Skills

• 
  Design
• 
  Sketch App
• 
  Illustrator
• 
  Sketching
• 
  Creativity
• 
  Problem Solving
• 
  InVision App
• 
  HTML
• 
  CSS
• 
  JavaScript

What should I know?

UI/UX Designer responsibilities include gathering user requirements, designing graphic elements and building navigation components. To be successful in this role, you should have experience with design software and wireframe tools.

If you have a good problem solving ability and interest with a pinch of creativity, you can excel.

You’ll need real work experience to learn UX design. UX hiring managers want to know how you solve problems. They like to hear about your design process. They want to know how you work with teams to reach shared goals. These things are often more important to hiring managers than the final design you create.

Theoretical assignments or projects won’t give you experience. You can read up about all the UX tools in the world, but you won’t know how to use or apply them until you work on actual projects. You’ll need a project with real users, real constraints like time and budget, and real team members. Then, you’ll truly gain experience in UX design.

Learn to code – You don’t have to code to be a successful UX designer. But if you learn to code, you have many advantages as a UX designer. When you learn to code, you understand the medium you’re designing for. You develop a shared language for communicating with the developers on your team. You can make basic coding changes on your own without relying on developers for help.

Desktop-based Prototyping Tools – Start with anyone of them

• Axure RP
• Mockplus
• Justinmind
• Balsamiq
• OmniGraffle
• Origami (free)
• Adobe Experience Design
• Prott
• Principle

Web-based Prototyping Tools

• InVision
• UXpin
• Marvel
• FluidUI
• Proto.io

Is this career suitable for me?

UI/UX Designer is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after job titles in tech, and I can tell you personally that it is a rewarding career.

• Passion for the craft.
• Curiosity about people and technology.
• Ability to learn quickly.
• A detail-oriented nature.
• Receptiveness to feedback (willingness to accept constructive criticism and act on it).

If you have most or all of these traits, that’s a good sign.

User experience is a high-demand skillset. In days gone by, products were a combination of what the designer thought would be cool and what the client thought would be cool. The user of the product was at best an afterthought in the process, and was often only considered at a very surface level. Of course, in reality it’s users that make or break products. A fantastic idea can be rendered so badly that no-one wants to use it. Thus, user experience is now high on the corporate agenda and UX designers are sought after at all levels in the employment market.

Additional Notes

Additional Read

• The Difference Between UX and UI Design – A Layman’s Guide
• Great Books for Designers to Read in 2016
• How To Land Your First Job in UX Design
• My Advice for Becoming a UX Designer
• UX Resources for Beginners
• 10 UX Design Predictions For 2018

Interaction Designers

• Tobias van Schneider
• Eddie Lobanovskiy
• Mike Smith
• Simon Pan
• Luke Wroblewski
• Andy Budd
• Jared Spool – Founder of User Interface Engineering
• Aarron Walter
• Paul Boag
• Wilson Miner
• Nick Babich – Nick is a software developer who’s passionate about user experience.

Books To Read by the time you finish your college if you want to become a UI/UX Designer

• The Design of Everyday Things – Don Norman
• Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability – Steve Krug
• About Face: The Essentials of Interface Design
• Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
• Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience – Jeff Gothelf with Josh Seiden
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less – Barry Schwartz
• Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques – Kevin Mullet
• Sprint – Jake Knapp
• Rework – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
• Creative Confidence – Tom Kelley and David Kelley
• Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers – Tim Ferriss
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles – Steven Pressfield

Reading List

• The best ‘design‘ books that aren’t explicitly about design
• The Only UX Reading List Ever 

(This reading list is for anyone who wants to learn or deepen their knowledge in the disciplines of User Research, Usability, Information Architecture, User-Interface Design, Interaction Design, Content Strategy or Experience Strategy.)