A few years back I made the switch from working in Animation to Design & Technology. Honestly, I haven't looked back. When I started this transition I didn't know anyone directly who was a UX Designer. So what I did was I reached out to people I didn't know on Linkedin and at UX Meetups.
Most of these relationships didn't go anywhere. But the people, who did come back to me, wrote really helpful emails. Their advice and guidance meant the world to me at that point. This article is my advice on starting out. There is honestly no right way, but the people who show drive and passion, with a willingness to learn, usually make it.
Mentoring:
Most of these relationships didn't go anywhere. But the people, who did come back to me, wrote really helpful emails. Their advice and guidance meant the world to me at that point. This article is my advice on starting out. There is honestly no right way, but the people who show drive and passion, with a willingness to learn, usually make it.
Mentoring:
Mentoring is so important when learning. There are sites like https://www.adplist.org which looks like a great place to get some advice from top notice designers from around the world. If I was starting out, I would be all over this. Particularly, see if there are any designers in your area. This will help you get your foot in the door of the agency or design team. Linked-in is also a great way to reach out to people working in companies you want to work for. Be bold, Give it ago. It is scary but well worth it.
Courses
There are some fantastic places to learn about UX. There are many online courses and I'll recommend a couple below, but 90% of design is interacting with people. So if you can attend a course that's in person. That will be of huge benefit because you'll meet people who may end up helping you get your first job. www.uxtraining.com offered an intro to UX. I found the course amazing, but the people I meet were class. They really helped me get my first start in design.
In the AO UX Design team, we are signed up and registered with a training company called the Interaction Design Foundation. They provide amazing, learn at your own pace courses on nearly all aspects of user experience design. It cost about £10 a month and you can cancel any time. At the end of completing each course, you get a certificate that you can share on LinkedIn. While this cert isn’t academically recognized, within the industry they are regarded. I would recommend the UX designer training path. But honestly, it's all great stuff, so pick what interests you. www.interaction-design.org
www.uxdesigninstitute.com is another online training course. This course is fantastic, it's a little pricey but the education is top-notch and you end up with a fantastic portfolio. I've completed it. The benefits to my working practice have definitely paid for themselves 10 fold.
There are also tonnes of great resources on Udemy or Youtube.
There are some fantastic places to learn about UX. There are many online courses and I'll recommend a couple below, but 90% of design is interacting with people. So if you can attend a course that's in person. That will be of huge benefit because you'll meet people who may end up helping you get your first job. www.uxtraining.com offered an intro to UX. I found the course amazing, but the people I meet were class. They really helped me get my first start in design.
In the AO UX Design team, we are signed up and registered with a training company called the Interaction Design Foundation. They provide amazing, learn at your own pace courses on nearly all aspects of user experience design. It cost about £10 a month and you can cancel any time. At the end of completing each course, you get a certificate that you can share on LinkedIn. While this cert isn’t academically recognized, within the industry they are regarded. I would recommend the UX designer training path. But honestly, it's all great stuff, so pick what interests you. www.interaction-design.org
www.uxdesigninstitute.com is another online training course. This course is fantastic, it's a little pricey but the education is top-notch and you end up with a fantastic portfolio. I've completed it. The benefits to my working practice have definitely paid for themselves 10 fold.
There are also tonnes of great resources on Udemy or Youtube.
Blogs
One of our UX Leads in AO, Matt complies with an amazing weekly reading list that you can subscribe to.
https://uxlift.substack.com. He also stores tonnes of great articles on different topics about design. Definitely worth an investigation.
Personally, I love this Podcast series on YouTube called High Resolution. This is a collection of the top 25 designers in the world talking about design for an hour each. It’s really great. Here’s the link. There is a good mix of men, women, young & old. It a great point overview. I personally refer back to Daniel Burka's interview. I'm pretty sure I blagged my way into jobs by referencing what he said in this interview.
Books
There are tonnes of great UX books that you can get. Particular favorites of mine are:
- Lean UX, 2e: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams Link
- Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (Voices That Matter) Link
- Refactoring UI Make your ideas look awesome, without relying on a designer.
- This book gives a tonne of tips and tricks on how to produce great-looking UI. While this book didn't exist when I was learning UI. I referenced these guys loads from their Twitter accounts. They helped me transition from an animation artist to a UI designer. One thing I should point out is this is UI design and not UX design tips and tricks. How you apply the information in this book should plus the user experience you are trying to create.
Hope that some help.
Patrick