UX designing is an extremely futuristic field with excellent career opportunities. UX designing is used by nearly all kinds of companies and brands today. But what is UX designing? Basically, UX designing is the art of creating virtual and real products that help users have a meaningful experience when using the product. Brands like Zomato, Uber, Make My Trip and others invest a lot in UX designing to provide their customers with a well-thought out and easy to use app or website.
UX designers are tasked with understanding the core values of a brand and its customer base. They can then create a valuable experience for users based on this information. There are many UI and UX design courses that can help you gain the right skills to become a UX designer. You can start with an undergraduate program and work your way up to a postgraduate degree to further enhance your knowledge and skills in the field.
Here are the skills you need to become a successful UX designer:
1. Interpersonal & Communication Skills
UX designers are hired by various kinds of businesses. You could be working for an up and coming start-up or a multinational company. Either way, it is very important for you to know how to work with a team. You have to develop your interpersonal and communication skills to be able to work in any setting and with any number of people throughout your career as a UX designer.
2. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is another important skill you need to develop to become a good UX designer. You should be able to conceptualise, analyse, and evaluate valuable knowledge gained from observing a brand’s end goal. You must put in the effort to develop a good mental process that helps you think faster to gain better results in the long run.
3. Prototyping Wireframes
UX designers are expected to be great at creating prototypes and wireframes. Wireframes play the role of blueprints that guide a UX designer through a particular app or website. Prototypes are created to help designers analyse the overall functionality of a particular system and its end user. UX designers need to hone this skill as much as possible to be able to grow in their career in the field.
4. UX Writing
UX writing is the language used to communicate with the user throughout the design. It plays a huge role in how easy and efficient to use an app or website is for the end user. UX writing can present itself in the form of instructions or communication made to the user. Many top UX design colleges in Maharashtra focus on teaching their students effective UX writing.
5. User Testing
User testing is another important aspect of UX designing. It enables you to understand the response of users to the design you have created. User testing is done to gain feedback from test users on a design. The feedback is then used to improve on the design and make it better for user interaction. You must pay attention to user testing to make sure that the design you create comes back with minimum negative reviews.
6. Research & Analytical Skills
Research is necessary in UX design to create well-rounded end products. US designers are responsible for making various decisions regarding their product. It is always advisable to back your decisions with well-rounded facts based on research. You will have to research the product, the target audience, their demographic, socioeconomic conditions and various such dynamics to make reliable decisions.
7. Basic Knowledge About Coding
While coding is not a huge part of UX designing, it is always better to have some basic knowledge about coding to gain a better understanding of the field. Tech-savvy designers are preferred by companies looking for smart professionals joining their workforce. Coding can also help you better understand the framework behind the product and pass on that communication to the engineers on the team.
8. Visual Communication
Visual communication means how a design communicates the message of the brand to the user. This is an umbrella term that includes the layout of the product, colour scheme, placement of icons, images used, design theory and typography. A mixture of these components can translate into a well-rounded final product that can boost businesses.
9. User Empathy
Empathy is an important characteristic of being a UX designer. At this position, you should be capable of putting yourself in the shoes of your end user. Only then can you analyse the product from a user perspective to make necessary changes to make it better. People skills are a huge part of any UX designer’s job. Being empathetic is going to help you create engaging and impactful designs throughout your career.
10. Curiosity to Learn More
Constantly being open to learning can help you make great strides in the field of UX design. You must be willing to improve your knowledge and skills in the field to create better products. At the end of the day, it is your job to make people’s lives easier with your products. Develop the habit of learning new things every day.
Conclusion
UX design is a vast and evolving field with a lot of scope for the future. If you are wondering about UX design course duration, it depends on the kind of program you opt for. An undergraduate degree program is generally spread across four years while a postgraduate degree program will last two years. Whatever you choose, make sure to choose a college that offers 100% placement assistance with an industry-oriented curriculum. Good luck!