few days long, but you will learn so much. Believe me. I did the User Experience Training in Ireland, but the course is now available in other European and American cities.

I would also recommend that you check out Twitter and Facebook for reviews of the course. I’ve done courses before that were not worth the money, and I could’ve avoided this mistake if I’d noticed there was no social proof on their website.

A Design Process

Many UX Designers have their own process. The trick is to find your own approach. Mid- to senior level designers will have recognised that they have a particular process as a way to design something with maximum efficiency.

Most design processes will include the same cornerstones: research, sketching, testing and iteration. The more projects you do, the easier it will be for you to spot problems and reduce the amount of time taken to complete a design task.

A great book that outlines a design process is The Sprint Book by John Zeratsky and Jake Knapp. I highly recommend you check it out if you’re interested in how to run a design sprint in 1 week.

UX Design Portfolio

In order to get hired as a UX Designer, you will need a portfolio of your best work. When I’m hiring designers, I look at the portfolio first, and check out the resume only when the work is up to snuff.

Presentation Options

There are lots of options on how you can present your work. You can have your own hosted website, use a website like Behance or Dribbble, or even just have a PDF document ready to go.

There are really no special marks for having your own hosted website, though it can be cool to have your own domain. The contents should describe the design process, reflect your ability to solve problems, and demonstrate what you learned from each project you have worked on.

Using screenshots of finished work is something that I would associate with a less experienced designer. If you really want to come across as an experienced and mature designer, present your design work as case studies.

Join the Community

Networking is important in most industries, but especially so in the design community. When I lived in Dublin, I regularly attended the Dribbble meet-up (you don’t need to be on Dribbble to go). It was great to meet people with a similar interest in design. See if there is an IXDA chapter in your city. You can sign up for the different design networking events through Meetup, or occasionally on Linkedin.

Get Inspired

I’ve written before about how I stay inspired and keep up to date with design trends. I encourage you to do the same. I have the Muzli plugin installed on Chrome which is a nice way to stay up to date with a variety of design sources.

The UIDB and Pttrns are both great resources for finding how other companies solved a particular problem.

So that’s my advice for anyone interested in becoming a UX Designer.  It’s a wonderful and exciting area to work in at the minute. I highly recommend anyone who is interested in technology, creativity and human psychology to think about it.

If you have any questions, I would love to hear from you. As always, I’m a regular tweeter, or you can reach me through my contact page.