Every skilled professional in the UX industry started as UX design beginners. In the same vein, many people go into various Tech fields each day and grow from beginner level to experts and professionals. One of the reasons is that Tech is a very interesting industry, and alongside solving problems with it, you can also become successful and easily earn a whole lot of money from it. A survey from Indeed showed that 89% of people who transitioned to Tech, did so in pursuit of more money.
While it takes some time to learn the needed skills to earn reasonably from Tech, it is a decision that is worth it – especially if you have an interest in it. There are many areas of Tech that people can go into, in line with their interests: Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, Product Management, Technical Writing, UI Design, UX Design, etc.
UX Design is the focus of this article and we are going to be giving tips for UX design beginners and how you can get into the field and succeed. UX (User Experience) Design is a process where design teams come together to create products that provide a great experience to users. It has the power to either make or mar a business, because if customers are not getting a good experience while using the product, they would eventually leave. UX Design must meet the users’ needs, be easy to learn and use, give the users control and freedom, and should make the users happy. In the words of Don Norman, “User Experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products”.
UX Designers make use of things like market research, strategy, product development, and design, to give users a very good experience as they use the product. For beginners, all these may be quite hard to understand. Newbies may not know the exact roadmap to follow in beginning a UX Design career. This is why up to ten tips will be given in this write-up. Before then, however, let us take a look at two terms that should properly be differentiated– UI Design and UX Design.
UX Design Vs. UI Design
UX Design stands for User Experience Design, while UI Design stands for User Interface Design. While the focus of both is that users enjoy the products as they use them, they are different.
User Interface Design is anticipating the customers’ preferences and aesthetically designing the digital product’s interface to be presentable and interactive enough that the users love and enjoy it.
User Experience Design, on the other hand, is the process of designing a digital product that gives a seamless experience to its users. It focuses on how people interact with a product and how much value it gives, how usable it is, and how satisfied they are while using it.
10 Tips for UX Design Beginners
UX Design beginners may feel a bit lost early in their careers, especially if they do not have useful tips to bear in mind. Here are some useful tips that will be of help:
- Ask Questions from Your Users: As UX design beginners, it will be quite difficult to know exactly what to give your customers. An experienced designer may not have this issue, but you as a newbie have to ask them about their preferences and listen to them. How do you do this? Research. You need to research your target audience to know how to give them a great experience.
- Instead of asking Them “What”, Ask Them “Why”: It is important to know why your users want what they want. Just finding out what they want won’t cut it; finding out why they want it is going to help you as the UX Designer decide better, what you should design.
- Do Not Plagiarize: You can check out the works of other UX Designers, but don’t ever make the mistake of plagiarizing. Be creative and come up with your ideas. This way, people can trust and respect you even though you are new.
- Never Stop Learning: Truly, we only stop learning when we die. So, as a UX Designer, there is no end to learning for you. Even the ‘best’ UX Designers have one or two things to learn every day. This tells you how important learning is in your career.
- Psychology, Psychology, Psychology: Psychology is very important in any field, and as a UX Designer who deals with giving people great experience while they use your digital products, you need to learn psychology. You don’t need a deep knowledge of it, but you sure will do great with enough knowledge needed for your field.
- Always Save Designs: We initially talked about checking out other people’s works (without plagiarizing). As you do this, get a tool that helps you save every design you come across so that when the need arises, they can help you. Pinterest and Milanote are tools that you can use for this.
- Don’t Limit Yourself: Always think outside the box and be creative with your designs. Never limit yourself to only the things you know now. Get different ideas and use them when necessary.
- Use Mobile First: It is no news that Mobile and Desktop User Experiences are different. So start with designing for Mobile, and then go up to Desktop. This will help you as a UX designer to focus on the core functions of your product.
- Remember that Less Is More: Avoid adding unnecessary details and elements in your design. Be moderate. Don’t be too simple that it affects the clarity of your design, but also, don’t add unnecessary things like excessive color, layouts, etc.
- Join A Community: In this journey, you cannot afford to be alone. No man is an island of knowledge, so you’ll need people around you (especially as a beginner). Find a UX Design community you can be a part of, and join it. It could be on Social Media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc, or other channels.
Conclusion
You are not alone in this journey of being a UX Designer, and you need to understand that other beginners like you may also not have had it all figured out, yet. However, with the ten tips above, you should gain more insight into how to make this journey easier for yourself.
You must also make up your mind not to be a mediocre UX Designer; you need to put in the work. No part of Tech is really easy at first, and UX Design is not an exception. Still, with having the right mindset, learning resources, being consistent, and always showing up, you can be a world-class UX Designer after some time.
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