4 Doubts Every UX Design Beginner Might Have Gone Through

Is this design field for me or not?

How will I be able to secure any opportunities in this sector?

I am pretty bad at drawing and arts, is this field for me?

I am not from a design background, am I making the right choice?

Do you find something familiar? Have you come across any of these?

Okay so, to make it clear, this post is specifically for those who have ever considered opting design as a career, at least once.

So, if you are not one of those, sorry to disappoint you, you won’t be able to relate to this account.

And if you nodded in affirmation to any of the aforementioned, then this post can be of some interest to you.

Anyway, I have given it a thought couple of times and I have some doubts many of which haven’t got the answer still.

I am on a quest on finding those answers and in the meanwhile share my findings so far.

But before that, let me give you a little background about myself.

I have some experience in front-end development and graphics designing. I did some of it while in college and now pursuing it UI development professionally.

So, learning UX will be more of a bottom-up approach from me. Ideally, what I have seen that people often start with UX first and then later move on to UI development mostly out of their interest.

Now, I’ll be coming straight to the point where we need to discuss what all doubts I had which many of you might be able to relate to.

1) UX design vs UI design dilemma.

I told you, it all started with graphics designing which later moved on to UI development and then finally landing at UX.

At one point in time, I was totally into this UX vs UI dilemma until I figured out the distinction between these. Many a time, a clear crisp definition does wonder.

It is like, UX design is an umbrella term for all the activities that can craft a better User experience while UI design is incorporating the findings of UX design and crafting a visually appealing solution to the problem.

As simple as that. And yeah, do correct me if I am wrong. That will help me a lot. Now, my long-term goal includes becoming a full stack UI/UX design package.

2) Opportunities.

I think this dilemma is faced by everyone. What all opportunities will be there if I want to pursue my career in it?

But when you see from a superficial level, there are many platforms like Indiefolio exclusively for designers and creators which can help you land some opportunities.

And I believe, there must be a plethora of such platforms. How good are they, that’s another question but the point is that there is something you can chance upon.

The whole point that I have understood so far is that there are opportunities and scope. All that one need is to head in the right direction.

And above all, how should I pursue it in the first hand. That leads us to the next dilemma.

3) Whether UX design is for me or not.

You might be able to relate to this if you are from a non-design background or rather a technical background.

I am not that good at sketching or drawing or art, is still this UX design sector for me?

This question might have crawled your head sometimes and mine too.

But after a lot of pondering over this thought, what I have realized is that the research skills and the ability to empathize with the end user so as to step in his shoes and understand the requirements is a must have skill that one should have to pursue this.

Everything else is just an add-on and there is no such skill that cannot be acquired with practice and consistency.

Always Remember,

Consistency beats perfection.

4) Going for the master’s degree or a design institute or self-learning.

This turmoil is something that many of us must have faced.

I even posted a question on Quora and here is what Avinash answered there.

Link to the Question here.

Self-learning seems to be difficult at the first glance because as I said there are so many unknowns and unknowns and no exact roadmap. Also, there are a hell lot of resources available on the internet which results in an overload of information and confusion.

Going for a masters degree is something I cannot consider at this point in time. I’ll update if I will get an answer for the same.

Conclusion:

You might have gone through some of these and if you have managed to read this far, do let me know what all doubts or questions you have or had as a UX design beginner?

Also, share your experiences if you can spare your time. That would be highly beneficial for all of us.