Creativity makes us stand out, right? That’s the rationale we designers use, anyway. So if you really want to make it in this field, your best bet is to create stuff, and then create more stuff — as often as possible! But here’s the thing: Creativity alone won’t make you an exceptional UI/UX designer. Here are five skills you should master first…
If you want to be exceptional…
If you want to be exceptional at anything, it’s important to know how you can hone your craft. Doing things day in and day out, no matter how well you do them, won’t help unless you’re learning from your experience and trying new techniques that will improve your ability. And when it comes to design, knowledge is power.
Then show passion
The best way to show that you’re passionate about UX design is to put your own blood, sweat and tears into it. Don’t just read all of those articles on Medium. Participate in conversations online and offline, learn how people think and how they react when they interact with technology. Build something!
learn from failures
As a UI/UX designer, you must be able to identify and dissect errors in your designs. No one wins all of their battles, and every failure holds valuable lessons about what works—and what doesn’t—in design. From negative user feedback to code bugs, there’s always a way to learn from your mistakes, so make sure you’re not only getting it right—but learning from those times when you got it wrong. It can help make you an exceptional designer in no time!
An exceptional user experience designer should also be willing to ask questions and seek out people’s opinions. It’s one thing to have an idea, but it’s another thing entirely to gather feedback, consider your target audience and create a design that works best in different situations.
Create a portfolio of your best works
It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job if you can’t show that to a potential employer. If you don’t have a portfolio, start one today. An online portfolio with links to some of your most impressive work looks better than a paper resume and will help drive traffic back to your website and social media profiles. Make sure all of your work has been edited or proofread by someone else before submitting it in your portfolio.
Develop personal relationships with influencers in your industry
A big part of your professional identity as a designer will come from who you know. Your portfolio will take you only so far when you’re just starting out—for example, to secure an interview or portfolio review from an influencer in your industry, like a website usability expert or an author on Web design trends. You’ll need to build connections with people who have influence over hiring decisions, which means interacting with them in more than just a strictly professional capacity.
Surround yourself with other talented individuals
All creatives are insecure. At one point or another, we’ve all felt inferior to our peers and even questioned our own abilities. What differentiates successful designers from unsuccessful ones isn’t how much they know; it’s how open they are to learning new things. When your designer friends come over with a new browser plug-in, learn it. Start up a conversation with that developer sitting next to you in class.
Conclusion
The ability to come up with innovative, creative ideas and concepts is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Even if you’re an exceptional creative director, there are three things that separate great designers from exceptional ones: persistence, efficiency and mindfulness. In order to become an outstanding designer, you have to be willing to work hard at what you do. You have to learn how to see opportunities where others don’t see them.
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