What should you know and do to become a successful designer? I want to share with you my personal opinion on this topic.
1. Learn the theory behind each task and design element: color, shapes, typography, etc. Each visual form has its characteristics and meanings; a UI/UX designer must know them well. For example, if you want to create an interface for buying clothes online, try thinking about what makes your users want to buy them immediately! Colors play a huge role here – using bright contrasting colors will help attract potential buyers’ eyesight. Also, remember that adding images or other visuals can be helpful as many people prefer illustration over text only. I would recommend checking out great books on UI/UX design or attending some courses.
2. Do practice! It’s better to create sketches by hand but if you don’t have time, use one of many online prototyping tools available nowadays. For example, Invisionapp is great for both mobile and web designing projects. After you’ve chosen a tool that best fits your needs, starts making prototypes. No need to be afraid even if it isn’t perfect at first – I’d say, try it out! Put yourself in the user’s shoes and think how they might react to what you’re going to show them. Doing real-life practice can teach you more than reading any textbook or watching recorded lectures again and again.
3. Find your style! You probably already know that users can sense when something is ‘not right. It means that sorting out the aesthetics of your future product is extremely important if you want to make successful UI/UX design projects. Of course, there’s no recipe for creating an incredible interface, but I’d recommend two simple things. First, try to make user-centered designs – it doesn’t matter what kind they are (flat one, skeuomorphic, or maybe some mixture), just be yourself and stay true to yourself while designing. Second, keep trying new things with your designs – it will help you find your unique taste better than any other recommendation!
4. Show others what you’ve got! Sharing your knowledge is an essential part of being a designer. You can start by writing articles on your blog, doing presentations, or making instructional videos (there are many tools like Uscreen). Such actions will improve your skills and help you discover new talents and even make new friends! I’ve met many interesting people while participating in various UI/UX design contests that inspire inspiration, ideas, and encouragement for my future projects.
5. Don’t be afraid to try something new! Of course, it’s great if you’re already confident in what you’re doing now – still, I’d recommend always keeping an eye on the nearest future as well. Maybe some new technology or modern approach might become industry standard in the next few months. For example, Google has just started testing their new Material Design, bringing flat design trends to a new level by implementing some significant animation effects. So keep your head up high and stay tuned for upcoming news in UI/UX designing industry!
Which is the better career: Front-end web dev or UX design?
This is another popular topic lately. Here’s my personal opinion on why you should choose UI/UX design over web development. If you’re still not sure if it’s what you want, please read on!
I’ve been creating websites and mobile apps all my life, but recently, more and more people tend to become UX designers instead of front-end developers. So I want to explain why I think this profession has a brighter future than web dev for your readers. They might be asking themselves: ‘But why? Is it better?’ So let me share all the reasons with them!
First of all – there is a vast difference between designing a website or an app from scratch and working on a project that already has its codebase. Plus, many UX design companies usually have plenty of tasks, so if you don’t like the one you’re currently working on – wait for 10 minutes, and there’ll be a new one already.
Secondly – this is not really about money, but it’s more about the future development of the web designing industry. Many talented designers can easily create great designs by hand. Still, if they want to integrate some basic animations into their work, they probably won’t know how to do this as they’re not professional coders. So what I’m trying to say is that sooner or later, new technologies will appear and make UI/UX designing even more complicated than web development itself. And when this happens, coders will have to work even harder trying to learn these new technologies, and in the end, they’ll make web designing companies look for people with entirely different skills.
Last but not least – do you know why great UX design stores like Apple can make billions of profits per year? It’s because they perfectly know how to play with user emotions! That means that if you’re an ambitious designer obsessed with creating unique things – there is nothing more enjoyable than having your own company where you can feel free to explore all the possibilities of the UI/UX designing world! I bet that many designers would love to see their future projects become successful, just like Apple Stores did. Plus, it feels good when you know that some parts of your design are unique, and it’s not only about the color or shape.
My advice for people who want to make a career in UI/UX designing is that you should always keep an eye on the next big thing because when trends change very rapidly, designers have to work much harder than they do now. Also, I’d recommend always trying something new as well! Because when you’re learning something new every day – no one can stop you from becoming successful in UI/UX designing industry.
Thank you for reading this article, and sorry if I sounded a bit aggressive – but this topic was starting to annoy me because there have been so many unqualified comments lately! It seems like Software developers think that by just knowing how to code, they’re better than designers, and that’s not true! I’m a creative person by heart, and if you’re creative too – this is where your future lies.