How to break into User Experience if you have no experience?
From time to time, people ask me what they can do to start their career as UX specialists. They are worried they stand no chance on the job market, as they have no experience, no portfolio, and no UX-related education.
Well, none of us are born with those! 3 years ago, I was a total rookie with little hope to ever make it. Now, I’m a quite experienced UX Researcher who has conducted workshops and given talks both within my country and abroad.
In this post, I will share some tips on how to go from zero to hero. Well, a hero in the making at least :)
Education
University
People usually associate UX with majors such as Design, Psychology, Sociology, Cognitive Science and of course pure User Experience Design (which is already present as a major at universities, even in Poland).
My major is not on that list — it’s Asian Studies! How is that relevant, you might ask? After 3 years at the university, I speak some Chinese and know a lot of fascinating stuff. But most importantly, I have learned to embrace and appreciate the diversity of thought. If you want to work in UX, you need to leave any prejudice and judgment at the door. Or better, throw them in the trash entirely.
If you want to work in UX, you need to leave any prejudice and judgment at the door.
In my opinion, the time spent on university is not for your parents or future employers. It’s for you. Don’t pick a major you know will make you suffer for 3+ years, just because someone else thinks it’s “valuable”. All of them are valuable in one way or another. The best one is the one that will first, make you a better version of yourself, and only then, a good UX specialist. While studying, you might as well find another path for yourself and drop this whole UX thing. Whatever makes you happy!
PS. What makes you happy might as well be skipping university altogether. That is also fine and I know a lot of people who never graduated and are still very successful. You do you!
Nielsen Norman Group
UX oracles to some and UX dinosaurs to others, Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman have had a huge impact on the industry for decades. Not only are the authors of classic UX books (The Design of Everyday Things, anyone?) but also founders of an enormous (and still growing) knowledge base. I don’t think it is possible for a person to digest all the content available on their website (you can try though!), however, if you need more information on a specific topic, it is a good place to start your research.
Online courses
If you want to learn the basics, you can try online courses. The absolute classic is the Interaction Design Specialization offered by Coursera in collaboration with University of California San Diego (https://www.coursera.org/specializations/interaction-design). It is paid if you want to do projects and get a certificate of completion, however, it is free to view the course content without engaging. If that is enough for you, go ahead!
Other online course platforms that you can look into are edX, Udemy, or CareerFoundry (if you have a budget). You can also find some useful materials on YouTube. Before you start learning though, check online reviews to make sure it’s worth your time.
Podcasts
If you are a fan of learning through listening, there are many great podcasts that will help you dive into UX. Some of them are The Boagworld UX Show, Design Details, New Layer, Inside Intercom, and Beyond User. You can give each of them a try and see which one clicks with you.
Who said Twitter was a waste of time? Well, if it is, then many well-known UX specialists waste their time there. Some of them will only post links as if they’re bots, but some are active users who engage with their audience.
Here are some people I can recommend for starters:
Follow them and some more you find along the way, and you will be able to:
- discover quality content. Every day, a massive amount of content is produced about UX (just like this article). If you are new to UX, it is hard to tell which materials are helpful and which are just noise. If something is recommended by the industry leaders, it probably doesn’t suck.
- stay up-to-date. You’ll know what people talk about, get a grasp of their opinions, and eventually form your own. Those trending topics might also serve as an icebreaker in a meetup conversation or an interview.
- engage in a conversation. What’s best about Twitter is that you can start talking to pretty much anyone. Of course, they might ignore you, or not even notice your tweet if their mentions are flooded with replies, but sooner or later, you’ll be talking to people and become more and more recognizable. After some time, you’ll realize how important it is for people to know and recognize you. Speaking of which…
Meetups
If you live in a fairly big city, there are certainly some design/UX/product meetups to go to (if not — why not organize your own?). I strongly recommend attending them. While talks are not always worth your time, it will be good for you to do some networking. This way, you can meet people to exchange ideas with. Eventually, they might become your friends, mentors, or even colleagues, if they recommend you to their employer!
Experience
Almost everybody wants candidates who have at least little experience. This one is very difficult to skip. But what can you do if you have never worked in UX? I have good news: you have a lot of options!
Hackathons
Hackathons are events where multiple teams gather to work on a project for a limited amount of time. There is usually a theme that you need to adjust to, and there is a prize for the project deemed the best. You can either arrive with a ready-to-go team, or you can meet some people on-site and start working with them.
Now, usually, a majority of the participants are software developers, and design or business people are in high demand. That’s your opportunity! Not only you will learn more about design, but also about product development and teamwork, which might be even more important for your future career.
Daily challenges
There are websites out there — such as https://www.dailyui.co/ — where you can sign up and they will send you daily design challenges. The challenges might be such as: “design an online checkout” or “design a thank you page for an online store”. Those are a great source of inspiration if you’re out of ideas. Just make sure to give the resulting projects some context and explain your design choices.
NGOs
It’s not just companies like Facebook or Spotify that need UX work. There are charity organizations that need good digital experience to appeal to potential donors. They cannot afford the best specialists out there — they would rather spend funds on their cause.
Take a good look at their websites. Is there something you think could be improved? If so, approach the organization and offer your help. Even if you don’t get paid, you will gain experience AND satisfaction from doing something good for the world.
Redesign something
Is there any website or app you use that you think could be better? Think about what exactly you would change if you had a chance to. Describe your solutions and try to present them in a visual form.
Don’t fall down the Dribbble hole.
