Now everybody wants to be a UI/UX Designer
Almost everyone has a smartphone today. Your family, your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend(s), even your baby born! Isn’t it cool to explain what your job is to them, now in an easier and modern high tech way?
Family: “So what do you do?
Us: “I designed or made the apps on the smartphone. You know, like facebook, instagram. I made the stuff like that.”
HOW COOL IT IS, RIGHT?!
After so many years we’ve spent thinking about how to explain our job or our major in college to our aunty and uncle! How it was hurtful that no one understood and underestimated our job/our education with a big stigma that people’s around us assumed that our job is drawing mountains and or plants and sell it? Moreover, we did it actually on design college in the first year hehe… Or at least we’re explained that we had created ads such as billboard or print ad but then they assumed we created pamphlets about missing dogs on the trees??
Finally… Finally, we have something to be proud of today or to be reached someday (if you are still in college). Yes, I know…I know, we don’t have formal design education here in Indonesia with UI/UX design major specialty yet. But that’s not the point. Thanks to technology.
However, make sure that you really love and passionate about this stuff, UX & UI stuff. UI/UX is not for everyone. Just like…Logo design is not for everyone included me as well.
I will share what makes me passionate about UI/UX design rather than any other design field or conventional graphic design. Before that, let me tell you lil’ bit about my journey how I turned into UI/UX Design.
In 2007, I was graduated from Visual Communication Design (DKV) major. I entered college in 2002. At that time the lecturers were trained the students into more became brand designers or art directors in Advertising. No one of us had laptops. We were all still used PC. Of course, no smartphones or tabs as well.
In 2008, I worked as a Junior Art Director in small advertising in Jakarta, but only for 2 months. Worked overtime every day. After that, I came back to my hometown Bandung and as a young girl, I didn’t care about life and money yet haha…so I was decided to concentrate more on my hobby is music, my band. Until 2010, I thought, ‘Ok…I should back to reality, get a real job…..while playing music’. Since that, even though as my first experience and as the beginning to open the door to the digital design industry, I started to work in a very small studio. Only 4 members of the team included 2 leaders/founders. They are engineers based graduated of ITB that need 2 designers to work on the project from freelance platforms such as Odesk and Elance (now Upwork). At that company they taught me how to code in HTML/CSS, I was successfully implemented my simple design with code.
That was the first time I really enjoy to designed websites although not the first time. My first web design is in 2008 in that small advertising I’ve mentioned before for Wavin Pipe Indonesia using Adobe Illustrator.
Okay, so here the things why (I think) we -especially me- love and very passionate about UI/UX design:
1. You like analyzing
I am sometimes even over-analyze to something in everything. It doesn’t mean any other design fields are lack of analyze. What I mean is, UI/UX, in this case, is about the product (mostly digital, which are apps). This product output is not something that people just to be read or stare at. But they use it and operate it. So, no matter how tight the deadline is, how ‘lazy’ we are, analyze is crucial and absolute.
2. Big empathy
Are you interested to know more about people? or can we simply easily feel what others feel when they sad or happy? Do you understand the concept of “walk on my shoes”? let simplify this, do you understand someone’s obstacles? at work, at their love life, not because you have an ego and on their side, but because you really understand what if we were them or in their position. If so, congratulations you have big empathy. Haha! Not by psychology assessment way, though but the fact is, it’s not that easy to find people like this. UI especially UX is about understanding the users by empathy beside the research. Of course, we can get more empathy from the research. But if we are lack empathy, we will play our ego whether for the users or in the teamwork. And it will destroy your product.
3. Always online
Haha! don’t hate me please for this point. But this can help so much. UI/UX design has a trend every year, unlike conventional design, even if it has trends too, my lecturers forbid us to use trend in the (conventional) design works and I understand why. Because it’s not scientifically. But that’s not applicable in UI/UX design. It’s digital. It’s technology. It’s what we can see on vehicles or electronic hardware too. Shapes always move and change in years and or decades. And we can simply update the trends information on the internet. I remember my web designs in 2010, the trend was all about texture background and gradient skeuomorphism shapes. So I had to slice it on PSD manually even it’s just a header or bar. Thanks to Windows who created Metro design to be inspiring today which now we all called it a FLAT DESIGN.
