{"id":14794,"date":"2020-07-08T01:31:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T08:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=14794"},"modified":"2024-02-12T05:28:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T13:28:29","slug":"ui-ux-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/ui-ux-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"What Skills Do You Need to Become a UI\/UX Designer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What skills do you need to become a UI\/UX designer? Learn how to grow your UX and UI design skillset with this introductory guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Skills Do You Need to Become a UI\/UX Designer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a relatively new field, there\u2019s no clear-cut path towards becoming a credentialed UI\/UX designer. Many professional UI\/UX designers originate from unrelated fields and bring transferable skills such as visual design, software development, or digital marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, a UI\/UX designer\u2019s educational background is not immediately obvious. While a degree in graphic design or web design can help, UI\/UX design is all about how people think, meaning a background in psychology can be just as helpful to a UI\/UX designer as a degree in graphic design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to learn more about the types of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/ux-skills\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/ux-skills\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">skills<\/a> you&#8217;ll need to become a UI\/UX designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Need to know more about the essentials of UI\/UX design? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/how-to-become-ui-ux-designer\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/how-to-become-ui-ux-designer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visit our comprehensive guide on how to become a UI\/UX designer here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.blog-cta-salsey-01 {\toverflow: hidden;\t}\t.blog-cta-salsey-01-img {\tmax-width: 160px !important;\t}\t@media (min-width: 768px) {\t.blog-cta-salsey-01-content {\tmax-width: calc(100% - 281px);\t}\t.blog-cta-salsey-01-img {\tposition: absolute;\tmax-width: 100% !important;\tright: -10px;\tbottom: -10px;\t}\t}<\/style><div class=\"blog-cta-salsey-01 bg-blue-50 p-3 my-5 position-relative\"><div class=\"d-block d-md-flex\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"212\" height=\"232\" src=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ui-ux-design-student.png\" alt=\"UI\/UX design student\" class=\"blog-cta-salsey-01-img mb-3 mb-md-0\" \/><div class=\"blog-cta-salsey-01-content\"><div class=\"d-flex align-items-center mb-2\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pe-2\" width=\"86\" height=\"71\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/job-guarantee-heading-badge.png\" alt=\"Job Guarantee\" style=\"mix-blend-mode: multiply\"><h4 class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Become A UX Designer. Land a Job or Your Money Back.<\/h4><\/div><p>Master Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch. Work 1:1 with an industry mentor. Build a portfolio. Land a job \u2014 or your money back.<\/p><p class=\"mb-sm-0\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/ui-ux-design-career-track\/#job-guarantee\">Start designing<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6 Essential Programs UI\/UX Designers Use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>UI\/UX designers use the following six essential programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><b>Sketch.<\/b> Sketch is a premier digital design toolkit for MacOSX and is primarily used for UI\/UX design of websites and mobile apps. Being a vector-based app, Sketch allows designers to resize shapes in any dimension without losing sharpness and boasts a more user-friendly interface than Photoshop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Invision Studio.<\/b> A program made for screen design, Invision Studio allows designers to design, prototype, and animate screens for websites or mobile apps, and determine the interactions between each screen. Designed to be collaborative, the software lets designers work together in real-time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Proto.io.<\/b> Proto.io is designed for high-fidelity prototypes that look and work exactly like the app or website that\u2019s being designed. Libraries of UI effects, animated icons, and sound effects help designers prototype quickly. Designers can test the flow, interactions, and animations of the app\/website without writing a single line of code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Webflow.<\/b> Webflow is a website builder that doesn\u2019t require knowledge of HTML or CSS. Using Webflow for building a prototype gives designers an actual website, and generates accurate HTML and CSS code, which saves time. Instead of taking what\u2019s been drafted in a prototype and building a design from it, designers already have a functioning website.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Balsamiq.<\/b> Balsamiq is a low-fidelity wireframing tool for sketching user interfaces for websites, desktop, and mobile applications. It\u2019s an important tool for the ideation phase, where the focus is on structure and flow rather than colors and icons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Axure.<\/b> Axure is a wireframing and prototyping tool that helps designers prepare deliverables they can directly hand off to developers for production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should UI\/UX Designers Learn to Code?