Do I need a degree or design background in order to become a UX or Product Designer?
As I started coaching people as a UX Design mentor, these are questions that many people new to the UX ask me.
“I don’t have any design background, can I become a UX or Product Designer?
Here is my answer to this question.
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash
Then, Who Can Become a UX Designer?
A UX designer is a person who solves problems from the user’s point of view. There is no one right answer that can be done to solve the user’s problem. That is, there are really many ways, and it can be solved in various ways and from various viewpoints. That is why I believe that anyone can become a UX designer regardless of their major.
Working in this field for more than 10 years, I learned that there was no set path to becoming a UX design. I have seen people with diverse backgrounds become UX designers. Developers, visual designers, journalists, business students, painters, architects, etc. I have seen people from so many fields enter the path of UX design. Just because I came from a certain field related to design doesn’t mean I’ll be a better UX designer. I saw people from fields other than design do really good job as UX designers, empathizing users well, finding problems from user’s viewpoint, continuously iterating ideas and prototypes until they solve the user problem.
Another question related to the main question I received a lot..
“I don’t have a strong visual skills. Can I..?”
The answer is YES. I saw many people who did not have excellent visual sense, who improved their skills through continuous effort. Also, there were cases where they made up for these weak points through active collaboration and asking feedback from mentors or other designers. In other words, if you work hard, there is a way.
Qualities a UX Designer Needs
If whether you have a design background or not isn’t the major element to become a UX designer, I think we can talk about what kind of people are good at UX design. In my opinion, there are qualities that good UX designers have in common: curiosity and empathy. Comparing with the fine arts studies, designers work for the satisfaction of users rather than their own satisfaction. So a good designer should have a mindset that they have limitations if they don’t keep learning users, and continuing to experiment. The key to learning is curiosity. When you ask yourself the question “Why” endlessly, you’ll find yourself exploring and learning more.
What is the role of a designer that will become important in the future?
The role of the UX designer is evolving with the passage of time.
Compared to the beginning of 2010, when I started working in the UX field, I feel that many things are changing in the tech industry. Designers are increasingly collaborating with team members such as developers, PMs, and marketers, and there are many good tools that can collect data such as google analytic, and MixPanel. So designers can access data. In other words, as quantified data becomes easier to access, experimenting and learning is becoming easier. In such an environment, it is important for a designer not only deliver prototypes, and hand-off, but also engage team members as much as possible in the early design process to derive insights from various perspectives. So facilitation is becoming more important.
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