Hey, I said would write more this month. Well, here is another piece. Today, I’ll let you into how I started learning UX design.
Starting as a designer, I was learning the UI part. I read about UI/UX design and figured out that UX isn’t all that. I felt I can design a product without going through the stages of UX design. Going straight into visual design and designing for aesthetics is my thing.
I started with the 100 days DailyUI challenge (I doubt if any new designer that didn’t start this way, lol). To do this, I check on inspiration on Behance, Dribbble, CollectUI, and go straight to moving pixels. I never understood the reasons for features, layouts, functions. Once I work with colours, decide on the typeface, I’m happy.
Later on, as I was getting exposed to more designs, feedback, I sought reason(s) before I make a design decision. Being a curious person, I set out to check why making design decisions is important. This took me back to UX design. I read more about UX design, developed an interest. The research, ideation phase interest me in particular.
I got to have a hand-on experience with UX design when I took the Udacity User Experience Nanodegree Course. This course is something I would recommend to anyone starting or has an interest in UX design.
With the course, I could practice UX design principles and gain knowledge about; Research, Research Report, Research Synthesis, Information Architecture, Develop Wireframes, Develop Personas, User Stories, User Flow, Task Flow, Usability Test, High Fidelity Mockups and prototyping.
So what has UX thinking done for me?
First, it has allowed me to focus on things that matter before designing. When I set out to design now, it is more about features than layouts. I focus more on features that allow the potential user to carry out his/her task effortlessly.
Another thing it has done for me is that before designing, I find out what problem I’m solving and who I’m designing for. When I know this, I research to understand the user’s needs. This is what I then translate into the design requirements. Since I started doing this, I’ve observed that my design has become much more valuable.
One last thing that improved is my confidence. Since I started designing with UX thinking, I’ve become much more confident. I don’t have a job yet, but I seek feedback from senior designers. While presenting my design to them, I have a full understanding of all my design decisions. I understand the rationale behind the features. Why I used the top navigation instead of the bottom, why I used a particular button and many more.
Nothing beats the satisfaction that comes with solving design problems and understanding the reason for all your decisions. This put you in a better position to design products, that people would enjoy using. However, UI skill is also important. It allows you to design aesthetically pleasing interface.
UX covers function, while UI covers aesthetic. It is important to gain both skills as a product designer.
See you soon.