Caution: don’t fall down the Dribbble hole! Dribbble is full of visually stunning versions of popular websites, but that’s usually all they are — visually stunning. Try to make sure your version would be easy to use, not just easy on the eyes.
Invent a digital product
You might have your own idea for an app that would solve some kind of a problem. If so, think about what it might do, how it would work, and try to describe it and create some wireframes.
First, consider the target audience. It’s very important. We need to avoid looking at the world through the lens of our own needs. Why? We might be a total exception and the only people that would ever use our product!
After you make sure that there are actual, real people that would benefit from using your product, look into more details. What is their digital fluency? Is there any solution they currently use and prefer (maybe a physical equivalent?). Start with these basic questions, and only then proceed to think about how the product could work or what it could look like.
Whatever you do, don’t let companies use you
I realize this is a controversial one, but I believe that even if you are very junior, you should value your work. Don’t let your employers prey on you. From my own painful experience: no matter what they promise, an unpaid internship doesn’t necessarily turn into a full-time paid job.
Some companies will tell you that not only they have nothing to pay you for, but even that it should be you who pays them for “investing” in you. Stay away from those companies. You might not know much at the moment, but you’re eager to learn and will probably grow to be very loyal to someone who gives you a chance. That alone makes you a valuable asset to your employer.
Find a mentor
You can do all the things above but still worry that what you do might not be exactly right. It would be really helpful if you could talk to someone experienced, wouldn’t it?
“UX experts won’t have time or will to talk to a wannabe like me”, you might say. You’d be very surprised how many of them are more than willing to give back and help people like you. Some time ago, they were in the same position as you, and someone helped them, too!
Now, there are many mentoring programs you could apply to. Some of them are face-to-face (see if your local community organizes any), and some are conducted online, such as Out of Office Hours (free, volunteer-based), or DesignLab’s UX Academy (paid). If you get in, you will be assigned a mentor and will likely work towards a goal the both of you agree on. It might be completing a project, or acquiring a certain skill.
If you don’t qualify, or can’t afford to participate in a mentoring program, don’t worry! You can always find a mentor yourself. Here are some tips:
- Make sure you look for people in the right area of expertise. For instance, if you are interested in UX research, you probably don’t want to approach a UI Designer.
- When you find the right person, talk to them a bit, ask some questions about their work. Then tell them about yourself, what you want to achieve and how you think they could help. If there is chemistry, they might even offer help themselves without you asking directly.
- Don’t jump right into “hey, do you want to be my mentor?”. You wouldn’t ask a stranger if they wanted to be your friend, would you? The same rule applies here.
Remember that mentors are there to guide you and show you a direction, not a destination. Do not expect and do not ask for simple solutions to your problems. A UX person will probably tell you that “it depends”, anyway. :D
Portfolio
Some people think that the portfolio should look nice and contain a lot of beautiful screens. Actually, that’s the least important thing — unless you want to work purely as a GUI Designer.
UX is more about the process and thinking behind it than it is about the mockups and prototypes.
So, tell a story behind each project. Say something about the idea, how you approached it, what were the problems and obstacles along the way and how you overcame them.
If you’re describing a group project, mention who you worked with and what was your role. Don’t worry if that role was small. You don’t need to, and should not be, a “rockstar” who does everything alone. Unless you find yourself in some super toxic place (try not to), you will work in a team, and it’s important to show that you feel comfortable with that.
Resume
Last but not least, before you get to show your portfolio to your prospective UX Manager, you need to dazzle a recruiter. And in a way, that’s another UX exercise!
Think of a recruiter as you would think of a user. Try to imagine their typical day. If you know anyone who works in HR, you can ask them about it. When you gather some information, imagine looking at your resume through the lens of the user (your recruiter). For example:
- If you look at it for 5–10 seconds, can you tell more or less who you are, what job you want and where your contact info is?
- Is all information relevant to the position you apply for? What can you add or remove to make it more applicable?
Find answers to those questions and adjust your resume accordingly. When it is clean and emphasizes your talents, it is more likely for you to receive a call.
Be careful with how you emphasize your talents though. An additional, but very important resume tip from Mariusz: “For crying out loud, never — I repeat, never — show your skills as percentages or scale on your resume, unless you really, unironically think you know 94% of UI design and 78% of Photoshop. If you do, you need to sit down and think hard about life.”
Never show your skills as percentages or scale on your resume, unless you really, unironically think you know 94% of UI design and 78% of Photoshop.
Are you ready?
Some final tips for the recruitment process. Those might seem pretty obvious, but I’ll mention them just in case.
Be yourself. Unless you’re a dick. If you are, UX is not for you.
- Don’t be late for your interview.
- If you need to cancel, try to do it as soon as you know you can’t make it.
- Be honest. Don’t pretend to be an expert in things you’re barely familiar with. They will find out sooner or later — unless you can acquire new skills overnight, which I doubt (sorry).
- Don’t believe those articles that tell you how to respond to most frequent interview questions. “If they ask you about your shortcomings, tell them you tend to work too hard”. Yeah, right. Do that and watch them roll their eyes to the back of their heads.
- Remember it’s not a one-way interrogation. Ask questions. If you are to spend 1/3 of your life in that place, try to find out as much as you can about whether it’s right for you or not. And…
- … don’t accept an offer if it doesn’t feel right. Unless you need money very badly, turn down companies that give you chills. We the UX specialists are in demand. You can do better.
- Most importantly: be yourself. Unless you’re a dick. If you are, UX is not for you.
Thanks for reading! If you find this article useful, please share it with others that might benefit from it.
Good luck with your UX journey!
