How to get into User Experience design: A conversation with Teza, UX Designer
Getting into UX design as a career means you’ll need more than just technical prowess - it demands you have a real passion for understanding human behaviour. And because UX is a consistently changing field, having a curious, open mind is the best way to foster deeper engagement. We asked our UX expert, Teza, for some top tips to inspire budding UX experts.
· Leading the creation of a design system for The City of Liverpool College was a milestone in Teza’s journey as a (junior) designer. https://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/
What skills does a UX designer need?
As a UX designer, you are a problem solver. And as problem solvers, you need a whole range of hard and soft skills.
Visual and UI Design skills – To create impactful designs, UX designers need a baseline of visual and user interface (UI) design skills. This involves building interactive models (prototypes) of a digital product to test and validate design concepts and interactions. (Adobe XD, Sketch, Figma etc)
Wireframing - is the process of creating low-high fidelity, simplified layouts that outline the structure and hierarchy of a digital interface.
Collaboration - Most likely, you will work with people from diverse backgrounds and with different types of expertise.
Problem solving skills - To be able to see the big picture, examine a problem from different perspectives and pay attention to the finer details.
Communication & presentation skills - Verbal & written - to present to stakeholders/clients, facilitate workshops and inform people of your ideas & findings. The skill of translating business wants into users’ needs is extremely important.
User research - UX designers conduct methods like interviews, surveys, and user testing.
Problem solving skills - To be able to see the big picture, examine a problem from different perspectives.
Storytelling - A good storyteller looks at things from the user’s perspective and steps into their audience’s shoes by engaging them through creative storytelling.
Organising information (Information Architecture) - UX designers need to be able to prioritise and organise complex sets of information, content, and information within a digital product.
Being a great UX designer is really about understanding users' needs, crafting solutions that truly resonate and keeping and keeping an eye on the future.
Understanding empathy in design and research
Empathy-driven design means seeing things from the user's perspective. Designers must distance themselves emotionally and focus on what the audience needs. In UX design, the goal is to solve problems. To do this, designers use different research methods. These can be qualitative, focusing on understanding why users do what they do.
Understanding user research methodologies
Quantitative research, on the other hand, involves collecting and analysing numerical data to identify patterns, trends, and significant aims. This data is used to quantify user behaviours, preferences, and attitudes, allowing for generalisations and statistical insights.
The benefit of understanding research methodologies is to get a better grasp of the challenges users face helps reduce the number of assumptions designers may make upon initial thoughts.
Understanding emerging trends and technologies
Staying up to date with emerging industry trends can be overwhelming at times, especially with the rapid expansion of AI. There is a plethora of tools that are available to designers in today’s market.
These emerging technologies range from language programmes to generative AI and voice interaction design are the future of the industry, it doesn’t mean you have to re-skill and change your approach, but it does mean it is important to understand how the new models will change (for better or worse) the landscape of creating digital products.
How exactly can I become a UX designer?
A formal education can give you a great foundation in UX. However, true growth in my experience, comes from focusing on personal projects and being free to experiment and refine your skills.
Experiment at your own pace
· Practice story telling (without overwhelming users).
· Create your own briefs and experiment with outcomes.
· Design using industry standard tools and programmes (Figma, Adobe creative suite, Canva, Sketch, Mila note etc)
Get as much work experience as possible
Find a UX design course on YouTube or a paid self-taught course (Udemy, Coursera, UX design institute, future learn). These are several examples of courses that will help you understand design thinking models and help keep you ahead of emerging trends in the field.
Learn from real-world UX examples
Reading as many case studies as you can is the way to go. Platforms like “Medium” is a great place to find designers talking about their work, thoughts, reflections and much more. To dive deeper into UX, joining a bootcamp or course to learn the basics is key. Here’s a few to start with:
· https://www.uxpin.com/studio/
· https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/digital-skills-user-experience
Find a fantastic UX mentor
Having the voice from a trusted expert in the industry is invaluable and will be key to understanding what is and isn’t needed to be a UX designer. Your mentor may be a senior manager, a friend with relevant experience or even people who you have connected with on social platforms such as LinkedIn.
Personal reflection will build your confidence
Overtime my working processes have developed in many ways. I have gained more confidence and understanding of the field. I have developed my skills into more productive, well-rounded designer with a broader understanding of business. Which is a key skill to develop for any designer who wants to grow holistically. My ability in presenting relevant concepts and ideas to stakeholders has grown over the years. I have developed the skill of relaying complex language into laymen’s terms and presenting data as a digestible narrative.