Becoming a skilled UI/UX designer involves creativity, tech interest, learning, practical experience, user focus, and passion. Moreover, networking and continuous skill improvement are valuable for success.

Being a good UI/UX designer isn’t that easy. It’s not rocket science, but it does need certain efforts. Above all, the passion for being a brilliant UX/UI designer!

The majority of the designers out there would have an opinion that there is no specific path to follow for being a designer. 

The majority of the designers may insist on acquiring a graduation degree in Arts or Visual Design. A minority will sometimes encourage you to learn with the help of the abundance of information available on the internet. It’s totally up to your personal choice. But one thing is for sure, the demand for amazing professionals in the user design process is on the rise when compared to the previous times!

Well, this blog tries to mention some of the things that one needs to take into consideration for being a good UI/UX designer. But before getting into the exact topic, we will see what the difference between UI and UX, its definition, etc. is.

Keep reading!

What is UI/UX designing ?

An exact definition for the term UX/UI designing is not as much as easy to describe through mere words, but it could be stated as follows. A UX/UI designer is responsible for designing the real feel of the product, while an end-user operates the same! 

A UI UX interface makes the visitors opt for the products or services that your business firm provides. It makes them feel the essence of the one that you have created.

Such outputs are produced with the help of various application software like Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, and Illustrator. A UI/UX designer is thus responsible for creating storyboards, wireframes, mockups, and experience maps for releasing the real user experience.

Difference Between UI and UX Designer

an image which describes the difference between UI designer and UX designer

The majority of the people and organizations do consider both UI and UX designing as the same and even recruit a UI designer for catering user experiences. To be precise, they are not the same, but somewhat similar!

UX stands for User Experience, and a UX designer concentrates on creating an overall experience for the user while using the product. 

Whereas UI stands for User Interface and a UI designer is responsible for designing the visual elements and cues of the product that a user comes into contact with. Thus UI design can be considered as a subset of the UX design.

How to build a successful UI/UX career?

an image which describe how to become a UI UX designer

A lot of college graduates and even people from other Professions are landing on the job of UI UX designing. This field requires both creativity as well as an interest in technology.

If you are a beginner in the industry, then you may feel it a little tough to get a career in the same. So if are planning to take those initial steps of being a good UX UI designer then go through the point noted down:

Acquire knowledge and read more.

There are lots of books and other resources available for the upcoming UX UI designers. Make sure that you read a lot and have a thorough understanding of the UI/UX Design process. The more you understand, the much better!

Certain suggested books for the same are “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” by Nir Eyal, “The Elements of User Experience: User-centered Design for the Web” by Jesse James Garrett and “A Project Guide to UX Design: For User Experience Designers in the Field Or in the Making” by Carolyn Chandler and Russ Unger.

Work under a guide

Having a mentor in UX UI designing is always worth it. Choose one who has multiple years of experience in the UX UI designing field. They will be able to guide you at times you require a push or any other help.

Acquire some practical experience.

Getting a job in an organization is the best possible way of gaining more practical experience in the field of UX UI designing. As a beginner, you may find it a little tight to land on a job. But keep trying through various mediums like LinkedIn, job portals, etc. There are even UI UX design agencies who hire interns for their client projects. Doing and learning is the best way to master a particular skill!

Try to use ready-made templates in the beginning.

As a beginner, one is maybe not having a clear idea about designing from scratch. So make use of multiple free UX templates that are available over the internet. It helps you to work or build things with these templates. And later on, you can begin to develop one from the basement, with experience.

Be User-Centric

The UI UX designs that one creates for the end-users and not for someone else. So every platform that you develop should be user-centric. Keep in mind the actual users who visit or communicate with the interface. Try to get maximum end-user feedback possible to help you understand what that missing element in your UI UX design is. Step into their shoes and begin to create amazing user experiences!

