UX is hard…or is it just U?
Here to give you a reality check about pursuing UX, really.
Before I joined a mentoring platform as a volunteer (mentor) Senior UX Designer, I was freely giving away all of my available time to people who are aspiring to be UX Designers.
At first, I wanted to give that impact to be able to give back to the community but over time, I slowly began seeing a pattern; it is that some aspiring and junior UX Designers demand too much from people who are willingly giving them “help” for free with little to none efforts from their part.
It’s great that you want to explore by transitioning to another career but unfortunately, UX is not just Figma and being able to put a few screens together and call it a day. You have to be able to know how to interact and ask your users how impactful your designs are, among other things.
It is incredibly insulting to call it UX without even understanding what it is we do in the first place.
To be honest, I’ve thought about writing an article about this over and over. I might come off as gatekeeping, judgemental, or even petty and I am aware but I just don’t want to lie to you.
Our job might not be as difficult as stringing and debugging codes but we do encounter a different cycle of difficulties.
It’s not enough to just go into boot camps.
Yes, I said what I said. It is not enough to hop into 6–8 weeks of boot camp and be done with it. The saturation we face right now is also because of boot camps’ lack of honesty to the individuals who buy into them. Some of us took years to fully understand what we do and heck, we’re all still learning and if you think that the end of a boot camp means the start of your UX career, that’s just not it.
I’ve known some designers who graduated from boot camps who’d whine about how bad the current market is but if you look at the bigger picture and points to consider, some of them don’t have a polished portfolio, not continuously designing to keep the skill fresh or not even modifying their resumes according to the jobs they want.
Sure, it might be tedious to keep changing versions of your resume or you might even think that your Behance account is enough. Right now, let’s stop and reflect, “How many designers do you know who have exactly the same skills as you do?”
I’ll tell you — tons of them.
You gotta do what you gotta do to stand out. Catering for job specifics you want to pursue as much as you can is an advantage.
Networking, mingling with other designers, and creating ACTUAL case studies that you didn’t build off from a UI kit is another.
Lastly, dedicate yourself to understanding what UX actually is. I can tell you that it is not how some influencers or YouTube clickbait portray it.
Personally, I want you to succeed in this industry if you ever decide to do so but there will never be a shortcut in becoming a master of any skill.
If you’ve heard of the Japanese term: ‘Shokunin’ which translates to ‘artisan’ or ‘craftsman’. It carries a deeper meaning of dedicating your life to more than just making things. It is a lifetime of dedication to a craft you wish to pursue.
I am not saying that you have to be deeply attached to your UX career journey but what I am saying is when you are in it, be fully committed.
Don’t expect a full result with a half-assed effort.
