UX as a career path is evolving
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Balsamiq Wireframes is frequently one of the first tools that aspiring UX designers learn and as a result we often get questions about how to get into UX as a career.
I was recently interviewed by a student-run group called Class of 2020 about UX as a career path and it gave me an opportunity to distill some of my thoughts into practical advice.
You can listen to the whole interview on their website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Below are some of the takeaways from that interview, as well as links to my favorite resources.
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A lot, fortunately. For a long time now, UX has been a great career path, and I predict that it will continue to be.
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You don’t need a lot of formal training to do it
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Yes, there are a ton of bootcamps and certificate programs out there and education expectations are higher than they used to be, but there are still very few multi-year (e.g., undergraduate or graduate university) programs in UX design. People come from all different educational backgrounds and most of the basics required for an entry-level UX job can be learned online and/or within 6 months.
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It’s not going away anytime soon
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Demand is steady or growing
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Despite the huge influx of people studying UX design, the need for UX remains strong. Areas like Silicon Valley may be flush with UX design talent, but new industries and geographic areas are embracing it gradually and steadily.
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It’s not dependent on any one industry
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2020 has taught us that many industries are not as robust as they seemed (e.g., travel, hospitality, restaurants). Going forward, it’s desirable not to be tied to a specific industry, and UX is a good place to be. 10 years on, software is still eating the world, and UX continues to benefit from it. It’s not just Google and Facebook that employ UX designers. Far from it.
From my interview:
Almost every company is making software of some kind. Mobile apps, websites, internal ordering systems, etc. There is a role for this kind of thinking in nearly every company today.
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This fast-food company had 3 UX job postings at the time I wrote this.
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We're moving up in the UX maturity model
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While many industries are just starting to realize the need for UX in their organization, companies that have employed UXers for a long time are realizing that its value can extend beyond just better user interface design. The UX Maturity model was conceived in the late 90s and has been adapted by many. This one by Johan Berndtsson is from 2014.
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This means that there is growing demand for UX managers, directors of UX, and even Chief Experience Officers.
And the highest levels - Engaged and Embedded - mean that UX is not just one role, but a way of thinking and operating. It is coordination between software, marketing, support, and executive teams, but it also becomes a small part of everyone’s job. This has the potential to create so many more jobs that require UX knowledge that many not even have UX in their title. |
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UX has been getting more specialized for a while and that trend is continuing. The most recent big changes to the UX job landscape are
- The addition of Content Strategy to the family of UX roles, and
- The (overdue) growing appreciation of User Research as a worthwhile investment.
Content Strategy is, in short, designing with words. Some examples of new roles are UX writers and content designers. Many of these jobs have been absorbed from marketing and technical writing. The connection with UX design is that they also impact what goes on the screen and, therefore, the users' experience with software or a website.
User Research has been a central part of UX for decades, but only recently have small and medium-sized companies begun to create a dedicated position for it. I know many User Researchers who have left the field because it was too hard to find consistent employment, but there seems to be a resurgence in interest now, so it could be good time to get into it.
There are also more specialized UX roles that are popping up here and there that haven’t yet gone mainstream. A quick look at UX Centered Careers turns up over a dozen different job titles within UX!
From my interview:
It's growing a lot. And it's expanding beyond the design part of things. There are a lot of new roles that fit under the umbrella of user experience. It's not just the people who are drawing the pixels on the screen.
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There’s no doubt that UX has gone mainstream. I remember getting puzzled looks for years when I explained what I did (“No, I don’t write the code. Yes, it’s design, but it’s not graphic design…”). Now most people I talk to know not only what it is, but usually have a friend or relative who does it. There is a huge pipeline of young people studying it right now and, in many areas, there aren’t enough entry-level jobs for all of them.
In the long-term, the increase in higher-level UX jobs and new job titles may help unclog the jam at the lower experience levels but, for many looking for jobs now or in the next few years, it’s a challenge.
If you are enrolled in, or are planning to apply to, a program of study, you should know what to expect. Here are two must-reads about UX education today: |
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Advice for getting a job in UX in 2021
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Here are some under-the-radar tips for getting a leg up on the competition for UX design roles.
