Changing professions can be tricky when you need a guide on the right steps. While the graphic design profession is very stable, it’s okay to want a change. Whatever your reasons for a career change, it’s essential to be sure of your decision before you take action.
Breaking into UI/UX design is not a walk in the park, especially from graphic design. However, by following the proper steps, fueled with your determination to succeed in the new field, you can make a smooth transition. Thus, this article will explain the steps to switch your career from graphic design to UI/UX design.
1.Mark the Difference
Graphics and UI/UX design are much in common, but they are very different. As a graphic designer, you create professional visual content to relate messages to an audience, including designing images, flyers, social media posts, and print designs.
Graphic designers also use vector graphics and illustrations to communicate a message in a way viewers can understand. You blend typography and pictures to offer a complete package to users. In comparison, user experience design is a design process that involves working on the graphical layout of a website or an application. It aims to create a website or product that an end-user interacts with.
UI/UX designers create prototypes to improve the user experience and the quality of a website or mobile application. UI/UX starts with wireframes of a project, creating a prototype, and building the website/application design. For these designers, customer engagement and customer satisfaction are everything.
So, understanding the difference between where you are now (graphic design) and where you want to be (UI/UX) will help you know what aspect you need to focus more on.
2. Learn the Necessary UX Skills
Once you understand the skill sets you need to develop to become a UI/UX designer, you can start taking lessons. For example, as a graphic designer, your job is communicating. Meanwhile, UI/UX design is all about usability.
Graphic designers attract viewers by using taglines and manipulating vectors, graphics, and illustrations. In contrast, a web designer sets up components of a web page to create a simpler, free-flowing user experience.
Going into UX design, you will also need to learn how to use specific tools. In graphic design, you work with software like Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva. In addition, you can take courses to learn UI/UX to understand tools like Figma, Sketch, InVision Studio, and Adobe XD.
3. Choose User-Focused Instead of Pixel-Focused Design
As a graphic designer, you create mockups and wireframes of your designs before you deliver a finished design. You would do the same as a UX designer to give room for adding or removing ideas. But you would create mockups and prototypes, focusing less on the appearance of the product and more on its general appeal.
In essence, you’re more concerned with developing effective, functional, and dynamic prototypes. However, to transition from graphic design to user experience design, you need to understand the difference between UI and UX design.
The key difference between graphic and UX design is creating user-focused instead of pixel-focused designs. Graphic designers focus on pixel perfection in their designs. Each text must match and fit right, and the colors should conform to the brand’s guidelines. As a UX designer, you would need to tune down some of your “graphic designing” instincts.
The primary focus is on the users. You would study the interface between users and the product to ensure the product answers the user’s needs. It would require a lot of research, but it is to ensure your design matches what users need, not just aesthetics.
4. Conduct Accurate User Research
UX design is a continuous problem-solving process and is very different from what graphic designers are used to. The first stage of research, the identification stage, is where you find the problem through user research. Unlike graphic designing, in UX design, you don’t need to touch the whole design, just the one the users care about.
After the identification stage, your next research should focus on the best way to solve the problem that satisfies the user. You should do surveys or ethnographic studies to get accurate data. All this research comes into play when defining your approach. You would also test your designs with users to ensure that your solution to the problem works well.
By continuously adjusting and making changes until the user test confirms that these solutions are good enough, you can be sure to initiate a product launch. However, the design process is still ongoing. So, you will keep testing the design with users’ feedback.
5. Build Your UX Design Portfolio
You don’t need a degree to become a UX designer. All you need is a well-built and impressive portfolio to prove your worth. Your portfolio can include different projects you have worked on, either individually or collectively. If you don’t have any yet, you can browse project ideas on the internet to start.
You can also create and complete personal projects, which could be replicating an existing interface while adding your touches to it. Another brilliant project idea is developing a fictional brand and designing a user interface. You can be as creative and detailed as you like with any of these projects.
A suitable alternative would be to work for non-profit organizations. You can send them a mail requesting to work on their user interface or do the design first, then show them what they can get for a fraction of the price. Another option is to find internships or join online UX design challenges and competitions.
You can use it to showcase your designs, learn from others, network with experts in the field, and make some money while at it. Trying these options would get you an impressive portfolio in no time. Plus, you can find the best places to sell your illustrations and make extra cash as you experiment.
6. Network and Stay Connected to Current Trends
Before now, you’ve probably had graphic designers as friends, which isn’t going to change, but you would also need to add UX designer friends to the mix. Doing this will connect you with potential employers and mentors.
Since you are new to this career path, you should continue learning from many experts in the field as you progress. That way, you will advance your UX design career and remain relevant in the industry.
Level Up Your UX Portfolio
It’s not enough to switch careers successfully. What really matters is staying up-to-date with the latest trends in the industry and ensuring your portfolio is packed with an arsenal of impressive designs. By complementing it with the top technical UI/UX skills, you can be certain of being in high demand as you progress in your design career.