5 Steps to Become a Successful UX Designer in 2024

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Did you know that the requests for UX interviews went up by 289% in 2020?

According to CNN Money, the demand for UX designers is expected to shoot up by 18% in the year 2025. So if you are thinking about how I should become a successful UX designer then this is the right time and place to be.

Well, it gives a pretty deep insight into the scope of UX design in the future, which says

“UX designing in the future!”

But, if you are new to UX, you might be wondering who exactly is a UX designer, or what would you do after you become a UX designer.

Well, in brief, he/she is the person who creates a web/app for businesses to improve their interactions, transactions, and engagement with their customers.

So, is UX designing for you?

Well, it is a very subjective question, and its answer varies from person to person. But, here are the answers to some common objections or questions people face while choosing UX designing as a career option. So read along and decide for yourself.

Is UX Design A Good Career?

Yes, of course!

Approximately 87% of hiring managers have accepted the hiring of UX designers as their top priority. This data alone gives a pretty good idea of the fact that UX designers are in high demand.
And why won’t they?

The business was always from people to people, and it will always be. Period!

And, UX designers do a great job in bridging the gap between the brand and its customers. Their involvement at so many stages of a business/project makes them quite an incredible asset for a business that no successful business can ignore.

Apart from this, there is another reason why you should consider choosing UX designing as your career – A good salary.

Well, your payroll, after you become a UX designer, depends highly on the location of the business and its demands, but you can expect a salary in the range of INR 4 LPA to 19 LPA.

UX Designers Contribute Immensely To Business Strategies

“The more value you will add to a business, the more you will be able to make money”

Simple!

To be precise, the list of the value that a UX designer adds to a business would go long enough to make any reader feel overwhelmed; therefore, here are some key points.

• Improving and optimizing the customer journey for a business by improving the brand’s engagement and interaction with its audience at each stage of its journey.
• Identifying personas based on their choices and engagement with the web/app.
• First impression and credibility with the right and helpful content.
• By increasing the average LTV (LifeTime Value) of an existing customer.
• Helps in brand recognition and hence, helps in building a loyal customer base.

How’s The Work-Life Balance Of A UX Designer?

As a UX designer, it is possible for you to maintain an ideal work-life balance. It depends on the complexity of the project, the number of other members you have in your team and the committed timelines.

UX design allows for flexible working hours, and really, the number of hours you put in doesn’t matter as long as you are meeting your client’s expectations.

If you are just starting, you may need to put in extra effort to learn the nuances of UX design, but as you gain experience, it will come naturally to you.

After that, you can do much more in fewer hours. So to cut the long story short, you can expect a decent work-life balance as a UX designer.

What If I Am From A Different Career Background?

If you working in some other professional field but want to transition your career into UX design, then you are not the only one. Research shows that 56% of UX designers come from a different professional background.

As UX design demands mastering other skills as well, coming from a different background will give you an entirely different perspective of looking at UX. So it is possible that you may not have prior experience in UX but you can definitely thrive as a UX designer.

The most common transition is from being a graphic/visual designer to becoming a UX designer. Other related fields are:

• Mobile (Android/iOS) & Web Development
• Psychology
• Marketing & Sales
• Digital Marketing
• Illustration
• Research & Analysis
• Architecture

Non-related fields from where professionals have become UX designers are:

• Retail management
• Office Administration
• Music
• Banking
• Translation
• Healthcare
• Academics

So currently, if you are in a different field but you are deeply interested in UX design and want to switch over to it, you can by all means. Follow the right approach and you will come up trumps as a UX designer.

5 Proven Steps to Become a Successful UX Designer

Well, the process is quite simple to understand. Let’s look at each step one by one.

1. Explore And Learn About The Field (Skills And Techniques)

For starters, you need to acquire some important skills; for instance, responsive web design, wireframing, user interface design, and prototyping.

Therefore, if you want to become a UX designer, you need to work on these skills. You will also need to read more books on UX design and product design to sharpen your knowledge.

Along with these skills, you will also need to develop some important soft skills like communication, project management, team building, etc. to become a UX designer.

Some of the most common ways to learn these skills are by joining boot camps and UX design courses. Many institutes are developing such courses that provide users with hands-on experience and the required sets of skills.

