UX Planet — Medium | Nadya Tsech

Want to become a UX designer? Consider if UX is really for you and what obstacles you may encounter.

1. Is UX for me?

UX design is an incredible, but admittedly challenging job. Working in the industry requires a mix of technical, creative, and soft skills, an understanding of psychology, and analytical thinking.

Mindset
To become a successful UX designer, the right mindset is crucial. UX is a complex field and continual self-development and the acquisition of new skills are more important than natural talent.

Personal qualities
A growth mindset is important as well as certain personal qualities:

✓ Curiosity about people and technology

✓ Empathy

✓ Ability to learn quickly

✓ Problem-solving skills

✓ Critical and analytical thinking

✓ Communicating and collaborating skills

✓ Willingness to accept constructive criticism

✓ Being comfortable being wrong

✓ Adaptability (things change a lot)

✓ Accept that your work is never finished

Routine
These are day-to-day design activities. Is it something you want to do full-time?

UXPin asked designers “What activities are you involved in during the UX process?”

2. Opportunities

There is an increasing demand for UX designers, but it is worth investigating the job market in your region.

How much do UX practitioners get paid? The average salary across the world is $57,117 per year. The numbers vary from $3,666 in Indonesia to $97,492 in Switzerland.

Global average UX salaries by country uxdesignersalaries.com

Career growth
Do you know how your career should look? What projects do you want to work on? An agency in-house position?

What Kind of Design Work Should I do?

There are several ways for a maker’s career to progress (usually it’s a mix of these possibilities):

1. Be a skilled executor (one of the best in your field)
2. Educator, mentor, and evangelist
3. Innovator in the field (create new methodologies, tools)
4. Start a business
5. Consultant or independent maker
6. Take a leadership position

Market opportunities
What opportunities are there for new designers to start a career through junior positions and internships? What possibilities are out there for remote working?

Hiring Trends in UX Design: The 6 Things You Need to Know About Tech’s Fastest Growing Field | Creative Cloud blog by Adobe

3. Obstacles

What are the cons of being a UX designer?

1. There are ≈13K open UX positions on Indeed.com, but only 57 remote positions.
2. Most companies are looking for experienced designers and there not many possibilities for eager designers without work experience. Companies are not willing to invest in junior UX designers.

Tip: Read Jessica Ivins’ article Let’s Open Our Doors to Future UX Practitioners.

3. There are a lot of misconceptions about UX. One of them is that a UX designer should be able to do everything from business plans to coding. Therefore, many companies are looking for unicorns.

4. There is often only one designer in small companies or start-ups.

5. A UX designer has to be an evangelist and promote design culture in a company.

How to get started with UX

Find out what the minimum viable skills are in UX

Minimum viable skills in UX

Get inspired and motivated

Learn from others

💁 Thank you for reading! If you want to see more UX and design articles in your feed, follow me on Medium 📝

3 things to consider before moving to UX design was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.