{"id":12017,"date":"2022-09-19T07:15:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T14:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=12017"},"modified":"2024-07-08T08:20:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T15:20:12","slug":"ux-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/ux-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"17 UX Skills To Start (or Improve) Your Design Career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re hunting for a design role, chances are you\u2019ve seen plenty of job posts like below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this role, a junior UX designer is expected to transform ideas into effective user experiences, create engaging designs according to project specifications, and help to create a variety of UX deliverables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: With Power<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But what skills does a UX designer need in order to accomplish this? In this article, we\u2019ll break down the technical and soft skills you need to get hired for a UX design role<\/a>\u2014and explain how you can build the necessary UX knowledge and hands-on design experience to make your application competitive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Skills Does a UX Designer Need?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UX designers<\/a> build frictionless user experiences<\/a> that meet real user needs. To do this, they apply technical skills like user research, prototyping, and usability testing. They also need soft skills like empathy, collaboration, and critical thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s explore the key skills that designers need to create useful, accessible, and delightful user experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Skills for a UX Design Career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Company size can affect the diversity of technical skills required to land a design position. At large companies, design teams are often divided into specialist roles, while designers at startups commonly participate in product development from start to finish. At mid-sized companies, a \u201cT-shaped\u201d skill set is common, in which designers supplement generalist skills with specialized knowledge regarding a specific aspect of design.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UX designers typically begin as generalists and develop specialized skills over time. Former graphic designers may excel at user interface design<\/a>, while psychology enthusiasts might embrace user research. Nevertheless, all design jobs require a strong command of the following fundamental skills:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

User Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Source: Net Solutions<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After defining a product\u2019s concept, designers gather information about user behavior and psychology through user research<\/a>. UX research helps designers empathize with users, identify design opportunities, and validate or disprove assumptions about a product\u2019s target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key user research skills include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n