“UX is a highly skilled role … One decent project and a 6-week course … doesn’t automatically qualify you as ‘senior UX’”

“Just because a design may ‘look good’, that doesn’t mean it fulfills the needs of the customer”

“There is … a glut of newly qualified ‘UX’ people … demanding salaries … that vastly outrank their experience”

In the last few months, I’ve been noticing a growing animosity from established professionals on LinkedIn and Reddit directed toward people who are thinking about changing their career and becoming UX designers, despite having no real background or experience in the field.

The number of budding designers continues to grow. There are hundreds of UX-related courses which encourage people to enter the sector in a relatively painless way. A particularly successful example on Coursera is the Google UX Design Certificate. The “no experience necessary” claim is exactly what makes UX attractive to so many people nowadays.

But it sounds like a good thing — doesn’t it? — that so many people have started caring about making an impact in the field. So why are the negative vibes coming from the UX gurus?

There’s certainly a huge demand for talent in the industry. Clients are crying out for people who can collect user requirements, design a product, and then test it. The problem is that, although the market is overloaded with people who want to do it, online courses don’t provide you with the adequate experience and skills required to actually do it.

Online courses are becoming so popular that some people are predicting that they will replace university education entirely since, in theory, anyone can now get any knowledge at any time. It hasn’t happened (yet?): Online education isn’t perfect, not least as it offers minimal lack of interaction with peers. However, this kind of self-study is enough for many to find their first jobs as UX designers, regardless of how able they are to do that job.

The problem is confounded by the fact that the people who recruit UX designers often have minimal experience in the field and so end up hiring people with the wrong skillset. Job listings rarely offer much clarity either. They encourage people from all backgrounds to apply, which is admirable in theory but tends to attract a lot of people who simply don’t have the skills. And those applicants who have learned the basics on an online course may know enough to talk the talk in the interview but when they actually get the job and are expected to create really good UX, it’s a whole other story.

It’s not that people in my position resent the people who want to become UX designers but don’t have an educational background. I guess it’s more just a disappointment that poor communication during the recruitment process means that the industry isn’t always finding the people with the best skills. There is a list of requirements for a UX designer, shared by Dr Nick Fine on his LinkedIn page. Few people fulfill them all, certainly not me. And it’s not written in stone. But it’s a decent rule of thumb:

⁃ Education in user interaction design

⁃ Specific experience as a UX designer on multiple projects

⁃ Understanding of development, preferably including Agile, HTML and CSS

⁃ Good teamwork, engagement, and creative thinking

⁃ Knowledge of prototyping methods, including wireframing

⁃ An understanding of the business environment the product is being built for

These are the requirements that describe my world. This is, quite specifically, what I do. Yet people still insist on asking me to design bathrooms, create business cards, or wrap presents, “because I’m a designer.” This ignorance is understandable with family and friends but certainly not with people who are tasked with the very job of hiring a UX designer! And such misguided expectations aren’t the fault of the designer.

I came to UX on purpose. I was really interested in human-computer interaction. My background is quite diverse: I’ve done 3D design for games and cartoons, graphic design, and 2D art. My degree is in fine art. I have studied some psychology, but it was as part of my training as a fine art teacher, not in relation to people’s interactions with machines.

Now, I’m working as a UX designer, primarily. I actually do a lot more than the central tasks of research, design, and validation, but UX is still the biggest part of my job. I’m doing it without having a computer science or psychology degree, and I’m doing it well. This is because, during my five years of working in UX, I’ve read a lot, taken multiple courses, and talked to plenty of people. I’ve designed good products and I’ve designed bad products — and learned from both. I wouldn’t say UX was my entire life, but close.

What I like most in my job is conducting tests and observing how people use the product I’ve built. Sometimes, solutions you assumed were obvious and intuitive end up useless or even confusing to the user. The way users challenge me is my favorite part of the job. I have to do a lot of other stuff, too, like brand creation and creating pixel-perfect icons. I’ve never complained that designing icons “isn’t UX” and I won’t. I enjoy the variety the role of (UX) designer offers. Yes, sometimes tasks aren’t related to user experience but I actually like it like that. You and your employer agree on the extent of your role. In this way, your career can be seen as an open-ended experiment. Your title may be “UX designer” but you could be a lot more. Or less. But it’s not your education that decides — it’s you.

It would be great if experienced UX people could be a little more understanding toward those newbies who have arrived at the role via an unorthodox route. A strong background in psychology may be a great advantage in this field but being an outstanding designer is about more than education.