Essential and Desirable Skills for a UX Designer

Before we dive into this topic of the ‘essential and desirable skills a UX designer should possess’, let’s first understand what UX means and why it is important for your business.

In simple words, UX i.e. User Experience refers to the quality of the response or feeling that the users get after interacting with the website or application of your business. If they like engaging with it, then it implies that a great UX design is in place. Also, it is not just limited to the website or app, but it extends to the products or services that your business offers.

Why is UX important?

User Experience has immense potential to crown a business as a market leader. If you have implemented a perfect UX for your website or app, then it will put you in a much better position to impress your audience with the products or services of your business. You will have an edge over your competitors and as a result, your brand will magnet more engagement and conversions to lead the market and incorporate a unique identity. Let’s analyze this with the help of an example.

Most of you are aware of the global leader of the smartphone segment i.e. Apple Inc. However, what you might not know is that Apple spends millions of dollars on the Design and User Experience operations of its products alone. The designers of this brand also do not report to the manufacturing but directly to the executives, so that, the product development process stays independent to allow creativity to dominate. It is just a small insight into how Apple considers User Experience on a serious note and to your surprise, this approach has helped the brand to become the first company in the entire globe to achieve a market capitalization value of $1 trillion!

We also know that Nokia used to dominate the mobile industry but lost its leading position despite having a good product design because the brand failed to implement smart and creative investments in the User Experience division.

This is the potential of UX we were referring to earlier.

However, a great and inspiring User Experience is made possible with the essential and desirable skills. So, what are these skills? Let’s find out.

Skills for a great UX

Let’s analyze the top 5 essential skills that a UX designer must possess to achieve success and growth together.

1. COMMUNICATION: User Experience is a sophisticated process that can be translated into success only if the design can communicate the story of the brand and the objective of its products or services to the target user base.

To establish this clear and robust communication in your design, it is necessary to have an understanding of the following:

•  JavaScript
•  CSS
•  Processing
•  Photoshop
•  Illustrator
•  And many more

2. SPEEDY PROTOTYPING: Not just prototyping, but fast prototyping has become an essential skill for UX designers to excel. The advanced business competition expects the designs to be produced as soon as possible. However, this rapid delivery is a complex task without the use of a prototype. As such, quick and speedy prototyping is the only way to be more competitive. For this purpose, popular tools like Axure can be used for creating prototypes. Some other popular tools are:

•  Origami Studio
•  Sketch
•  Webflow
•  Framer
•  InVision
•  Adobe Experience Design.

3. COLLABORATION: It is very difficult and rare for one person to master the art of coding, designing, writing, project management, marketing, etc. So what should you do? You should collaborate with subject experts for improved development. The designers should collaborate and cross-communicate with other experts to establish uniformity in the entire project. Participatory design is more competitive than individual design.

4. RESEARCH: The purpose of User Experience is to communicate and connect with the users. But how will you do this if you are not aware of their taste, desires, or need? The competitive business environment all across the globe is continuously changing, and there is always something out there to learn about. Hence, a designer must know how to evidence comprehensive research before developing a website or app.

5. ANALYTICS: It is necessary to understand and analyze the success of the design delivered so that necessary improvements can be made for future projects. Analytics is helpful because it provides measurable data that further helps a business to establish better and strong standards of quality and service. It is not wrong to say that analytics and insights help your strategy advance in the right direction.

User Experience is a dynamic profession where the key to success is practice and awareness. Having a good understanding to implement creativity and innovation can also take your skills to the next level. So, if you are aiming to become a proficient designer, then it is necessary to follow the correct approach and learn as much as possible. Some other skills and qualities that can help are:

• Wireframing
• Empathy for users
• Writing
• Logic
• Presentation

All of these skills and qualities might seem massive to achieve for a single person but the curiosity to explore, investigate, and learn is all you need. Attending seminars regularly and following the work of industry leaders can also help.

REFERENCES:

• INTERACTION DESIGN FOUNDATION. (2020, April). Apple’s product development process – Inside the world’s greatest design organization. The Interaction Design Foundation.
• KOLAKOWSKI, M. (2020, January 6). At $1.3 trillion, Apple is bigger than these things. Investopedia.
• The Trillion Dollar UX Problem: A Comprehensive Guide to the ROI of UX. (n.d.). Cloud Object Storage | Store & Retrieve Data Anywhere | Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).