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/what-is-ux-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/what-is-ux-design\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UX design<\/a> does not require coding. However, most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/what-does-a-ux-designer-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UX designers<\/a> have some basic knowledge of code, including HTML and CSS. A basic understanding of coding in UX design will give you a competitive advantage in more advanced UX design roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a survey by Invision, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invisionapp.com\/inside-design\/hiring-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">80% of hiring managers look for coding skills in product design candidates<\/a>. If you\u2019re designing a digital product, you\u2019ll work closely with software engineers, so a basic understanding of code and software architecture constraints makes for smoother collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coding may also come in handy for conveying your ideas, prototyping a responsive design, or inputting minor website changes in response to real-time A\/B testing or business intelligence. If you\u2019re interested in specializing in UI design, coding knowledge becomes more necessary so you can make iterative website changes without the help of a developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8 Essential UI\/UX Designer Technical Skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All good UI\/UX designers should possess these essential UI\/UX technical skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">UX research skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>UX designers should have the ability to gather qualitative and quantitative data about users through research and analysis. Methods include user interviews (open-ended or structured), observing users in their natural environment or under test conditions, issuing surveys, and conducting focus groups. You should know how to select participants for a focus group and record results from a relatively unstructured discussion or write sufficiently open-ended survey questions that don\u2019t lead the user to answer in one way or another. Finally, you must be familiar with usability test methods such as card sorting and heat maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wireframing and prototyping skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A wireframe is a layout of a webpage that shows what interface elements will exist on key pages. UI\/UX designers decide which features to display, which to omit, where to position them, and how to present them visually to provide the simplest, most efficient user experience. You must know how to denote UI elements such as images, CTA buttons, and menus in diagrammatic form. Once the wireframes are approved you\u2019ll work on mockups, which are preliminary models of a product created to test a concept or process. For this, you\u2019ll need to be familiar with popular prototyping tools such as Invision or Marvel. In the final stage, you\u2019ll create a high-fidelity design, which is a final mockup of the product that closely resembles the final product once it is coded and implemented. UI\/UX designers are expected to have the ability to produce wireframes and prototypes quickly and effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/7c95043465e7dcd85289ce6008083149\/0f98f\/UX%20wire%20frames%20examples.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/7c95043465e7dcd85289ce6008083149\/4b190\/UX%20wire%20frames%20examples.jpg\" alt=\"ux wireframe\" title=\"ux wireframe\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">UX writing skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>UX writing is a niche specialty. UX writing skills can really elevate your ability to design and craft a good experience for users through microcopy: the words we read or hear when we use a digital product and are a key element of website navigability and the overall experience. Effective UX writing is concise, useful, and reflects the brand\u2019s values and tone. UX writing works together with interaction and visual design to create an environment where the user can achieve their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Visual communication skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Visual design in UX concerns so much more than how a website looks and feels\u2014although that is important, too. Think of standardized UI elements such as the hamburger menu or even the playback button. When users see these icons they immediately know they\u2019re clickable and what they represent. An effective visual communication skillset is about minimizing the need for written instructions and using visual cues to guide the user and help them understand where to go next, how to find the information they need, and what other actions they can take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interaction design skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Successful digital products hinge on intuitive interaction design that enables a user to achieve desired tasks with minimal effort. Interaction design consists of elements such as aesthetics, motion, sound, and physical space (where and how the product is used) that affect a user\u2019s interaction with a product. You should be obsessed with user flows, information access, and the effectiveness of screen layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/bd6affcb5c2474f80b05ea1425f019d3\/0f98f\/UX%20branding%20example.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/library\/static\/bd6affcb5c2474f80b05ea1425f019d3\/4b190\/UX%20branding%20example.jpg\" alt=\"ux interaction design\" title=\"ux interaction design\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coding skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>UI\/UX designers don\u2019t need to be coding experts, but they should have basic HTML and CSS skills and be capable of making minor website changes. This is important because you\u2019ll likely be testing and iterating website features at a fast pace, and must be able to code minor changes without a developer\u2019s help. Coding knowledge and skills also help you collaborate better with software engineers because you\u2019ll intuitively understand software architecture constraints and can create designs that are more realistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Analytical skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even after a product or feature is sent to production, usability testing isn\u2019t done yet. Your job as a UI\/UX designer is to constantly monitor data on product usability and find ways to improve existing products while using data to infer new product ideas. When you create an app or website, you need to test it. Understanding numbers, percentages, and ratios will help you evaluate the performance of your design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Information architecture skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Content must be structured, labeled, and organized properly for users to find it. Information architecture refers to everything from conversation pathways within a chatbot to how your webpages are organized. UI\/UX designers also consider a user\u2019s need for education and knowledge around the product\u2014especially when it comes to a complicated software application\u2014which involves a content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"bg-leaf-50 p-4 my-3\"><h4 class=\"fw-bold text-center\">Get To Know