I know UI/UX design has trended in every year since I googled about web design inspiration in 2010, so many articles with the title like “Web Design Trends in (year)”. But the term of UI/UX was not popular yet.
“Don’t try to be original, just try to be good” — even Paul Rand says this
4. Save time is important for you
If it’s really important to you rather than working overtime or if you hate rendering something while you have a chit chat with your colleagues or watching youtube, but you are actually waiting something, then UI/UX will save time more than that. I mean mostly…it’s always save time more than if you work as a graphic designer, video editor, motion editor or animator or even an artist :D
Thanks to Sketch App and or Adobe XD beside UI design files are lighter than conventional design files, it has also now supported by UI design software with vector-based that really saves our life. Seriously, if you are a UI/UX designer, you have to buy Sketch App, yes it means you should also an Apple user, at least you have a strong plan for that. Not just to help our works, but it’s also like….-sorry I don’t know what to compare with unless in music tools- but it’s like….if you are a folk or rock n roll guitarist, you would choose Fender or Epiphone guitars over Ibanez. Although it won’t make you die, it’s just absolute. No compromise.
5. Eager to learn
At least in Indonesia, UI/UX design formal education doesn’t exist yet here. Not even regular courses. No book in the Indonesian language so far. Only local workshops whether it’s free or premium or super-premium. Try to find UI/UX community in your local hometown, both online and offline. And that’s important! Don’t worry, we still can learn about it for free on the internet such as on:
- https://www.udacity.com/
- https://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/design/
- https://medium.com/topic/digital-design
- https://www.uxpin.com/studio/ebooks/
Yes, read is a must, writing is an option but it can increase your credibility and we are learning by writing too actually. UI/UX stuff is not a new thing. But it’s hot today since everyone using smartphones now. So we always have to explore, upgrade our knowledge about this. It’s not always easy to always learn especially those who have family and I’m also a mom with two kids (a toddler & a baby) where my job itself is the last time I can spend outside my family ideally, but that’s life. That’s life. Don’t be lazy. Always hungry with knowledge. There is a time I was lazy too but not at all. Passion will help you to get through this.
6. Your drawing skills are sucks and not interested to be an expert
Admit it, not all design students or design professionals are expert in drawing. We are not an artist. Nor illustrators. Maybe some of us, but that’s not what the designer should do. I didn’t mean to say, “if you can’t drawing well, be a UI/UX designer.” No! You should still have other 5 points above in my opinion. But if you can’t draw, yes…don’t push yourself to be an illustrator. And it doesn’t mean we can’t be a good designer. Being UI/UX Designer, drawing is not an essential skill. It depends on the project, though. It’s not a crime if we buy or download free sources for icon kits. Because the main part of our job is designing UI and or UX. Icon and other visual elements are part of UI and even UX, but sometimes there is someone who can do that to help us as teamwork, whether it’s a visual or graphic designer. That’s why UI/UX design is not for everyone.
If you enjoy your current job in drawing beautiful icons, vectors, illustrations or do some brand logos, just do it. There is always a demand for conventional design no matter what. But yes, UI/UX is really hot today and it’s fun and cool to learn about it. But don’t force your talent and passion to follow it just because it’s hot today.
So, those are my thoughts that what makes me so passionate about UI/UX design and also can make me ‘forget about the ‘drama’ at work. Sometimes I still do graphic stuff outside the office, but I’m in the position that I have to more focus on UI & UX right now. There are so many things I have to learn about it both technically and non technically. Don’t be ashamed to say this. Remember, I started got a job in UI/UX because at first I learned and curious about this, although only by searching and googling it. Not only once, but always until today.