To complete any UX design course or a Bootcamp, it will not take more than 40 hours of classroom time, and the projects will require a maximum of 20-25 hours a week.

In this way, apart from the required skill set, you will also get a proven work experience that you can showcase to get more projects.

2. Work On A Project To Develop Your UX Design Skills

The theoretical knowledge can’t get you skills. You will need to apply that knowledge to some projects.

Once you apply your knowledge to a project, you will come across new challenges, and then you will have to find different ways to solve them.

UX designing, as discussed, is in high demand. But, there are a lot of people who are learning the same skill, which means you will have to face a lot of competition for the same project.

However, if you want to become a UX designer in this highly competitive market, it is essential to have a thorough experience of projects along with a strong understanding of UX.

In UX designing, you don’t need to limit yourself to the skills you’ve learned because different projects may or may not require different skills than your existing ones.

Thus, to become a UX designer, you need to keep on learning new skills to deliver your projects with better efficiency. Along with it, you also need to work on your soft skills like communication skills and project management as it will help you maintain good terms with your clients.

3. Develop A Portfolio To Showcase Your UX Design Skills

A lot of people have skills, but only a few of them can present them properly. Today, your success depends massively upon how effectively you showcase your skill sets.

The best way of showcasing your skills is by building a great portfolio. A portfolio should contain all the necessary information about you and how exactly you can help in scaling a business.

Behance and Dribbble are the leading sites where you can develop an outstanding portfolio. Recently, Adobe has launched Adobe Portfolio, which allows creative professionals to build their personal portfolio websites.

Other sites too, such as Coroflot, Carbonmade, Cargo and Creavdo offer avenues for designers to submit their portfolios.

4. Apply To Relevant UX Design Jobs

Well, the next step in the journey to becoming a UX designer is finding the right job!

You can definitely go for the low-hanging fruits initially, but gradually, you have to be very specific about the job title you want.

Unaware of the available job titles? Well, don’t worry! We have got you covered.

1. UX Designer
2. UX Researcher
3. Information Architect
4. Interaction Designer
5. UX Strategist
6. UX Product Manager
7. UX Engineer
8. Product Designer
9. Visual Designer
10. UX Developer
11. UX Analyst
12. UX Architect
13. Experience Designer
14. Usability Tester
15. User Researcher

5. Network With Designers

A strong network always helps; especially, if it is about finding the dream job or project!

And initially, you also need to connect with a lot of designers on different social media platforms to grow your network and become a UX designer.

Besides, you can also reach out to seasoned designers for small projects, and in the future, you can showcase this experience to get a better or high-paying job.

However, it is not necessary to join a full-time UX designing job because as your network grows, clients will reach out to you directly, and thus, you can even become a freelance UX designer.

But, if you don’t want to make an in-person network through LinkedIn, you can use other platforms like Slack, Designer Hangout, Junior UX community, etc.

3 Best Platforms for Networking as a UX Designer

Networking or interacting has become very easy with the advent of social media platforms. But the process can become a real mess if you don’t know which platform to choose. Here are three platforms from which you can start your game of networking to become a UX designer.

1. LinkedIn

It is one of the best professional social media platforms with 774+ million registered members and more than 87 million registered professionals. This platform has more than 40 million decision-makers and more than 60 million senior influencers.

The beauty of this platform is that here you can find experienced professionals as well as beginners. LinkedIn does a crucial job of bridging the gap between job seekers and job providers. You can also utilize its potential and become a UX designer and get your dream job/project.

2. Dribbble

Dribbble is another social media platform that has gained massive popularity among digital designers and creatives. It is a place where designers connect, gain and share feedback, get design inspiration, and get hired. Dribbble also allows for the selling of design resources in its creative market.

3. Instagram

Visual platforms are gaining a lot of popularity these days, and Instagram is one of them. Like every other social media platform, you can connect with people on Instagram too.

But if you compare its reach, you are likely to get the highest reach on Instagram. Therefore, with just one post, you are likely to reach your targeted audience without a lot of hassle.

Conclusion

So, do you think UX design is for you? You have seen that the process isn’t that difficult. Well, it isn’t that simple too, but anyone can do all these things with a little bit of conviction and dedication.

We would love to know about you and your journey to becoming a UX Designer. Tell us your story in the comment section. You can also go to our Contact Us page and view the most recent job openings at Octet Design Studio. Good Luck!