Other\tDesign Students<\/h4><div class=\"row row-cols-1 row-cols-lg-3\"><div class=\"col\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/ethan-miller\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1680539384\/Ethan_Miller.jpg\" alt=\"Ethan Miller\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Ethan Miller<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">Product Designer at Intuit<\/p><\/div><div class=\"w-100 d-block d-md-none mt-3\"><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/ethan-miller\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col d-none d-md-block\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/heidi-sanders\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1629203194\/Student%20Success\/Heidi_Sanders_125x125.png\" alt=\"Heidi Sanders\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Heidi Sanders<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">Sr. Digital Designer at Kendo Brands<\/p><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/heidi-sanders\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col d-none d-md-block\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/aisha-butt\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1635453783\/Student%20Success\/Aisha_Butt_375x375.png\" alt=\"Aisha Butt\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Aisha Butt<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">UX Associate at Meta<\/p><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/aisha-butt\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Essential UI\/UX Designer Educational Backgrounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many UI\/UX designers come from unrelated fields and are self-taught or took a UI\/UX certification course. Others come from tangential fields like visual design, software development, or data analytics and bring transferable skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no cut-and-dried pathway towards becoming a UI\/UX designer, but a course  like Springboard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/ui-ux-design-career-track\/\">online UI\/UX Design Bootcamp<\/a> includes a certification, project work for your portfolio, one-on-one mentorship, and access to a range of career services and job leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4 Essential UI\/UX Designer Interpersonal Skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because UI\/UX design is such a people-focused job, hiring managers differentiate candidates more heavily on their soft skills than their credentials. Soft skills are what make a mediocre designer exceptional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><b>Curiosity.<\/b> UI\/UX designers have to be curious about their users. What are their motivations and pain points? What makes them tick? How can your product make their lives better? Curiosity naturally pushes you to ask more thoughtful questions and mine for insight. Never underestimate the importance of curiosity, even if you don\u2019t have any of the answers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Empathy.<\/b> A good UI\/UX designer must be able to put themselves in their user\u2019s shoes and understand their problems. This means you are dedicated to gathering facts through observation and interviews and are willing to challenge your own assumptions and biases. Furthermore, it means that even after you do the research, you are willing to stand by your findings despite any opposition and continue to be a champion for the user throughout the design, production, and implementation process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Communication.<\/b> On any given day, a UI\/UX designer may interact with customers, other designers, production teams, and marketing teams. Communication is essential not only for doing effective user research but also for presenting your findings to stakeholders. UI\/UX design is a relatively novel field; some organizations have fully embraced user-centric design as their business model, others consider it an experiment. Depending on where your organization falls, you may spend a lot of time pitching ideas, advocating for the research, and championing the needs of the customer. Either way, persuasive oration, and strong writing skills are key to helping you convince people to take action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Flexibility.<\/b> UI\/UX designers must set aside their own egos and assumptions and be willing to listen to what the research tells them. Prior to that, they must be willing to ask open-ended questions and be proven wrong. Most job descriptions for UI\/UX designers contain some variation of \u201cability to deal with ambiguous, undefined problems\u201d or \u201cadapt to changing business needs.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rm has-background\" style=\"background-color:#efeff6\"><strong>Since you&#8217;re here&#8230;<br><\/strong>Not sure where you\u2019ll find the time to learn UX and UI skills? We\u2019re here to help. Our fully flexible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/ui-ux-design-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UI\/UX Design Bootcamp <\/a>takes just 12-15 hours a week over 6 months and is proven to increase student salaries by $25,033 on average per annum. We\u2019ve helped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/success\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 10,000 students<\/a> make the switch without quitting their day jobs \u2013 shouldn\u2019t you be next? Jump in today with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/resources\/guides\/ux-design-fundamentals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free design fundamentals course<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What skills do you need to become a UI\/UX designer? Learn how to grow your UX and UI design skillset with this introductory guide. What Skills Do You Need to Become a UI\/UX Designer? Being a relatively new field, there\u2019s no clear-cut path towards becoming a credentialed UI\/UX designer. Many professional UI\/UX designers originate from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":18753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"marketing_tags":[1464],"class_list":{"0":"post-14794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-design"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14794"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53675,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions\/53675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14794"},{"taxonomy":"marketing_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/marketing_tags?post=14794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}