UX designer fundamentally refers to a person who takes the responsibility of the good user experience on an online platform. It could be a website, mobile app, software or any other online platform. A good and successful UX designer must have a thorough knowledge of sociology and psychology which is required to understand human behaviour. But, at the same time, a good UX designer must have strong cognitive skills to think creatively to offer a unique user experience to all users.
Moreover, they require tactical skills, concept iteration, prototyping and usability testing. However, the most significant skill to become a UX designer is communication. Let’s discuss the skills required for UX designers in detail.
Become A Successful UX Designer In 6 Easy Steps?
Step 1: Seek Motivation
UX designer is one of the most reputed jobs these days and good UX designers earn pretty well. But at the same time, you should be determined to become one. Make sure money does not drive you to become a UX designer. Otherwise, you will not get success in this profession.
First of all, make up your mind whether it is the right profession for you or not. Ask the following questions to yourself before pursuing this profession further.
- Is money the only reason you choose UX design as a profession?
- How much do you know about this profession and the challenges UX designers face?
- In which industry do you want to break into?
- What are your monetary expectations from this profession?
The answers to these questions will help you find the motivation to continue your career in this field.
Step 2: Learn The Fundamentals Of UX Design
Indeed UX design is a practical profession but one should know the basics of UX design. You can read books, attend lectures or browse for online study material. However, do not study randomly.
If you can not afford a course in UX design. Download the curriculum that a reputed institute covers in their course. Follow that curriculum and learn all the modules of UX design writing in a flow. So that you will be able to match the competency of the ones who graduated from renowned institutions.
Step 3: Attend Webinars And Podcasts
If you get to know about any webinar or podcast hosted by experts of UX design. You must attend such virtual events or live events (if possible). Such events help you stay updated in your profession and you get the motivation to keep going even after many failures.
Moreover, these events can prove to be a great hub for networking. You never know you get an amazing lead while attending a learning session.
Step 4: Learn Essential Tools
As we said above, UX design is a practical based profession. That means you will have to perform your jobs on a tool or software. So other than having great knowledge of UX design and other aesthetics. It is imperative to learn the essential tools and software which are essential to practice UX design.
You can either learn from online courses (paid or free) or enrol on a physical institution. In case you do not know the required tools, the following are the essential tools you need to learn to become a successful UX designer:
- Sketch
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Corel Draw
At the same time, stay updated so you do not miss any news about tool updates. Also, keep checking the domestic market to check which tools are more in demand so you do not miss learning them.
Step 5: Practice On Live Projects
Indeed theoretical knowledge is important and tools are required to learn. At the same time, you should have hands-on experience on the live projects as they will be far different from the ones you will learn at the time of tools training. You will have real life problems without the help of any mentor.
However, in the beginning, you may have difficulty finding live projects or clients as you must be new to the industry. You can get projects through:
- Finding volunteer projects or internships
- Job search on LinkedIn
- Make your portfolio to showcase to the clients
Also, do not deny any kind of project as you may not get good or big clients in the beginning. Even if you get projects just for the experience, accept them too.
Step 6: Create Your Digital Presence
Even if you become a great UX designer, you should need an audience to know about your work. For that matter, you must have a digital presence. A website, social media account on the various platforms according to your purpose (client acquisition or portfolio showcase).
Your website will play the role of a virtual office so make you do not make the common web design mistakes that may hamper the first impression.
Conclusion
If you want to become a successful UX designer, you must know the fundamentals of UX design and learn essential tools for practical knowledge. Moreover, you must stay active on professional portals to stay updated on all relevant opportunities which are significant for your portfolio. And, in the last, you should have an online presence to showcase your work and get more clients. Hope this blog serves your purpose. We would love to know your journey of becoming a good UX designer in the comment section. For more informative or technical blogs, do not forget to keep visiting us.