The Number 1 Way to Grow as a UX/UI Designer

Image created by Tubik Studio

We see a lot of designers who want to grow their skillset, and stand apart from the competition but how do we grow ourselves as designer? Do we do the daily UI challenges? Do we read blogs? Do we watch YouTube to give us the knowledge? Do we read books?

Our number 1 way to grow as a designer is by doing the work- often boring, often challenging, often un-motivating work. Pick a project, find a challenge, look at a product that is broken or could be improved upon and do the work needed from the UX point of view.

As learners, we can often confuse growth with movement.

You can think to yourself- “I listen to design podcasts, read books, surround myself with creatives, watch webinars, etc.” you might think. “Why am I not progressing? Why am I not getting XYZ jobs? Why am I not being promoted?”

Unfortunately, we often place instant gratification (such as finishing a design book, or doing a quick daily UI challenge) as a priority instead of that slow, often headache-inducing, hard work of busting Figma open and truly thinking through a solution, finding users to interview, seeking patterns, and finally creating something amazing.

Let’s look at it this way. If you went to the hospital, and a surgeon came up to you to say “Here are the Top 10 Best Surgeries you should do for your body!”, wouldn’t you feel a little worried that perhaps you’d be in for quite a disastrous day? UX is very similar. Without understanding what the problem is, how can be possibly diagnose the solution?

Let’s pop Figma open and get to work.

Need a little inspiration on what problems to solve?

Look at the jobs you’re applying, and what skills are they asking for. Bridge the gap between your skillset and the place you want to end up by creating passion projects.

Let’s say a job description is asking for UX research experience. A project you can undertake is finding a product or a service (including your favorite ones! Think Spotify, Venmo, Zoom, YouTube) you wish to make better, and specifically focusing on conducting interviews, surveys, ideation sessions, etc., to offer you insights and implement into real life solutions.

This way, when you’re applying to jobs with a common focus on UX research, you can always showcase that project and speak to that experience.