How to get a career in UX or UI design

SpaceCowb0y

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone out there working in either of these fields has any information on how exactly one would go about finding/starting a career in either of these areas!

I am currently a 27 yr old final year computer science student and work part time as a web designer as well as doing some of my own freelance stuff. My course however is geared mainly towards programming and software development which unfortunately after near 4 years of college i realise really isn't for me.

I have been doing a lot of reading though lately on UX/UI design (books on HCI & blogs etc) and feel this is an area i would really like to get in to but there isn't much info on how to get your foot in the door so to speak.

Nowhere really runs courses that are realistic i seen one in Dublin offered that was €750 for 2 days!!!:eek:

There are post grad courses run in the UK but those are crazy money!

I just joined the IxDA website yesterday and seen they run events from time to time and there is a "sketchclub" even on at the end of this month which i am thinking of attending although i dont know if this will be of any benefit to me yet considering i have had zero exposure really to the industry and what exactly it involves although sites like uxmastery.com have been really helpful!

Any constructive information anyone can give me would really be appreciated!

Thanks!:)

cormee

I worked as a web designer for ten years or so, before moving into UI design a few years ago. Most of what you will do on a day-to-day basis as a UI designer you should be doing currently as a web designer - ie. prototyping, wireframes, validating code, ensuring accessibility, using design patterns, etc. etc.

Study usability (Jakob Nielsen, Steve Krug), accessibility, follow best practices and implement them religiously in everything you do, and be confident enough to be able to hold your own when talking about them in an interview.

I don't find there is *that* great a difference between web and UI design, if I was pressed for any I'd say the main differences are that UI design is more structured, discipline is a requirement (as opposed to a commodity in web design), and there is a little less room for creativity - especially when accessibility is a requirement.

I got into it by working for a software co. as a web designer, doing some simple UIs for them and then applying for a UI role which had a fairly heavy web slant.

SpaceCowb0y

Thanks for that!

Yes in my job i do a lot of those things already so that's good to know that it is all useful if I look to move into the field of UI or UX design which I think is highly likely as a career in web design doesn't seem to offer much job satisfaction at least up until now anyway! (That could just be in the company I work for however) whereas I think UX/UI design could be a lot more rewarding, by being both a more challenging career and also financially? Would that be a correct assumption?

cormee

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

whereas I think UX/UI design could be a lot more rewarding, by being both a more challenging career and also financially? Would that be a correct assumption?

Regarding wages, it depends -A lot more companies use web designers, which has meant a lot more people getting into the business, that probably drives down the wage for someone starting in the business, but I've seen great, and crap, wages advertised for both roles.

I think there are possibly more opportunities to specialise in certain areas in UI design. My role, for example, has a heavy focus on accessibility, the organisations who buy our software are legally obliged to purchase accessible software, the software has to be audited for accessibility externally, tested on disabled users etc. and I enjoy that aspect of it a lot.

The reason I got out of web design, as a full-time job, was because I always ended up in the marketing dept. of startup software companies as a one-man web design department - so there were few, or no, opportunities for advancement. I'm sure there are plenty of more opportunities if you are willing to work for design agencies, but I'm not a 'dynamic, go-getting, blue-sky thinking, team player' so that's something that never interested me.

SpaceCowb0y

cormee wrote: »

Regarding wages, it depends -A lot more companies use web designers, which has meant a lot more people getting into the business, that probably drives down the wage for someone starting in the business, but I've seen great, and crap, wages advertised for both roles.

I think there are possibly more opportunities to specialise in certain areas in UI design. My role, for example, has a heavy focus on accessibility, the organisations who buy our software are legally obliged to purchase accessible software, the software has to be audited for accessibility externally, tested on disabled users etc. and I enjoy that aspect of it a lot.

The reason I got out of web design, as a full-time job, was because I always ended up in the marketing dept. of startup software companies as a one-man web design department - so there were few, or no, opportunities for advancement. I'm sure there are plenty of more opportunities if you are willing to work for design agencies, but I'm not a 'dynamic, go-getting, blue-sky thinking, team player' so that's something that never interested me.

You sound similar to myself! The company I work for (while it does quite well!!) is only a small to medium sized company and i really don't see any room to grow/advance here, i also don't feel like i'm developing my skill-set here much either and do most of my learning in my own time from home as i'm never given anything really challenging or new to work on as the company really isn't trying to push any boundaries.

Having recently spoke to another UX designer they also spoke about user testing, is this a big part of the job and what is it about this aspect of the job that you find enjoyable?

Fussgangerzone

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

You sound similar to myself! The company I work for (while it does quite well!!) is only a small to medium sized company and i really don't see any room to grow/advance here, i also don't feel like i'm developing my skill-set here much either and do most of my learning in my own time from home as i'm never given anything really challenging or new to work on as the company really isn't trying to push any boundaries.

Think about telling your employers this. If you're any good, and they have any flexibility, they might agree to your transitioning into a more UX-oriented role. If you can make UX your job, you'll end up having to learn everything as you do it, which is kind of the quickest way.

I was in a job where one day me and another lad were literally told, "we're calling you the UX department now", and we started doing the necessary along with our existing roles.

My next two jobs were successively more UX-oriented, and now I do this stuff for a living.

--note: don't tell them what you said, verbatim! Just tell them you're really interested in UX and would like to move into or towards that area somehow.

SpaceCowb0y

Fussgangerzone wrote: »

Think about telling your employers this. If you're any good, and they have any flexibility, they might agree to your transitioning into a more UX-oriented role. If you can make UX your job, you'll end up having to learn everything as you do it, which is kind of the quickest way.

I was in a job where one day me and another lad were literally told, "we're calling you the UX department now", and we started doing the necessary along with our existing roles.

My next two jobs were successively more UX-oriented, and now I do this stuff for a living.

--note: don't tell them what you said, verbatim! Just tell them you're really interested in UX and would like to move into or towards that area somehow.

I have already asked for a more creative role in the company but the problem is like i said its only a small enough business... there is myself and 2 other designers and "The Creative Director" he is the only one who really does any UX/UI stuff for app development etc, and like i said we really aren't pushing any boundaries building award winning websites or apps... everything is pretty run of the mill stuff, built to a high professional standard of course but nothing exciting or experimental, our websites are almost template like at this stage by which i mean even when we are designing them they all have a very similar look and feel to them i have yet to see us build something really dynamic and fresh!

Another big problem but i don't think it would really matter is i have gone back to college full time to finish my degree in 1 year which means i'm now only working part-time, i could have continued the degree part-time but another two years of it would have been painful!

I guess i will just continue to read and educate myself and hopefully my web design background may somehow help me catch a break and find a way to transition into the field of UX/UI design when i finish up the course? Any time i do a search however on jobs boards it would seem all anyone wants is senior UX/UI designers with years of experience! Doesn't leave someone looking to start out with a lot of hope:o