Steps to Become a UI/UX Designer

In this article we’ll be covering some steps, which can be useful to start your journey as a UI/UX Designer:

1. Make a List of Your Strengths & Weaknesses

To begin with, starting a new career, it is good to make a list of all your strengths and weaknesses which you feel can be used and need to brush up on going ahead in this career. To be a good designer one should be very well aware of what they can bring to the table and what things they should keep brushing up on. Nobody knows everything but knowing what is best you can give and working on those skills during the initial years is crucial.

2. Start Learning the Fundamentals

Design is a very creative field that majorly focuses on how to align the human mind with the concept of products so that they can accomplish a goal or perform a certain task. Start with watching tutorials, listening to podcasts, and talking to people who are in the field for quite some time. This would help get field exposure and help you create your own roadmap for getting things done.

3. Start to Unlearn

Unlearning is very important to actually absorb design. Design is ART, but not science which means there are NO right answers, it all depends on the context and problem statement you are designing solutions for. 

4. Read and Consume Information

Through books, articles, and videos try to consume data as much as possible. This would give a defined understanding of how other people have grown in the field and how you as a beginner can leverage those pointers in your career. Many people post on Twitter, medium, and youtube about their journey. Most of these people are self-taught, meaning they have defined their own roadmaps and flows to learn and understand things. This would help you know what similar actions you can incorporate in your journey as a UI/UX designer.

5. Know Different Platforms & Design Systems

By platform, it means IOS, Windows, and Android. Open-source design systems are available online such as Material Design by Google, Human Interface Guidelines by Apple, Fluent designs system by Microsoft, etc. These design systems help us understand the platform layout and design elements. Design systems are very useful as they have different components, style guides, and design patterns, which all create the design ecosystem. 

6. Get Familiar With Gestalt Principles

For a good UI/UX designer it is very important to know about “The Gestalt Theory of Visual Perceptions.” This theory includes gestalt principles such as Proximity, Similarity, Common area, Connectedness, and Closure. All these help create better “Visual Attention” for the users. 

7. Develop an eye for details

To be a good designer, it is equally important to have an eagle-sharp eye for details. Gradually with time, this habit would help in correcting the alignment.

8. Technical skills

The skills like wire-framing, prototyping, good knowledge of colors, fonts, and design tools like sketch or Figma are a must for a UI designer to have. Have these skills, work on projects and you’re good to start UI/UX designing career.

9. Practice & Practice

Just by learning, reading, and watching tutorials you won’t become a UI designer. One needs to actually implement the learnings and brush up on the skills. There are many UI challenges that are available online that one can enroll in and start designing. Apart from UI challenges, one can also take up any poorly designed app/website and try to redesign it. This habit of regular designing will gradually enhance creativity and thinking which would eventually help in becoming a better designer.

10. Participate in Design Hackathons

Many companies post problem states and conduct design hackathons, where people from different companies, colleges, and aspiring designers participate. A few of these challenges also give internship and full-time job opportunities. For a fresher designer, such good opportunities are very important to grab. 

11. Build a Network

As you move ahead with your learnings, start building an online presence, and connect with people who are in the field for quite a long time. Spent time knowing about their work experience and design journey so far. This would help build a rapport within the community and get a referral for a job. One can also ask for help and guidance from their connections and showcase to them some of the projects and get expert feedback on what can be improved and what is good.

12. Create a Portfolio

A design portfolio is a collection of one’s best work that demonstrates their distinct individuality, thought process, abilities, iterations, approaches, and diversity. Every designer needs a portfolio to showcase to find work and clients. A portfolio includes your adaptability, case studies, and any detailed work related to the job or profile. It is not necessary to have a domain named portfolio, it can be as simple as a notion page or Behance profile. The best and most free websites are Behance and Dribbble where one can post and showcase their finest work. Indeed, a portfolio is a powerful tool for any aspiring UI Designer.

13. Incorporate Feedback

UI design is all about effective and usable pixel-perfect designs. Feedbacks are crucial as they make it easier for users to fulfill their objectives. Incorporating user or expert feedback and keeping the designs updated over time increases the chances of having fewer errors and more user satisfaction while using the products.

14. Try to Volunteer & Freelance

After covid people are now addicted to working from home and are very aware of online opportunities. Many non-profit companies, agencies, and NGOs hire freelancers with both unpaid and paid opportunities. Doing freelancing helps one build a strong portfolio. Nowadays freelancing has become the most tempting job style where one is their own boss.

Never been to a design school, but want to become a UI/UX designer? Worry not! It’s not that hard.

Many successful and amazing UI/UX designers are self-taught which means they also never went to a design school and don’t have a design degree. It is pretty common in the design field as it only requires one to have skills and passion to solve complex problems through designing digital experiences. On the other hand, some designers opt to enroll in a UI/UX design course or boot camp program and even have a design degree. Both ways lead to a successful design job. 

There are many ways to learn UI/UX design, and there isn’t a right or wrong way to do so. It all boils down to understanding effective design principles and honing them through practice.

Here in this article, we’ll look at a complete roadmap for finding a job as a UI/UX designer.