To What Extent are Design Skills Needed in UX Design?
User experience design is a diverse and largely recognised field in the digital world due to its rising demand, job satisfaction and earning potential. UX designer skills are a combination of technical & nontechnical expertise which makes a UX designer successful and aides in their growth. Design is certainly an important aspect for a UX designer but it is not at the centre of their project. The goal is to create user friendly designs and interfaces at the end. UX designers work to create a website or an app design in a way that it is accessible and understood by users. The multi-layered process includes research, collaboration, wireframing, coding, development, communication and many other steps before reaching the final product. Another less discussed and crucial skill a UX designer must possess is empathy. The ability to understand users’ pain points and goals is what allows them to create products specifically catered to their needs.
Let’s take you through some of the skills a UX designer must acquire apart from creating aesthetically pleasing designs.
UI Research
Most decisions made by designers for their project are based upon a strong foundation of research and hard data. Research helps them understand their target audience, competitors, and see how they are received and accepted by users, etc. This is achieved with the help of online research, user testing, interviews, questionnaires, card sorting and google analytics.
Collaboration
A designer is bound to connect and collaborate with other teams. Based on the phase of project development, a designer has to interact with leadership to discuss the different aspects of design. They also have to collaborate with UI designers for visual elements and developers for coding, etc. Therefore, a designer must be collaborative in order to create the envisioned design for their users.
Wireframing and UI Prototyping
This is where you lay out the actual design of your app – starting from rough sketches to highly detailed mock-ups. All the research, planning, problem solving comes together at this level. This particular skill requires practice and observation.
UX Writing
The language used for call to action, app instructions, onboarding page, captions and other actions are key to a successful user experience. Language is the map users need to navigate through your app’s interface. Therefore, it is crucial for a designer to use easy, crisp and presentable words while designing.
Visual Communication
A single visual speaks louder than a million words. This holds true with designs as well. A designer should have the skills to create impactful visuals that are self-explanatory/clickable and users do not need to go through reading long sentences while navigating. Visuals help in establishing an effective hierarchy – designers can use typography and colour theory to their advantage.
User Empathy
A deep understanding about the users’ needs and expectations along with the ability to empathize is what sets a designer apart from the others. It is through this kind of insight that they come up with the most innovative and user-friendly designs.
Business Acumen
Understanding the business side of the organization can help designers integrate knowledge to communicate effectively with the team and ensure that the designs are in sync with the overall goal of the organization. It gives them an insight into the experiences of their clients, colleagues, and consumers.
Coding and development
Employers give preference to tech-savvy designers. The ability to intercept and understand coding is an added advantage to a designer’s portfolio today. Online information and available courses are an easy and simple way to get started if you need more knowledge about coding and development.
Information Architecture
This skill basically means organizing and structuring content in such a way that it can be easily acquired at the time of need. IA patterns in websites would help users get the information they need by following simple steps.
Communication skills
There cannot be enough emphasis on the importance of communication skills required in this field. A UX designer needs to be a constant referee between their product and users. They need to successfully communicate with fellow team members to discuss the direction of the design, with stakeholders to get everyone onboard and even with users to get constructive feedback.
Customer Service
The ability to understand a customer’s needs is the very core of any designer’s project. It is a skill that is absolutely necessary to acquire if you wish to create something that reaches your customers and they received with a sense of understanding and acceptance.
A designer must have a desire for continuous learning and curiosity to explore new aspects within the field. Outsourcing graphic design services is one such possibility which has been made possible due to rapid communication technology available to us. Hire designers who are equipped with all the technical and non-technical skills required to create unique and accessible designs.
Outsourcing gives employers/organizations the flexibility to upscale according to their requirements. And takes away the cost burden that comes with inhouse designers. It has been observed that an offshore design team can perform all tasks with professional expertise at a reasonable price.
Conclusion
Employers now expecting a combination of soft skills, UX design skills and crossover skills like customer service, coding, research of a UX designer. It is this multiskilled portfolio that helps designers create familiar and easy to use designs for customers.