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Traditional UX design is where the crowd is. Try branching out.
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Especially if visual design isn’t your area of expertise, try exploring UX specializations in research or content strategy. Both of these involve a lot of writing, so spend time working on your written communication skills to balance out your design knowledge. There are a lot fewer jobs in these areas, but also a lot less competition for them.
If you want to learn more about the primary tasks and deliverables in each UX specialization, check out The Ultimate Guide to Understanding UX Roles and Which One You Should Go For. |
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Don't blend in. Focus on what makes you unique.
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One of the biggest mistakes I see UX students make when trying to get their first job is focusing on knowing every design technique and tool inside-out, as if they were studying for an exam.
But here’s what most bootcamps won’t tell you:
- You’ll learn way more about UX on the job than you did in school (you probably won’t even use much of what you learned in school, in fact).
- Your success in a UX role is less about your UX skills than your soft skills and other specialties.
Your UX education is just what gets your foot in the door. It’s everything else you bring to the job that makes you successful. ( Actually, this is true for pretty much any job!)
From my interview:
Don't just show that you meet the job requirements. Lots of people only do that. It's better to focus on finding a way to show you can stand out.
[Your application shouldn’t say] ‘yes, I'm able to do this job’, it's ‘yes, I'm able to do this job AND here's one thing that makes me special'.
So, in your cover letter or portfolio, devote some space to talking about what makes you unique. Highlight your other skills too. Do you also write code? Are your people skills excellent? Did you study marketing or business? Do you have specialized domain knowledge?
UX may be what you do, but it’s not who you are. Don’t be afraid to show employers what makes you, you. |
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The hard truth about getting hired is that getting the job looks very different from doing the job. All of your training has taught you how to do the job, but very little of it has prepared you for getting the job. Landing a UX job, like most jobs, takes a combination of core job skills, good communication, networking, and knowing how to market yourself.
When you are applying to companies, it can be helpful to think of yourself as the product. Just as you know that you are not the user, you have to understand that you are not the hiring manager. Learn how they think and what they’re looking for so that you can spend your time focusing on what they care about.
For an example of how to craft your portfolio, one of the key parts of you as a product, start with 5 Steps to Creating a UX-Design Portfolio.
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Help us help aspiring designers
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Lastly, if you are working in UX, whether you started recently or long ago, we would love to hear what you, our inner circle, think we should tell design students and recent graduates. What’s the best advice you’ve received or read?
We are working on a new page on our Wireframing Academy that lists only the best resources for aspiring UX professionals and we want your help! Reply to this message with links to articles, tweets, videos, podcasts, etc. that get to the heart of what it’s really like and what really works.
And if you’re struggling to find a job, tell us what you’d like to know that you haven’t see any good advice about yet. Maybe we could write it! |
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What happened at Balsamiq in November
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As usual, too much to be able to mention it all. 😊
We did a Balsamiq Wireframes release (all versions), with lots of bug fixes and improvements. You can find the whole list in our Release Notes. We are working on lots and lots of little things here and there right now, making the app super-solid, fast and even more fun to use.
We sponsored a bunch of online UX events, and created a Youtube playlist full of Balsamiq demos and reviews made by youtubers all around the world.
We continued to improve how we work, with new internal tools for batch emailing and easy scheduling.
Last but not least, we hosted a 3-day ‘Mini-Virtual-Retreat’, to feel connected and recharge our emotional batteries. It was lots of fun, stay tuned for more info about it.
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UX/UI links for November
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Thinking Like a Front-end Developer
“I will imagine that a front-end developer must wear a pair of glasses that let him/her see the high-level layout items only.”
-Ahmad Shadeed |
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Thinking Contextually
“Nothing ever exists in isolation, and you can’t do a proper job if you don’t consider the forces surrounding the project.”
-Jorge Arango |
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Designing the Smallest Possible Thing
“If designers want to work agilely and still design great, user-centered products, we need to stop designing faster and learn how to start designing less.”
-Laura Klein |
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That's it for this month!
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See you next month, with more behind-the-scenes news from your friends at Balsamiq. Don’t forget to send us your best advice for getting into UX!
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Leon for the Balsamiq Team |
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