A web designer works not only on website visuals. They also have other responsibilities, and their success is impossible without professional development and getting new skills. But what exactly do you need to be able to do for getting into a professional UX design firm in San Francisco? We have collected some skills that will increase your chances of getting a design position in the best companies.
1. Expand your horizons
You can always find new techniques for creating a design. Have you ever wondered how many times you downloaded the application to your phone or registered on the website, not paying attention to the details? Next time pay more attention to it and see what the designer used trucks, think why he had included a particular element.
Try to carry out such practices as often as possible, take screenshots of the interfaces you like, and use them as a guide while working on your projects.
2. Study your target audience
This is especially important for UX designers. First of all, the website is created for users. Therefore, it is essential to study the target audience before developing a design. Their preferences and interests are crucial and their age because the younger generation’s visual will alienate older people.
If you want to create a design that should achieve a goal, interview a few potential website visitors and find out what is essential. This data can be helpful for an accurate portrait.
If you want to explore this topic more profoundly, you better read some books like a book by Philip Graves “Consumerology”. Here the author gives non-trivial advice on studying customer needs, analyzes errors in detail, and points out mistakes.
3. Get ready for teamwork
Newbies start learning web design with enthusiasm and think they can build a website from scratch without other professionals’ help. It seems to them that they will figure out the intricacies of development by themselves, and when they receive feedback, they perceive it negatively. With this approach, it is impossible to get a position in a leading UX/UI agency.
In large companies, dozens of people work on one project, and several employees create a design at once. They all have a different approach to solving specific problems, so you need to be ready for criticism. Do not be afraid to listen to your colleagues’ opinions and delve into their ideas.
Teamwork also suggests that cool agency values employees who know more about creating a design in a certain program. Those who understand only the basic principles of work in dozens of services do not stay here.
Mike Monteiro writes about interaction with other people in his book “Design is a job”. There, you can find tips that will teach you to value your work and how to present finished projects. These skills are also very important for working in a product design agency.
4. Learn to work with prototypes
Prototyping makes it easier for designers as it shows what to add and what to remove, even before the website starts to work.
Prototypes are also useful for customers because they are allowed:
- Provide comments on the project at an early stage;
- Reduce re-launch budgets;
- Determine the approximate timeline for launching the website.
You can create prototypes in design programs, for example, Sketch or Photoshop, but there is software developed specifically for this purpose. If you want to learn how to make rough versions of websites, Draftium or Marvel are very good for you.
5. Writing
No website is ready without text, so it’s important to know the basics of copywriting. It is necessary that users immediately understand what it is about.
The Apple website is an example of good word processing. Here the functions of the products are spelled out concisely, there are no complex technical terms, and its simplicity makes visitors buy their products.
6. Analyze
Experienced designers work on a project not only during website creation but also after launch since they need to know how effective the visual elements are.
For analytics, you need to learn how to work with the Google Analytics service. A free course from Google developers will help you learn. Short videos help you understand how to monitor traffic and analyze metrics.
By understanding analytics, a designer based on real data can understand what users liked and where he has made a mistake. All of this will improve the next projects and improve your skills.
Final thoughts
The main thing is not to be afraid to show the employer that you are a cool designer and are confident in your abilities. Remember that dozens of other specialists are applying for the position, but if you prove your competence, you will get a place in a cool UI/UX design firm.
