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7 Important Skills of a UX Designer Must Have

So if you want to be a good UX designer, what expertise do you need to have, given you already know the basics of experience design? Here are seven skills that are crucial for any person working in this field.

By Jenn PereiraPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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So, you have an eye for design? Although this is a pretty basic skill that a designer must have, you cannot become a full-fledged UX designer by this alone. You must possess a must-haven of soft skills and hard skills to be relevant in the industry and to catch up with the changes and trends in the field.

Considering the diversity of UX design, your skillset must also be diverse if you want to have a successful career in this industry. But before we talk about how you can achieve a certain level of mastery in the field, we must first answer the question: What is user experience or UX?

User experience, or commonly called UX, is a term used for describing a person’s perception or feeling while availing of a service, product, or system. It considers aspects such as efficiency, usability, and utility - the overall experience of a customer. With user experience, you take note of the reactions from the customer to the different elements of the product and the product per se.

The process of creating products that give significant experiences to users, on the other hand, is called user experience design. And the reality is, passion for UX is not enough. You need to learn the fundamentals to thrive as a practitioner in UX design.

So if you want to be a good UX designer, what expertise do you need to have, given you already know the basics of experience design? Here are seven skills that are crucial for any person working in this field:

1. Wireframing and UI Prototyping

A blueprint is a key element in building infrastructure. A wireframe can serve as a blueprint for an application or website interface. On the other hand, a prototype will elaborate on the functionality of the product before starting the development. That is why having expertise in this area is crucial. Prototypes and wireframes are platforms where user experience designers can test and communicate ideas. It can be in the form of traditional hand-drawn representations or the more popular digital mockups.

By Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Improve your wireframing and prototyping skills by mastering different tools that are available online. Popular wireframing tools include Adobe XD, Sketch, Invision Studio, Figma, Proto.io, Moqups, UXPin, Fluid UI, Cacoo, and Balsamiq. Most elements of UX design use images and other tools like Removal.AI also become handy when it comes to bulk photo background removal. These are just a few, however, there are certainly a lot of useful tools and resources online that UX designers can use to enhance their wireframing and prototyping skills.

2. User Research

You don't just do an application or website. There are a lot of things to consider before you create the pages of your site or the different functions of your app. And one of the most important things to do before any project development is to conduct user research.

By UX Indonesia on Unsplash

Excellent user research skills is a must have for a UX designer because it gives insights on how to create a product that can provide a positive experience for customers or users. If you have user research skills, you can utilise information about users - their expectations, wants, needs, the purpose of purchase or use of products, and other things. There is important data to bring out the most appropriate design for a seamless user experience.

3. User Empathy

Aiming to become skilled in UX design? User empathy is a soft skill that is necessary for you to be successful in this career. If you have a natural empathy towards your users, you will be able to understand how to use a website or application from their perspective. And if you see your user’s frustrations, any flaw in your system and design can be revealed. In the course of product development, you can also check your customer feedback to find solutions to common and uncommon user problems. Essentially, user empathy is the heart of any user-centric website, app, or product.

4. Information Architecture

Information architecture is the art and science of organising and structuring the labels and content of an application, website, software, or similar products. In the UX design process, knowing this skill will help a designer make sense of the various information and data provided and present them in a way that is comprehensible to a user.

5. Collaboration

Whether you are working face to face with others or remotely through SaaS apps or other online platforms, there will come a time when you will need to collaborate with other people as a UX designer.

By krakenimages on Unsplash

Collaboration is important especially if you are a team working on a project. It is the process of two or more individuals, organisations, or teams working together to finish a task or project. Although individual skills are given value, in the field of user experience design, no man is an island. You have to incorporate ideas from other team members, developers, and even your clients. Without this soft skill, you may end up missing a flaw in your application or website. Or, you may end up with something that is below the ideal product.

If you want to stay in this field, you have to know how to work together with other people. That way, the resulting app or website can meet the expectations of your client and the product customers.

6. Analytical Skills

Lotame describes data analytics as the method of looking at data and processing the information they carry. If you are in the field of design, analytics is how you discover, interpret, and communicate the patterns contained in the information set using specific tools to maximise customer experience.

Every time a UX designer creates an application or website, it must be tested to measure its current performance. The designer must be able to make sense of the data that will come up. Analytics will direct a designer to better understand both the user and the design, including their relationship. And you can only reach that if you have impeccable analytical skills. Numbers, ratios, percentages, graphs - you can have a treasure trove of data but without the analytical skills to come up with a coherent explanation of everything, you might as well be starting a project without a solid foundation.

If you want to fare better in the field of user experience design, you have to understand the importance of real data foundation through analytical skills.

7. Communication

Communication is a crucial skill for any designer. Being able to convey the correct message to your teammates, supervisors, or clients can make a huge difference if you are in this field. Today, if you are an artist, being proficient in design is not enough. You also need to present your ideas confidently and clearly so that other people can understand your concept.

Conclusion

Having the following combination of hard skills and soft skills can mean survival in the field of UX design. Besides having a foundation in design, you need to master wireframing and prototyping tools, know how to conduct user research, be keen in creating information architecture, and interpret data using analytical skills. You also need to be a team player and collaborate with others, empathize with the user, and be able to communicate your concept to those who normally could not grasp it. These seven skills are a must-have for anyone who wants to thrive in the field of experience design.

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