Master the UI/UX Designing Tools 

There are various UI/UX Designing Tools available in the trade right now. The perfect usage of these tools makes your UI UX designing process easy and efficient. Select the best one you feel is good and learn about the same in-depth. But it’s always advisable to master not on a single, instead try to be Jack of all! Some of the most commonly used tools are given below:

User research tools

  • Lookback.io 
  • Typeform
  • ReFramer

Wireframing and prototyping tools

  • Sketch
  • Adobe XD
  • Figma
  • Lunacy
  • InVision
  • UXPin

User testing and usability testing tools

  • UsabilityHub
  • Hotjar
  • Optimizely
  • Usabilla

Make use of catchy and useful content

Content plays a very important role in the success of your UI UX designed platforms. Some companies do have experienced content writers who might be able to guide you in the same. Keep in touch with them while selecting the content. Also, you can acquire content writing skills through experience. It’s not only about choosing the content that depicts “What” but also about knowing “Where”. Place the content at the apt position they are intended to be!

Also, try to make the content short and crisp as possible. But in some places, it demands some explanation. Content does not only imply just the mere use of words. It should be short video clips, animations, or other graphic elements.

Keep in touch with UI/UX Designers for feedback.

Networking is very much crucial for the overall betterment of your career. It not only helps us learn more about the UI/UX designing trade but also to land some exciting opportunities. Your peers’ might be able to give you feedback on the areas that you require more focus or concentration.

Also, keeping in touch with other designers will keep you motivated and inspire you in a lot of ways. Apart from learning, it’s also a way to relieve your stress and have fun. The advantages of networking are plenty!

If you are not a meet-in person, you can try the various online platforms like Linkedin, Slack, etc.

Even there are various books written on keeping in touch with your colleagues from the industry. Do some research and grab those copies as fast as possible! As a budding UI/UX Designer, make sure you always keep redesigning ourselves

Keep learning always.

A passionate and good UI UX designer should never stop learning about the UX UI design process. Never think as if you have achieved it all. Keep learning. Do visit various leading UX design agency blogs or through other resources available on the internet. Remember, learning is a continuous process. So get on track!

Qualities a good UI/UX Designer must possess

There are UX designers who come from different walks of life. But in general, there are certain traits that a good UI/UX designer should possess. They are described below: 

Zealousness: Zealousness or passion is required or any profession. Incase of UX/UI designing also, passion is very much essential. It should be just considered as a career path or skill for making money. A good UX/UI designer should be passionate about creating fantastic user experiences.

Empathy: A UX/UI designer should be able to feel the user pain points. They should step into the shoes of the customer or end-user while developing a product. It helps to create a useful and fantastic user experience.

Compliance: For creating a fantastic user experience, a UX UI designer will be working in collaboration with various other departments like programmers and stakeholders. You might be receiving feedback from all these staff members of your organization. So a good UX UI designer will need to apply those feedbacks and rework sometimes.

Tech-Enthusiasm:  A UX UI designer should have a genuine interest in technology. For creating fantastic user experiences, a UX UI designer should have an interest in learning new methodologies in the technology industry and being updated in the same.

The above-mentioned traits are the qualities that one should possess for being a good player in the UI/UX design process. Learn to acquire the same if you lack any. 

Wrapping Up

Let us end his blog with a quote by the famous American radio personality Ira Glass. Hope it will be helpful for all the upcoming UI/UX designers out there!

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple of years, you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.”

All the best folks!

Are you looking for the industry best UX design agency? Then you are in the right place!

We, Aufait UX, is a full-service UI/UX design, branding, and development agency based in Bangalore. Aufait UX has been around the corner for more than a decade now and has provided their services to different startups, small & medium-sized enterprises and Corporate giants. We believe in the motto of focusing on clarity rather than on features. This is the prime reason for our successful ventures within a short period of time!

              

Fathima

Fathima is a lead UX designer at Aufait UX and a passionate advocate for designs that resonate with the users. Her blogs are abundant with practical insights that reflect her enthusiasm for the field. Connect with Fathima via www.linkedin.com/in/fathimamohdk

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