I find many people who are looking to cross skill themselves in to UX Design. Some of them are from Design background, others could be from various different field.
I would like to share my experience of the journey to UX Design and some helpful resources / tips.
Catch-me-up with the Movie
Before getting into the tips, let me introduce myself. My name is Mieko. I am a Product Designer with 11 years of background in textile design. When I discovered UX design, I found so many similarities in textile and UX design such as using design software, design thinking, usability testing but one of the biggest differences is in UX design we have the potential to conduct direct research to the users to find the real problem.
This research data makes the design more functional. It was mind-blowing to discover that!
I can not agree more about this concept, we need to know real user’s behaviors, opinions, frustrations in order to design for them. This helped me decide to shift my design career to UX design and I completed a UX Bootcamp to begin with.
Now, I am giving back to the tech community while looking for a position. Since I join this community, so many people helped me to grow, so I would love to do the same for anyone who is seeking information.
Helpful Slack & Discord UX Design Groups
Below are list of my favorite slack and discord groups. I pick these groups because of two reasons. 1st reason is the community’s mission, I am using slack to connect like-minded people such as people who care about diversity, equality, and inclusion and build a network with them. 2nd reason is supportive, I find so many thoughtful posts every day in each community. Such as sharing event, resources, opening positions, etc. I want to be in the community they are part of and trying to help others.
- Out In Tech _ LGBTQ+ focus group. They organize many events and mentorship programs outside of slack.
- Hexagon UX _ Women focus UX group. There are local channels for each area. They organize many events and mentorship programs outside of slack.
- Products by Women _ Women focus product group. They organize many events and mentorship programs outside of slack.
- Rosenfeld Media | DesignOps Community _ Their books are great way to expand your UX knowledge. Also they organize design events and summits.
Design Buddies _ They organize wonderful events almost weekly. You can also find so many non-UX-related topic channels in this community.
Recommended Books for UX Design
These two books influenced me to decide upscaling my career to UX design. It was great shock to me that when I discover UX design. ”What is the purpose of things?” UX design is not only creating beautiful products that need to be functional and consider that before and after process of the products for users.
After I completed UX Bootcamp, I continue to study and conducted projects. These books helped me to give me idea of the process. UX Bootcamp taught us great basic knowledge but the UX world is so broad, I don’t know so many methods and skills so I love learning every day from the books and also talking to other people.
- Sprint _ This book’s concept is to solve problems in 5days, this helped me to think which area needs to focus on limited time in the sprint and helped build a project plan to win the hackathon.
- Hooked _ Why do some products hook us? This is a great book to understand how successful products used research data and design thinking.
- Giving A Damn About Accessibility _ Amazing free book by Sheri Byrne-Haber and UX collective. I think great starting point for web accessibility. There are audio version too! Sheri’s medium article is a great resource to learn about accessibility.
Other Helpful UX Design Resources
A job search site focuses on company culture and AI to deliver personalized and effective results for candidates. I love this website, a game changer for me to make job hunting little fun and also easy.
You can request free mentor sessions with experienced designers. I have met so many great people through this website and learn about actual experience and knowledge.
Summing it up…
Hopefully, my story will help you to find your journey. I believe that each UXer’s story is so unique. Something that works for me might not work for you. But that’s ok, that makes us all unique and valuable.
I would love to hear your comments, favorite resources, tips, or anything. I am open to connect with passionate people. Enjoy your path!
Hello Meiko
I am a Textile Designer like yourself. I worked more than 8 years in this field. I was taking a career break for raising my children. It was a15 years break. I want to take up UX and UI and start fresh. I really need some feedback and guidance regarding this. If you can possibly guide me through this it would be a great favour.
Thank you,
Shri