Lately, quite often many people asked – how to become a UI/UX Designer ? You will learn about UI/UX design, design thinking, and how to become a UI/UX designer in this comprehensive guide.
UI/UX design aims to provide a positive experience that keeps users loyal to a product or brand. Today’s businesses understand the importance of being customer-centric rather than product-centric: that is, using data insights and UI/UX design principles to understand customer needs and design products and services accordingly, rather than launching products they think users will want. User experience designers are among the most sought-after creative roles in an organization, alongside graphic designers and creative directors.
Candidates that have UI/UX design credentials on their resume instantly increase their chances of being shortlisted for jobs in a wide range of industries.
What Is UX design?
User experience design, known as UX design, is the process by which designer create products that provide meaningful user experiences for users while delivering on a business’s brand promise. Good user experience encompasses the entire production process, including product branding, design, usability, and function. Those who become UI/UX designers are tasked with doing research and analyzing user requirements, among other things.
Products that provide a great user experience are designed not only with consumption in mind but the entire process of acquiring, owning, and even troubleshooting the product. UX design essentially entails architecting a pleasurable and efficient customer journey that enables the user to accomplish their desired tasks or goals. UX designers spend more of their time researching user behaviors, testing product usability, and adjusting product offerings accordingly in a continuous feedback loop.
What Is UI design?
Successful digital products hinge on intuitive interaction design that enables a user to achieve desired tasks with minimal effort. User interface design concerns the visual styling of an app or website. Think things like how icons are designed in the digital world, how they’re arranged on the page, and how they relate to each other. Design elements such as font choice, color scheme, graphics, buttons, and menu styling are all elements of interface design.
Together, these design choices help people understand what items can be clicked, tapped, or swiped, which of a series of buttons is most important, and how to recognize calls-to-action.
What Is the Difference Between UX Design vs. UI Design?
UI design is a subdiscipline of UX design.
- UX design concerns studying user behavior and testing product usability
- UI design focuses squarely on determining how a user interacts with a digital product
UI designers use tools such as animations, copywriting, and visual design principles to help a user navigate a website or mobile app, find information, and complete tasks. They also help users get unstuck. An example is a pop-up chatbot recommending logical next steps if a user spends too much time on one webpage without taking any actions, or an interactive tutorial that explains video game controls.
These user-friendly UI design elements are part of what makes a great user experience, which is what a UX designer is responsible for. After a product launch, UX designers keep a close watch on UX metrics such as website bounce rate or time on site and make adjustments accordingly.
How Do You Become a UI/UX Designer?
There are a number of different ways to become a UX designer or a UI designer.
- Teach yourself. A lot of the fundamental UI/UX design skills can be self-taught. From wireframes, prototypes, and journey maps, the right training and skills can help you meet the growing demands of this rising career field.
- Take an online UI/UX design bootcamp or online course. Start with an introductory design course and then progress into a UI/UX design certification course focused on career preparedness. This will help you master applied skills such as research, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, and visual communication. Pick a course that allows you to build a portfolio (to show potential employers) and provides access to an industry professional who can answer questions about the realities of a job as a UI/UX designer. Digitalspot Academy’s UI/UX Design course lets you get a sense of what it’s like to be a designer when you enrolled for the course.
- Incorporate UI/UX design principles into your work. If you already work for a tech company but not in UI/UX, you can always try to incorporate UI/UX design techniques and design decisions into your work, especially if you work in marketing, product, or customer support. Start by collecting user feedback through surveys, content audits, or reviews. Compile and analyze the data and write a report based on your findings, emphasizing the most salient action items, and pitch these solutions to your team.
What Is a Typical UX/UI Job Description?
A typical UI/UX designer job description incorporates a mix of key responsibilities and qualifications. Potential candidates will be expected to:
- Create user-centered designs by understanding business requirements, the voice of the customer, user journeys, customer feedback, and usability findings
- Quickly and iteratively create user flows, wireframes, prototypes, low and high fidelity mockups in their design work
- Communicate with product and engineering teams, as well as business stakeholders, executive leadership, and other creative professionals
- Ensure the voice of the customer is present by incorporating customer feedback, usage metrics, and usability findings into design
- Performing metrics analysis post-launch to inform design/UX optimization efforts
- Know how to use prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Invision, or equivalent
- Possess excellent communication, presentation, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
Ready to switch careers to UI/UX Design?
Digitalspot Academy offers a comprehensive UI/UX design Training course. No design background required—all you need is an eye for good visual design and the ability to empathize with your user. In the course, you’ll work on substantial design projects and complete a real-world externship with an industry client. After the UI/UX design training, you’ll graduate with a UI/UX design mindset and a portfolio to show for it.
