Essential Skills Every UX Designer Needs for Success in 2024
Wondering what skills you need to land a job as a UX designer? Let’s explore the most in-demand skills and how you can develop them.
Starting a career in user experience (UX) design is an exciting opportunity. According to Glassdoor, the role of a UX designer ranked among the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2022 due to high job satisfaction, great earning potential, and numerous job openings.
There is no single path to becoming a UX designer. However, having the right set of skills can significantly boost your chances of getting hired. But what exactly are those skills?
To find out, we analyzed UX designer job postings on LinkedIn from December 2022. Top companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Peloton, IBM, PlayStation, Tesla, Adobe, and Visa are seeking candidates with these skills.
Key Skills Every UX Designer Needs
UX designers combine both technical and workplace skills in their daily work. Some are unique to the UX/UI field, while others are more general. You may already have skills that can easily transfer into a career in UX design.
Technical Skills for UX Designers
1. Prototyping, Wireframing, User Flows, and Mockups
A significant part of UX design is visualizing how a product will look and function. Depending on the development phase, you may create wireframes, prototypes, mockups, or user flows. Here's what these terms mean:
Wireframe: A basic page layout without design elements, used to organize content based on user needs.
Prototype: A model of the final product, used for testing and feedback. Low-fidelity prototypes are simple sketches, while high-fidelity ones are computer-based and allow interaction.
Mockup: A detailed visual representation of what the final webpage or app will look like.
User Flow: A step-by-step diagram that shows how a user interacts with a product or service.
These hands-on skills are essential for interaction design and require regular practice. You can start with just a pen and paper, sketching wireframes and user flows for websites or apps you use often to familiarize yourself with their components.
For more advanced work, prototypes and mockups typically need specialized software. Beginners can try free tools like Origami Studio. Paid tools such as InVision, Sketch, and Adobe XD often offer free trials, so you can practice without needing to commit to a subscription.
Another option is to practice paper prototyping, sketching your prototypes with just paper and pen.
2. Visual Design and Design Software
Both UX designers and UI designers rely on visual design tools like Figma, Sketch, Photoshop, and Illustrator to create a product’s visual components. It’s important to not only master these tools but also to understand key visual design principles. This includes typography, color theory, layout, icons, and general design concepts.
3. User Research and Usability Testing
To design a product that effectively solves user problems or meets their needs, you must first understand the users themselves. This is where user research becomes crucial.
Conducting the right type of user research helps you create a product that better serves its purpose. After developing prototypes, you’ll need to conduct usability testing to confirm whether your design choices work well for users. Being able to move through these phases with a user-focused mindset will make you a more effective designer.
This skill is so important that many companies have specialized roles within their UX teams, like UX researchers, to handle this specific aspect of design.
4. Agile
Agile is a project management approach commonly used in software development, focused on building products through continuous iteration. Since many development teams work with the Agile method, it’s beneficial for UX designers to understand this approach as well.
As UX design and Agile processes have started to intersect, the term "Agile UX design" has emerged. While you don’t need to master project management to be a UX designer, learning the basics of Agile can help strengthen your resume. For more information, check out our beginner’s guide to Agile development.
5. Information Architecture
Information architecture (IA) is about organizing and structuring content in a way that helps users easily find what they need or complete tasks. Good IA makes it clear to users where they are, where they should go next, and how to navigate a product.
If you're new to IA, start by studying common website structures. You can also practice by creating sitemaps for websites or apps you frequently use. Repeat this process and observe the key elements that contribute to well-organized IA.
6. Application Development
Although UX designers don’t typically write code, it’s useful to have a basic understanding of application development and languages like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
Knowing how apps are built can benefit you as a UX designer in several ways:
You'll set more realistic expectations for what’s achievable in your designs.
You'll improve communication and collaboration with developers.
You'll be more marketable, especially in smaller startups that value a broader skill set.
You'll gain foundational coding skills, which could be helpful if you ever want to transition into UX engineering or UI development.
UX Designer Workplace Skills
7. Collaboration
As a UX designer, you will often collaborate with different teams. Depending on the project and development stage, you might work with leadership to set business goals, UI designers to incorporate visual elements into mockups or high-fidelity prototypes, or developers to turn your designs into code.
Being part of a team means knowing how to give and receive feedback and being open to new ideas that can improve the final product.
8. Communication and Presentation
Effective communication goes hand in hand with collaboration. You will need to communicate not only with your team but also with customers and stakeholders. Strong communication skills are essential for gathering valuable insights during user research and generating excitement among stakeholders when presenting your designs. Good UX relies heavily on effective visual communication and clear writing (UX writing) as well.
9. Prioritization and Time Management
Companies value UX designers who can effectively manage their time and prioritize tasks to meet critical needs. You may find yourself working on multiple projects or different aspects of the same project each day. To succeed in UX design, practice staying organized and adaptable in your current tasks.
Learn more: What Are Job Skills and Why Are They Important?
How to Improve Your UX Skills
You may already possess some of the skills needed for UX design, while others may be new to you. Regardless, there are many ways to enhance your UX design abilities. Investing time in skill development can give you a competitive edge when applying for jobs.
Take UX Courses
Consider enrolling in a UX design course for a more organized approach to building your skills. General UX courses often cover several of the key skills mentioned earlier, while niche courses focus on specific areas. Look for courses that include group projects to help you improve your collaboration and communication skills. You can explore a wide range of user experience courses offered by leading universities.
Stay Updated on the Latest UI/UX Trends
As you develop both foundational and advanced UX skills, consider subscribing to some of the best UX blogs and podcasts to stay informed about the latest trends. There are many free resources available that can help you learn and grow in the field of UX design.
Put Your UX Skills into Practice
We often learn best by doing. If you’re ready to practice the UX design skills mentioned earlier, check out these Guided Projects on Coursera. Each can be completed in under two hours and doesn’t require any special software:
Prototyping: Design and Develop a Website using Figma and CSS
Visual Design: Create and Design Digital Products using Canva
User Research: Analyze User Research Data with Google Forms
Agile: Agile Project: Product Prototype Touchpoint Analysis in Miro
Information Architecture: Streamline User Experience Flow with Sitemaps in Miro
Application Development: Introduction to JavaScript: The Basics
Communication: Google Slides Tutorial for Informative Presentations
Landing the Job: Presenting Your UX Skills
Securing a job as a UX designer often involves demonstrating your abilities to recruiters and hiring managers. As you acquire new skills, remember to update your resume to reflect them. You can find tips on how to tailor your resume for the role you want.
As you prepare for job interviews, practice sharing specific stories about times you have applied these skills in previous jobs, courses, or personal projects.
