Brief Summary
This video provides a six-step guide to breaking into UX design without formal schooling. It covers building foundational knowledge through books, learning from existing portfolios, creating passion projects to showcase skills, developing UI skills through daily challenges, building a portfolio using user-friendly tools, seeking mentorship for portfolio reviews, and actively networking within design communities. The video emphasises quality over quantity in project work and the importance of continuous effort in a challenging job market.
- Build foundational knowledge through books.
- Learn from existing portfolios to develop your taste.
- Create passion projects to showcase your UX skills.
- Develop UI skills through daily design challenges.
- Build your portfolio using user-friendly tools.
- Seek mentorship for portfolio reviews.
- Actively network within design communities.
Intro
Heigi Jeong, a senior product designer at Lyft, introduces a guide on how to break into UX design without formal schooling. Despite having a background in visual and multimedia design, she believes practical experience is more valuable than academic learning in UX design. The video will provide a step-by-step approach to restarting a UX design career in 2025, sharing handpicked resources based on her industry expertise.
Foundational Knowledge
The first step involves building foundational knowledge by reading UX design books, particularly those from O'Reilly. These books are concise and provide core UX principles with clear examples. Reading these books can help with answering difficult interview questions.
Learn from Portfolios
Step two focuses on learning from existing UX and product design portfolios. It's recommended to review at least a thousand portfolios to develop a sense of taste and identify what makes a portfolio stand out or fall short. Analysing and noting the strengths and weaknesses of these portfolios will inform the creation of your own.
Build Your Projects
The third step is to build your own case studies through passion projects. Identify UX problems in everyday apps or web products, such as DoorDash, and create a project to solve them. Conduct research by talking to users and business owners to demonstrate your UX principles and problem-solving skills. Aim for three high-quality projects to showcase your ability to deliver consistent, high-quality work, as hiring managers prioritise quality over quantity.
UI Skill
An additional tip before moving on is to develop your UI skills. This can be achieved by studying well-designed products and practicing through a 100-day UI challenge. This challenge involves working on different UI prompts daily within a limited time, forcing you to learn from examples and apply your knowledge, ultimately enhancing your portfolio cases.
Build Your Portfolio
Step four involves building your portfolio using tools like Framer, Webflow, or Wix. Framer is highlighted for its ease of use and ability to create designs without coding. Templates are available to help those who feel overwhelmed starting from scratch.
Get It Reviewed
The fifth step is to get your portfolio reviewed by others through mentorship. Platforms like ADP List (free) and Mentor Cruise (paid) are recommended. Paid mentorship is considered a worthwhile investment, as mentors are highly motivated to help you succeed in landing a job.
Build Network
The final step involves building your network and contributing to the design community. Utilise LinkedIn for networking and join Slack communities to connect with others, ask for help, and offer advice. Helping others by reviewing their portfolios reinforces your own learning and hones your design critique skills.
