“How do I get started in UX?”
This is something we get asked a lot. And it’s not surprising—UX designers are in
demand right now. Executives and managers are realising that a user’s experience of
a company’s product or service is crucial to their bottom line, and that that experience
can be designed.
So we thought we'd put together a short video that summarises what we think is the best
way to get started in user experience. We break it down into six steps.
The first step is for you to get educated. Now, we don’t mean that you need to go and
invest three years and thousands of dollars into a university degree in interaction design
or something. There are plenty of great books, and a lot of excellent online courses that
you can work through in your own time to get going.
Your second step is to get the right tools. In terms of software, it's absolutely crucial
that you get yourself a copy of some wireframing software, like Balsamiq mockups or Axure, and some
screen capture software such as Silverback or Camtasia. These tools aren't free, but
they will empower you to be able to create low-fidelity prototypes, and test them with
real users. And remember that your toolkit should include non-software tools—the three
Ps: pens, paper, and post-its.
Your next step is to get some experience. You have a ton of options here—it could
be a personal project, a not-for-profit that you donate your time to, or a hypothetical
client that you take it upon yourself to research and redesign. What's important is that you
start following a user-centred process, and iterating and folding in regular feedback
from users along the way.
It's also important that you get connected. Find other UXers in your area—through meetup.com
or a professional association like IxDA. Reach out to prominent bloggers in the UX space.
Ask questions in the UX Mastery community forums. These relationships can be invaluable
for keeping you motivated, helping you learn, and finding your next job!
You should also get a mentor. This doesn’t need to be a formal relationship, but you
do need someone who is more experienced and can offer advice on how to solve design problems
and how to manage your career. You may even have a few people in your network already, who can
mentor you on different topics.
Your last step is to get hired. This involves taking all of that experience that you've
accumulated, and presenting it in some form of portfolio, either online or in print, like
many graphic designers do. You shouldn’t show off visual design artefacts though—you
should use this portfolio to explain the process you follow, use it as a launchpad to tell a story about the projects
you've worked on.
That's it! If you put time into each of these six steps, then give yourself a gold star—you’re
well on your way to a successful career as a UX designer!
If you'd like to hear more, check out our ebook, which is called Get Started in UX.
It explores each of these six steps in detail, and comes with a ton of bonus material.
Grab your copy now from uxmastery.com/get-started/